Small bag recommendations

CrisR

CrisR

Well-known
Local time
2:43 PM
Joined
Jul 23, 2011
Messages
831
Hi there,

I'm pretty new to RF shooting, but I was wondering what sorts of bags you guys carry your gear in?

I currently go out with 3 cameras in a messenger bag, but it's really not ideal. I'm carrying an M6 + Nokton 50mm, a CL + 35mm Summaron and the tiny Lomo LC-a that really got me into film.

I'm looking for a bag that doesn't look like a camera bag, something compact, possibly leather, but as long as it's not orange and blue with big plastic fasteners, I'll check out anything. The main thing is compactness.

Any recommendations?

Thanks!
 
Love the Domke 803, my current favorite bag. It will easily hold your kit, with room to spare for accessories. I don't think that it looks too much like a camera bag, but I guess that is a bit subjective. These are reasonably priced, durable, adaptable, and I think that they come in 3 colors. Hope this helps, just my opinion, get yourself set for many others when you ask a question like this!
 
I'm using a Domke F6 -

Two M's with lenses attached
4 lenses in the middle compartment.

I also use a Billingham Hadley original. two M's with lenses attached. Extra two lenses in the middle compartment (on top of each other).
 
I like small bags. I don't carry a lot of gear when I go out. I carry the Domke F-5XA with me all the time. I can fit my Leica M6 with a 50mm summicron attached AND my Olympus E-p2 with 20mm Panny attached. It is a snug fit with not much room for film but I usually just put that in my pocket or something. Or either just carrying one camera and then put a granola bar and things in there as well.

You might have to sacrifice one of your cameras with it though. Maybe try the F-5XB which is a little bigger.

I recommend anything Domke.
 
For my small (NEX) equiptment, I love the LowePro Adventure 170. It's very compact, great to carry around and I can still fit my NEX-3 with 7 lenses inside.

If you're looking for the most style in bags, you should go for a Billingham.
 
I like my Think Tank Retrospective 5. It usually hold my M4 and Minolta CLE, plus a couple additional lenses and film. It's a bit tight, but it works.
 
Domke F6 is very good, but if you want something that is IMHO unbeatable, get an ordinary Lowepro Slingshot 100. It will fit your gear in fine, is the fastest to use by a mile, more stable than any shoulder bag and cheaper than most. Unless I need the space, this is what I use. When I need more space I use a slingshot 200, but I do use the Domke F6 and the bigger one (forget the designation) when I use shoulder bags.

PS with the slingshots you need to re-align the internal dividers to make the most of them. I changed mine so the dividers give slots facing me when the bag is in the chest position. This way I can unzip and select and work with whatever I want from the main compartment. I have yet to find a better way to work in a dynamic environment and I am talking dark subterranean locations, street, in vehicles, filthy underfoot (so cant place anything on the ground) tight spaces, high theft areas... try one. I think it will change things for you if you have not used a sling type bag before.
 
Not sure where you are CrisR (I'm in UK) but I'm letting my domke 803 go. It's a slim bag made of black canvas and is 'worn in' rather than worn out and faded nicely. I would've thought your gear would fit fine. I also have a Billingham Hadley but generally find it a tad large and it tends to get used as a flight bag.
 
All the bags suggested so far are camera bags. no matter what they try to be disguised as in advertisement, they still look like a camera bag.
Go to your local leather goods store and im sure you will find a really cool bag that doesn't remotely look like a camera bag. Your army surplus store will have similar items aswell. second hand clothing stores are good too.
If you need to add compartments to a bag, you can order Domke inserts or get ONA bags inserts aswell.
 
I think the Domke satchels look like camera bags to people familiar with Domke bags, and not really to anyone else. I think any bag looks like a camera bag once someone sees you take out your camera from it, or put your camera into it.
 
Sure, but dedicated camera bags do offer some real benefits too, so its a question of the balance of benefits.

Most Domke bags can be ordered in materials that look just like army surplus kit (green canvas) and the slingshot 100s are very hard to steal from if worn across the chest in bustling areas. They are also tiny and don't scream camera bag any more than most modern generic travel bags.

As always its personal, but if you do a lot of shooting in a given area, your cover is blown anyway so the stealth benefit of non-camera bags is limited. Its perhaps most relevant when shooting here and there, but spending lots of time wandering about. The slingshots, when in the ready position across your chest, allow you to keep your kit under control and observation while still keeping it accessible. What I also like is that if you need to run away from something you can zip it and sweep it to the rear and run full pelt. Its also under lots of control when climbing obstacles, trees, through windows etc and wont swing round and club you or throw you off balance like shoulder bags will. When travelling and doing only a little shooting, or needing a general purpose bag for everything, I use a zip up canvas travel bag as this looks totally innocuous.

I think the solution is to have lots of bags!


Deniz Merdan said:
All the bags suggested so far are camera bags. no matter what they try to be disguised as in advertisement, they still look like a camera bag.
Go to your local leather goods store and im sure you will find a really cool bag that doesn't remotely look like a camera bag. Your army surplus store will have similar items aswell. second hand clothing stores are good too.
If you need to add compartments to a bag, you can order Domke inserts or get ONA bags inserts aswell.
Click to expand...
 
I'm in the process of looking into custom fabrication of a camera bag that would be ideal for rangefinder users as well as the micro four thirds camp. I'll post back here if you're interested once I get a test model in.
 
The Domke 832 rugged wear. Its one of the few bags with a strap long enough to sit a my hip. For shorter (normal) guys, the Domke 803 and the Think tank retrospective 5 are excellent choices. My wife switches between the 2 and loves them. All fit most M setups for street shooting or travel. I just recomend checking them out at a local shop to see what fits, so to speak.
 
Domke FX-1

Domke-FX1.jpg
 
To begin, you wrote: "I currently go out with 3 cameras in a messenger bag, but it's really not ideal. I'm carrying an M6 + Nokton 50mm, a CL + 35mm Summaron and the tiny Lomo LC-a that really got me into film."

The more you get into M photography, the more you may want to cut that down. Perhaps, the M6 plus 1-3 lenses when you go out shooting. In selecting a good bag, a good place to start is by deciding what look you want. (I'm not a superficial person, so hear me out.) Some people tend to like bags that are obviously camera bags (e.g., great bags from Billingham), while others like bags that are more incognito. I'm in the second camp. I have two bags, both which I'd recommend. First, Domke F-803. It's great for an M body with lens attached and 2-4 other lenses. Second, Domke F-5XB. It's great for an M body with lens attached and two other lenses. While the F-803 is excellent, I really only use the F-5XB. It's just a better size for me (as I have one M body and three lenses). In fact, this means that I should sell my F-803. (Let me know if you're interested. I have only used it a few times.) Along with these recommendations, I saw another cool bag online a while back. It's the Retrospective 5 by Think Tank (as one person mentioned). I don't know much about it, but it looks like it's about the size of the F-803.
 
Turtle said:
Sure, but dedicated camera bags do offer some real benefits too, so its a question of the balance of benefits.


I think the solution is to have lots of bags!
Click to expand...

Well said!
I have designed and built a few bags over the years and i still know that there is no ONE bag for everything. Even if there was, after a couple of years of using and destroying that bag, one faces the same problem of finding a good bag again.

I do like the Domke canvas and thinktank retrospective series.
For a big project, where i might be carrying alot of Leica gear, ONA bags are almost perfect! http://www.onabags.com/

For smaller and shorter endavours, a domke f-x5b is just about right.

but i still love my 70s Leica canvas bag. Unbelievebly simple, yet functional.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom