Bill Pierce
Well-known
There are a large number of non-photographers who wonder why so many of us have more than one camera or more than one lens. What would really be incomprehensible to them is why some of us have so many gadget bags. But there is no perfect gadget bag just as there is no perfect camera. Although the search for such perfection goes on, we are currently a multi-bag community.
Commercial photographers when they go outside of their studios on location can carry equipment in cases. News photographers, always on location, have to have their gear with them and ready to work all the time. That usually means shoulder bags.
Probably some of the most used when I was starting out as a news photographer were the Brady fishing bags from England, the Gelderburn and the Ariel Trout (I was a Trout user). I once wrote of stopping in London for a day to minimize jet lag before heading further on and going to the Queen’s Fishery to pick up a Brady bag where the clerk said, “Yes, Mr. McCullin was in here a few days ago before he departed.” The price of the bag included a reminder that U.S. news photographers were behind English photojournalists. By the way, those bags were introduced in the 1950’s and are still in production.
Martin Billingham was the head cutter at Brady and in the early seventies began his own line of bags, concentrating on camera bags. My lovely Trout bag inspired a similar bag minus waterproof lining but plus a padded interior with adjustable compartments.
Just 2 years later, when Jim Domke was working for the Philadelphia Inquirer, he designed a different style of bag with the paper underwriting the cost of bags for the staff. Like the fishing bag he was then using, the bag he was designing was canvas, but unlike the relatively slim fishing bag, this bag was thicker with and 11 x 8 1/2 inch main interior and side and front bags that increased the exterior dimensions to 17 x 9 inches. You could still carry it fully loaded on you shoulder, but it held a lot more gear.
Over the years Billingham and Domke have expanded their lines to a range of bigger and smaller bags. Billingham has added overnight, briefcase and laptop bags to their line up. Domke has added slimmer satchel and messenger style bags, the indispensable Domke Wrap and, perhaps more important, some really good camera straps without a camera manufacturer’s name in large, bold and fire engine red letters.
In the nearly half century since Billingham and Domke started, the number of bag providers specifically selling “camera” bags has grown immensely.
If you are worried about theft, it is possible to get general purpose bags of which a thief would say, “No one would carry camera stuff in a bag like that.”
While I have known news photographers who early in the game used backpacks and a professionally oriented camera store that sold conventional, backpacks, you can now buy photo backpacks.
I understand that those outside of the photo world do not understand the imperative need for a large, broad bag selection. There is no real need to reveal the full number of bags you require. But I would like to know your favorites and the use you put them to. Brandwise, as you might imagine, I have a lot of Billinghams and Domkes. A slightly smaller bag than the original Billingham carries a mirrorless and 2 or 3 small lenses when I ‘m just shooting for myself. The original Domke loaded with much more gear goes over the shoulder when I’m shooting for somebody else. And, a confession, sometimes I go for a walk with a small camera secured on a wrist strap, no bag. You’ve got to take pictures when you can’t put the camera in a bag.
What do you do (bagwise)?
Commercial photographers when they go outside of their studios on location can carry equipment in cases. News photographers, always on location, have to have their gear with them and ready to work all the time. That usually means shoulder bags.
Probably some of the most used when I was starting out as a news photographer were the Brady fishing bags from England, the Gelderburn and the Ariel Trout (I was a Trout user). I once wrote of stopping in London for a day to minimize jet lag before heading further on and going to the Queen’s Fishery to pick up a Brady bag where the clerk said, “Yes, Mr. McCullin was in here a few days ago before he departed.” The price of the bag included a reminder that U.S. news photographers were behind English photojournalists. By the way, those bags were introduced in the 1950’s and are still in production.
Martin Billingham was the head cutter at Brady and in the early seventies began his own line of bags, concentrating on camera bags. My lovely Trout bag inspired a similar bag minus waterproof lining but plus a padded interior with adjustable compartments.
Just 2 years later, when Jim Domke was working for the Philadelphia Inquirer, he designed a different style of bag with the paper underwriting the cost of bags for the staff. Like the fishing bag he was then using, the bag he was designing was canvas, but unlike the relatively slim fishing bag, this bag was thicker with and 11 x 8 1/2 inch main interior and side and front bags that increased the exterior dimensions to 17 x 9 inches. You could still carry it fully loaded on you shoulder, but it held a lot more gear.
Over the years Billingham and Domke have expanded their lines to a range of bigger and smaller bags. Billingham has added overnight, briefcase and laptop bags to their line up. Domke has added slimmer satchel and messenger style bags, the indispensable Domke Wrap and, perhaps more important, some really good camera straps without a camera manufacturer’s name in large, bold and fire engine red letters.
In the nearly half century since Billingham and Domke started, the number of bag providers specifically selling “camera” bags has grown immensely.
If you are worried about theft, it is possible to get general purpose bags of which a thief would say, “No one would carry camera stuff in a bag like that.”
While I have known news photographers who early in the game used backpacks and a professionally oriented camera store that sold conventional, backpacks, you can now buy photo backpacks.
I understand that those outside of the photo world do not understand the imperative need for a large, broad bag selection. There is no real need to reveal the full number of bags you require. But I would like to know your favorites and the use you put them to. Brandwise, as you might imagine, I have a lot of Billinghams and Domkes. A slightly smaller bag than the original Billingham carries a mirrorless and 2 or 3 small lenses when I ‘m just shooting for myself. The original Domke loaded with much more gear goes over the shoulder when I’m shooting for somebody else. And, a confession, sometimes I go for a walk with a small camera secured on a wrist strap, no bag. You’ve got to take pictures when you can’t put the camera in a bag.
What do you do (bagwise)?
