Camera Bag Suggestions

All camera bags for two Leica M type cameras with two lenses are more or less the same.

Buy whatever the store offers, if it matches your sofa.

Then move on.
 
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Al Kaplan said:
Army surplus can be a great source of assorted bags. Gas mask bags used to be quite popular with photographers thirty or forty years ago. They sold for about $2.95 back then as the war in Vietnam was winding down. It's been years since I've been in a surplus store but there's one about 10 miles from here. I should check it out again.

Olive drab bags aren't the most elegant looking thing to carry when you're wearing suit and tie though, and they're not padded.
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I was at a surplus store just the other day, in search of something for another project. I took a look at the bags they had, and there were plenty of gas mask bags. They were quite large, and asymetrical... there was enough canvas to provide some padding, but not a lot of pockets.

The surplus bag I'd like to find is one of the tri-fold medic bags, one big compartment for lenses in cases (or a padded insert) one smaller compartment for smaller lenses and accessories, and the last for film.
 
I like the Billingham Hadley Pro.
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It is inspired by the traditional english fishing bag and doesn't scream camera bag. You may also consider an authentic fishing bag such as a Brady (like Tom A), but you would have to buy inserts.
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Ahmed Poltroon said:
I don't understand all this bag fetishism.

The bag becomes nothing but an outward extension of personality. It's jewelry even more so than the cameras are, having little to do with the carrying of cameras.

I think a lot of people like putting the "right" camera into the "proper" bag, and packing and unpacking them, and marching around with them, more than actually taking pictures.

People want to accessorize with appropriate fetish totems. They like the idea of having the proper "kit" which matches their image of themselves as an "artiste".

How about a Birkin bag?
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Cute psychoanalysis but when you carry heavy sh*t like cameras around all day, day after day, and you need to be able to get at them quickly yet carry them comfortably then the carrying method can make a big difference. Having said that, the design of some of these very expensive luxury brands of camera bags seems to put elegance and looks ahead of functionality.

I like the spirit of ClaremontPhoto's post (just get a bag and get on with it) but I must disagree that all bags that fit two M bodies are basically the same. However, choosing one is a personal thing like trying on a pair of jeans. Like others here, I use mostly a variety of messenger bags with inserts or the D brand bags (depends on the assignment). Backpacks are good for long walks through airports, but lousy to work out of. The answer to this question, like so many of those questions posted here by folks looking for advice, is that ultimately you have to figure it out for yourself.
 
Why not carry the camera on a strap, have a few rolls in your pocket, and leave the spare junk locked in the car or at home?

Last couple of adventures I've just wrapped my cameras in neoprene padded wraps and tossed them into regular backpacks. Take them out when I want to shoot, leave the rest in the pack. Simple.
 
I think those bags in the pictures directly above are poncey. Get yourself a used Domke, the green or brown one. They're actually designed as camera bags. Better yet, get a Domke knockoff, they're all over eBay.
 
If and when I go on an actual paid shoot, I carry lots of excess gear that I might need. I have a couple of old "Halliburton" style foam lined suitcases that I put the stuff in and pay someone else to carry and watch for me. I'm sort of an old fart now, I used to carry stuff myself, but now even a medium weight camera seems heavy after a half an hour or so.

I carry the actual camera I'm going to use in my hand. Maybe another camera with another lens around my neck. A few odds and ends in my pocket during the shoot. An extra battery, film or memory cards in my pockets.

If I'm just going to screw around in the streets of NYC and take photos, I will use a plastic shopping bag to cover the camera and stick it in whatever bag I have my other stuff in that day. One, or maybe two at most other lenses in my pocket or bag. If the bag feels too heavy before I leave the apartment, I take something out before I go.

If I travel, I would not be caught dead with any sort of camera bag. (or "faux" camera bag, or "sissy" bag). Something like a Billingham bag makes you stand out instantly as a doofus or someone who is saying "I'm in unfamiliar territory, please rob me or cheat me". In fact, I like to travel ultra light and I just take a super light pocket camera, with no bag or "tourist" paraphernalia at all.

MAYBE, once in a while, I take an R-D1 or a Leica, but who wants to worry about an expensive camera on a trip? Most of the time it stays in the room safe anyway. If you have a girl you picked up in the room, don't open the safe anyway, and put your wallet, passport and cash in there too.
 
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Ahmed Poltroon said:
If I'm just going to screw around in the streets of NYC and take photos, I will use a plastic shopping bag to cover the camera and stick it in whatever bag I have my other stuff in that day. One, or maybe two at most other lenses in my pocket or bag.
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Ha! :) Now that's quite a vision. You're walking the streets with your camera in a Walgreens sack and your lenses in your pockets. But hey, at least you're not a sissy. :cool:
 
I must be doing something wrong! I've photographed for years in some of the scuzziest neighborhoods, mostly here in South Florida and Boston. The only time I've ever been robbed was when somebody broke into my house and I wasn't home. The insurance covered everything.

When I'm out shooting I make no effort to hide or disguise my cameras. I've shot a lot of gigs because I was the only one that would go to those places. Be outgoing and friendly. Engage people in conversations. Carry an open pack of cigarettes and a few books of matches with you even if you don't smoke. Ask where a good place to get lunch might be in the neighborhood. Don't be afraid to eat goat.
 
Ahmed Poltroon said:
MAYBE, once in a while, I take an R-D1 or a Leica, but who wants to worry about an expensive camera on a trip? Most of the time it stays in the room safe anyway.
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So you spend thousands of $$$ on gear so you can leave it at home? Heaven forbid you actually use a decent camera while on a trip... unless of course, crappy travel photography is your thing... :bang:
 
You'd be whistling a different tune if you walked around displaying expensive equipment, say in Rome or Cambodia. They would not only take your cameras but your pants.

There's a van parked usually near J&R photo in the summer that sells very good goat curry with a bust-up roti.

Also, on the corner of 29th Street and Lexington there's a Pakistani place that has very good goat biryani, when they feel like making it.

I don't know about uncivilized foreign places like Miami, you're on your own.


Al Kaplan said:
I must be doing something wrong! I've photographed for years in some of the scuzziest neighborhoods, mostly here in South Florida and Boston. The only time I've ever been robbed was when somebody broke into my house and I wasn't home. The insurance covered everything.

When I'm out shooting I make no effort to hide or disguise my cameras. I've shot a lot of gigs because I was the only one that would go to those places. Be outgoing and friendly. Engage people in conversations. Carry an open pack of cigarettes and a few books of matches with you even if you don't smoke. Ask where a good place to get lunch might be in the neighborhood. Don't be afraid to eat goat.
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My pictures are just as good no matter what camera I use. I could use a Box Tengor and not one of my pictures would be "crappy".

Here, where presumably most people use "decent" cameras, I see "crappy" photos galore.

There's nothing wrong with having camera or bag fetishes, but let's call it for what it is. Lots of people can't take a decent photo of the side of a barn but they like having the $5000 camera in a stylishly distressed case to take them with. So what?


kxl said:
So you spend thousands of $$$ on gear so you can leave it at home? Heaven forbid you actually use a decent camera while on a trip... unless of course, crappy travel photography is your thing... :bang:
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The curried goat in Miami can be very good, but like anything else it depends on the cook. My ex girlfriend, a Jamaican woman, really spoiled me. None of the local restaurants are as good.
 
I've cooked curry goat myself. One of the "secrets" is cooking the goat a long time, until the meat is tender and falling off the bone.

It's also good to let the curry sit overnight before eating. The flavors become more complex.

You can go to a Thai store and get premixed "Mussaman" curry paste which is refrigerated. It's almost as good as mixing curry ingredients yourself. I don't like the dry commercial Jamaican curry powders.

In Manila, I had a whole goat head, baked under coals for several days. That was delicious. The brains, with a vinegar based dip, were excellent.

If you had an Eastern European Jewish grandmother, she might have made you brains with chicken fat and grivenes. Good with raw onion.
 
Cambodia is actually very, very safe: Rome is the place you'll get robbed.
Where to get the best curry goat, THAT's something to talk about. Brooklyn & the North End of Hartford, CT are two good places. Better than any I had in the West Indies, and I've had a lot of goat in the West Indies... The Cubans in Miami make a very nice stew goat...
 
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