The Perfect Camera Bag

[Stephanie Brim]

No, this isn't about the bag itself...it's about what you'd put in it.

I am notoriously horrible at making up my mind when it comes to camera equipment. The one thing I know for certain is that I'll always have a rangefinder in my bag. I can in part thank this place for that, but I can also thank my unfailing curiosity about that which I do not have. I forever want to know what it's like to use different cameras. At least I know that I will always be moderately happy as long as I have a rangefinder in my kit somewhere.

So, to the question: what's in your ideal camera bag? What's your ideal kit? Whether it's what you have or it isn't, put it out there. Even if you aren't sure (as I'll never be 100% sure), tell us what it is NOW.

Oh, and this is really a twisted scheme to get Joe to admit he's finally found the right rangefinder after all these years. 😉

To get us started... I will likely always have a Canon P. It's a versitile beauty of a camera. As an ideal kit, though, I'd probably choose the combination of two bodies and lenses to complement each body.

An R4M for anything 35mm and under and an M3 for anything 50mm and over. I like speed in my lenses so the long effective baselength of the M3 for longer lenses would benefit me and I'm also becoming more and more interested in wides and with my glasses I can't see the 35mm frameline on the P, so the R4M would give me a good wides-only camera and also a good single body to take out street shooting. I'm guessing that this combination, along with the Canon P for when I feel like being nostalgic, will be my main rangefinder kit.

 

[ClaremontPhoto]

Voigtlander R3A with 40mm Nokton and a Voigtlander Bessa L with 15mm Heliar.

About 5 rolls of film, an iPod and a rainy day/sunny day hat squashed in there somewhere.

 

[dcsang]

M7, 15mm, 21mm, 35mm and 50mm.
3 rolls of film with one in the camera.

That's what I need to have my bag do - for extended purposes I would also like to include the IIIc with the collapsible Elmar but it's not necessary for a "one day out" sort of thing.

I believe that will all fit nicely into the Domke F-803 - which I will be ordering shortly and thereby upping my "camera bag collection" to seven.. yes SEVEN.. bags.. (needless to say, I'll be selling the Domke F3-X and a lowepro stealth reporter 400 AW).

Dave

 

[mc_vancouver]

A wedge of sharp cheese, a narrow thermos of tea, a copy of the New Yorker, my digital audio recorder for notes, interviews, etcetera; R3M with 35 and/or 50, since I don't like carrying much. Ideally? probably complement the film camera with a digital camera, as yet uninvented, that takes Leica screw mount lenses and is one-third the price of the M8...

 

[LazyHammock]

Leica M6 with 28, 50, 90mm lenses. Rolleiflex 3.5 Tessar, notepad and pencil, L-308 light meter, diet Mountain Dew, assorted filters and lots and lots of film.

 

[markinlondon]

Leica M6TTL with 50 Elmar, a couple of extra rolls of film and a filter or two. If I didn't carry a novel to read, a notebook, pens, pencils, umbrella, mobile phone, etc I wouldn't need a bag at all, but as it is my Billingham Hadley (black) goes almost everywhere I do.

Mark

 

[lynn]

I'm off to England the day after tomorrow to visit an RFF friend, and I've been pondering this exact question for days, especially since he warned me to forget him carrying my gear. (When did chivalry die? Tsk! 🙂 )

I've packed - subject to maybe slight change - my Nikon FE + 50/1.4, my Great Wall DF-2, my Canonet QL17 GIII, my Ricoh Gr1s, a very cheap Polaroid, and the Miranda Sensorex that I bought here from Jon Goodman some months ago. The lovely Konica Auto S2 that I just received from G'man is crying out to be tested, but it's heavy, and tryouts and holidays aren't a good combination. I'm also tempted - it's so small! - by a beat-up old Ricoh R1, which is already loaded with B&W and has that Panorama option. And I considered an extra lens for the Nikon, but then reconsidered. Heh.

We'll see. I must leave room for film. All sorts. Even if there is a few dozen rolls of Agfa Ultra waiting for me at my destination...

 

[bobkonos]

Small kit: M6 with 35 Summicron

Large kit: MP with CV 28 or Leica 21 ASPH, M3 with 50 Summicron

Both kits: 3-4 rolls Tri-X and Sensia 100, Rhodia writing pad, mechanical pencil, pen, lens cloth, table top tripod.

 

[jonasv]

nikon f70, 24/2.8 and 50/1.2, some fifteen rolls of tri-x.

sorry, no rangefinder in the bag - in my defense, when i'm going out with one (usually the bessa) i take advantage of the rangefinder lightness and carry no bag at all.

 

[Stephanie Brim]

I'm off to England the day after tomorrow to visit an RFF friend, and I've been pondering this exact question for days, especially since he warned me to forget him carrying my gear. (When did chivalry die? Tsk! 🙂 )

I've packed - subject to maybe slight change - my Nikon FE + 50/1.4, my Great Wall DF-2, my Canonet QL17 GIII, my Ricoh Gr1s, a very cheap Polaroid, and the Miranda Sensorex that I bought here from Jon Goodman some months ago. The lovely Konica Auto S2 that I just received from G'man is crying out to be tested, but it's heavy, and tryouts and holidays aren't a good combination. I'm also tempted - it's so small! - by a beat-up old Ricoh R1, which is already loaded with B&W and has that Panorama option. And I considered an extra lens for the Nikon, but then reconsidered. Heh.

We'll see. I must leave room for film. All sorts. Even if there is a few dozen rolls of Agfa Ultra waiting for me at my destination...

Er, few dozen? Mind sharing? 😛

 

[Al Patterson]

My small kit is a CL with 40 and 50 lenses, plus the Sony DSC-V3 digital.

The large kit is one or two Canon A-1s, 50, 35-105 and 70-210 zooms, plus the Sony digital. Sometimes the CL takes the place of the backup A-1.

 

[kmack]

My daily kit has not changed in quite a while see this post for details if you are so inclined.

The magazine or book changes, the knife is back in my desk at work and I currently have my IIIF in my bag with the Bessa.

 

[nightfly]

I recently bought the perfect bag, a small Kodak padded nylon bag with 1 divider made for a digital camera. Works perfectly for:

1 M4-P with either a CV 28 3.5 or a 35 Summicron attached and the second lens in the bag, a few rolls of film and a notepad.

If I'm going out at night it's the Summicron with no second lens. If I'm going to be taking close up type of people stuff I'll substitute a Canon 50mm 1.8 for the Summicron.

That's my ideal kit. The best thing about this bag is that I can also stick it inside of my Jack ***** bag with the cover of the Kodak bag clipped open so I can work out of it and then throw a jacket, some water and a magazine, newspaper and iPod or whatever in the outer bag.

This way everything I need for photography is always in the small bag whether used on it's own or in something else. Also makes a compact little package to pack into a suitcase for travels further afield.

 

[VictorM.]

1. Film, meter, filters in jacket pockets, M4-2 & 40/2 (or 3.5E) on the strap
2. Film, meter, filters, 85 Serenar, shade in small digi cam bag, M4-2 & 40/2 on strap
3. Film, meter, filters, shades, 85 Serenar, 28 Serenar, 50 Summitar in Lowepro Utility Bag, M4-2 with 40/2 on strap (and occasionally a notebook, cell phone, etc. in bag)

There isn't really a perfect bag. I have more camera bags than Dave, and none are perfect, but most are suitable for something.

 

[rpinchbeck]

My standard kit is the following:
1- Kiev 4 with 5cm/1.5 Sonnar, Jupiter 12, Jupiter 9, Jupiter 11, SC 21/4 Skopar with finder, Lens Hoods for all stack nested together, Walz variable viewfinder 28mm-135mm, Gossen Luna ProF with Gossen spot attachment.

Extra film usually rattles around in my pocket.

I'm still looking for the perfect bag to fit all this into...

Cheers,

Russ Pinchbeck

 

[monochromejrnl]

my dilemma:

leaving for a 2week trip to Morocco and spain... can't decide what to bring...

1. Hassy SWC +2 A12 backs (99% sure this is coming with me and Minolta IIIF meter and a monopod);
2. F100 w/ 35/2 and 85/1.8 and/OR
3. Leica M4-P w/ 21/4 and 50/2 (also have the 90/4ElmarM and 35/2.8 Jupiter)


if the M4-P was metered (ie M6) i'd probably leave the F100 at home... as a plan to shoot slide film, the metering in the F100 may be invaluable... however, the 35/2 just isn't the calibre of lense my 50/2 HexanonM is, espcially for B&W film...

i could bring the M4-P AND the F100 kit but a friend pointed out that carrying all that gear may make it difficult to enjoy the trip...

thought is the SWC for landscape, interiors and shots of the cramped medinas... 35mm for snaps and less composed shots where speed is more important...

thoughts? care to share your travel experiences with gear?

btw - all of this will fit in my crumpler (6 million dollar bag)... also planning to haul a crap load of 120 and 135 film...

 

[MtnPhoto]

Usually the CV R3A + 40mm F1.4 (must buy more lenses) and somtimes the Mamiya 6 + 50mm (must stop trying to shoot verticals). I was using a slim backpack for the the last few years but got tired of always swinging it off shoulder to get into it. I recently purchased an Crumpler "Soup and Salad" and it is great. I am thinking of somthing smaller though. (Son of Soup and Salad?)

My pack/bag also carries: water, daytimer, sunglasses, Georgia Straight (newspaper), laptop (sometimes), beers, food to smuggle into movies, etc... It is more of an everyday bag that I put my cameras into.

 

[BillBingham2]

Everyday Carry Kit
Bessa L with 25/4 in a small bag that attaches to belt

Light Trip Carry Kit
Replace L body with a T/winder combo in the everyday kit and add
M6 w/Rapidwinder, 15/4.5, 40/1.4, 105/2.5 in a small black diaper bag, Vivitar 292 Flash

Vacation Carry Kit
Add a Nikon F2AS, 180/2.8 EF & TC200 in another small black diaper

Vacation Room Extras
Nikon F AIS mount 28/2.8 & 105/2.5
Minolta Desktop Tripod, 35mm CV and 105mm Nikon Brightline finders
Olympus T32
Vivitar 192/292 wall charger and second battery pack
Tenba Bag that holds M6, F2AS, lenses and flash for when I want to carry only one bag.

I got several small diaper bags and have built inserts for them out of felt and cardboard for my configurations. They cost a lot less and do not shout CAMERA HERE, TAKE MY CAMERA, HERE YOU ARE. I have way too many cases but most are used to hold stuff while at home.

In every camera bag are things like a cable release, extra film and extra batteries for the flash, about $20 in local currency, a calling card (AT&T) with 200 minutes.

B2 (;->

 

[lynn]

btw - all of this will fit in my crumpler (6 million dollar bag)... also planning to haul a crap load of 120 and 135 film...

Really? Including the Hassy? I have a Bronica, and where IT goes, no other camera does.
My back would break. 🙁

 

[DMG]

walkabout - billingham bag with CL and 40mm cron, minilux, light meter
day away - CL with cron, light meter, bronica, 20d plus lenses
heavy duty rig - as above but with flashes, slaves and light stands

works out

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