What’s in your bag?

Since I recently wrote an article making fun of my wife’s addiction to purses as well as comparing her purses to miniature black holes, I thought it would be only fair to write about one of my own obsessions. To be honest, I would have never written this article, but I received several emails through both this blog and my photo blog (www.photo-guru.net) asking me the very question that has plagued photographers for at least a century – what camera bag to buy?

I am sorry to disappoint those few who actually read my blogs – THERE IS NO PERFECT CAMERA BAG.

Over the years, I have struggled with the obsession of finding the perfect bag, the one and only bag that would allow me to comfortably carry in every situation. The only thing that I achieved by this quest is a closet full of camera bags and my wife giving me weird looks every time I berate her for buying yet another purse.

There is no perfect camera bag, but I can tell you what I use. My most used bag is a Domke F6 knock-off. Domke makes wonderful canvass bags that last for years, don’t really look like camera bags and can fit a surprising amount of stuff. For more information on Domke bags, check out their website, http://www.tiffen.com/products.html?tablename=domke


You can buy the cheap Chinese-made knock-offs on eBay for about $30-$50 dollars, depending on the size and quality. I bought mine 15 years ago at a yard sale and it still serves me well. This bag is my primary camera bag for almost everything – weddings, journalism work and some types of travel photography. The bag fits a Canon 5D with either a 17-40 f/4 or 24-70 f/2.8 lens attached, a Canon 40D body without a lens attached, a 70-200 f/4 lens, a 50mm f/1.4, a Zenitar 16mm f/2.8 fisheye and a Canon 580EX flash. The side pockets have enough room for another flash and a lens, batteries, cables, filters and cleaning supplies.


Another cool thing about this particular bag is that it fits perfectly inside a Timbuk2 medium messenger bag. I often do this if I have to carry my equipment for long periods of time (the bike messenger distributes the weight a lot better than a camera bag), or if I go into bad neighborhoods. Another plus of having one bag inside another is that Timbuk2 bags are weatherproof, adding one more layer of protection for expensive equipment.

When I have to do commercial work, weddings, etc… and need more gear than I could fit in the Domke bag, I use two large wheeled suitcases that I bought at TJ Maxx for $50 each. I also bought Pelican foam inserts from B&H Photo and set up one suitcase to hold my studio lighting and second suitcase to carry extra photo equipment, like additional cameras, lenses and cables. This way I ended up with two excellent equipment cases for less than $200.00.
My second most used camera bag, and my most used everyday bag is a Timbuk2 medium bike messenger bag. That shapeless bag is so incredibly tough that it actually saved my life once when I fell off my bike and slid about fifteen feet on my back. Timbuk2 bags are really well made, waterproof and sit comfortably on your back no matter how much stuff you stick in there.

On most days, I use my Timbuk2 messenger bag to carry a MacBook laptop, a Holga camera, a Canon Powershot S5, books, notebooks, papers, etc… You can see the usual contents of my bag in the photo below.


I also made a three-compartment insert for the bag – you can buy similar inserts on B&H Photo (they are made by Domke or Tenba), but they are never quite the right size or shape (at least not for me). So with some canvas from JoAnn Fabric, some thin foam for padding and about 4 hours with a needle I made a custom insert that fits my needs. One of the dividers on the inside of the insert folds down, creating one large compartment and one small. With the insert in the bag, I can carry three lenses in the insert (or two lenses and a flash, or one lens and a DSLR with a lens attached), a laptop and a bunch of other small items.


The best part about using a messenger bag is that it does not look like a camera bag and you can get much more use out of it than from a specialized bag made by any of the known camera bag manufacturers.

What’s your perfect camera bag? I don’t know and I cannot recommend one. The best way to find out is to go to a large camera retailer store, bring your gear and see what fits and what doesn’t.

Oh, and don’t forget to take your camera out of the bag once in a while.