Blog entries from February, 2014

For many years my camera bag has been a Lowepro SlingShot which I chose because it gave me the combination of a bag that could stay in place on my back when crouching down to get a shot, but also was fairly convenient to get the camera in and out of.

It has served me well, but now the stitching on the zip of the side access panel has started to come away on the corner near where the shoulder strap meets the body of the bag. This could be expected as getting the zip around that corner was always a bit difficult unless you made sure to support the weight of the bag.

It is time for a new bag, but I will not be replacing it with the same style.

For short walks the bag is fine, but over a full day I have found that having all the weight only on my right shoulder (and camera in right hand) results in a fair amount of discomfort that continues into the following day.

A bag with two straps would spread the load evenly, though a single strap bag that can be alternated between shoulders is another option, or not…

I still have my Crumpler bag that I occasionally use if I want to be a bit more subtle/lightweight, but that is only good enough for the camera body and two lenses.

So a backpack it seems to be.but which one and what does it need to fit?

• camera body with 17-85mm, ideally with enough space to leave the hood on
• other lenses which are 28mm, 50mm and 70-200mm
• flash and remote trigger
• spare batteries, cable release, filters
• tripod attachment?

I want it to be able to fit everything so that I can just grab one bag, but I also want to be able to take things out when I know I won’t need them. Eg while walking around Fremantle I didn’t take the flashes or 70-200mm in order to keep weight down.