A good tight (but large) shoulder bag??

dugrant153 · 01-04-2011, 01:11 AM

Hi folks. Looking for some help in sorting my thoughts out! Curious on your thoughts on this one?

So, after doing some event work and realizing that the belt setup is becoming too heavy for me (and doesn't suit my work flow of lots of travelling in buses and such), I'm looking into a different kind of bag to swallow my gear and hopefully make it comfortable enough to cart around.

My purpose of a bag: carry with me to weddings and events, and also everyday use (street photo, travel photo, still lifes). Must be not overly massively huge (I intend to carry it everywhere I go). I've tried backpacks but found access to slow and cumbersome (even the flipside and the classified slings), plus prefer not to have one on while shooting *formal* event. Tried belt system and worked, but started to get too cumbersome to move with and access everything once I tried to load all my gear on it, especially the medium format.

I am thinking a slim and comfortable shoulder bag that won't bring too much attention to myself (I'm sure my Mini Diana Lomo cam will do that... hehe). Tried a few shoulder bags and found them uncomfortable on my shoulders but... these ones I picked out seem to have a way to compensate that a bit.

Equipment to carry:
Pentax 645 medium format camera
Pentax PZ-1P + FA31 Limited
Pentax K-7 + DA*55
2 x 120 film inserts
FA77
DA21/DA40
Room for 35mm and 120mm film rolls
Room for a flash (if I need it - I shoot natural light most of the time)

My considerations:

Thinktank Urban Disguise 50 - Looks like a great bag. Somewhat discrete. The design looks to be excellent and the quality of the stuff is superb, as with all Thinktank products. I wasn't considering this shoulder bag at first, but then I realized there's a backpack strap attachment you can get to "convert it" to a backpack. This makes it almost uber awesome if my shoulder gets tired since I just convert it to backpack mode, and use in shoulder mode when working.

Lowepro Classified 200 AW: Very slim and slender. Looks to be well made and looks very very discrete (great if I go into funky areas for street photography). Top access makes it great for pulling out all my wears if I need it. It also apparently has a waist-belt attachment? How does this work (if it does at all?).

Lowepro Stealth Reporter D550AW: A little on the "thick" side compared to the other two, but looks to swallow my gear. Love the idea of top access, sliplock attachments (I have a few pods) but the main attractor is... the waist strap. I'm thinking this'll take a load off my shoulders?

Sorry for the long thread folks!

Ratmagiclady · 01-04-2011, 02:02 PM

Looks like you have some pretty good options, there. I've got a big canvas bag I call 'The Caboose' which could also take that stuff, but I don't see any more on Ebay.

What I liked to do for weddings and events is actually to bring two smaller bags, one of which would be basically-emptied, (usually the medium format body, flash, battery, and bracketry, also extra film and bits.) Then I could cache that bag somewhere and not have to be carrying around such a big affair all night, just working out of the smaller one. Not that you don't sometimes want a bigger bag, anyway.

anthers · 01-04-2011, 05:34 PM

My favorite camera bag is a regular Timbuk2 messenger bag with a Tenba camera insert. I use it with the insert when I need it to be a camera bag, and I take it out when I want a regular shoulder bag. Works great! Easy access, not too conspicuous, very portable. I'd imagine something similar might work well for you.

One caveat to shoulder bags is they load all the weight on one shoulder, so it can give you a sore back after a day's worth of lugging stuff around.

dugrant153 · 01-04-2011, 09:47 PM

Originally posted by Ratmagiclady

What I liked to do for weddings and events is actually to bring two smaller bags, one of which would be basically-emptied, (usually the medium format body, flash, battery, and bracketry, also extra film and bits.) Then I could cache that bag somewhere and not have to be carrying around such a big affair all night, just working out of the smaller one. Not that you don't sometimes want a bigger bag, anyway.

I have considered that option and I think I may do it to a certain degree. But I guess I like having all my stuff on me since I move to the back of the church, the corner of the reception room, up front, etc etc. I hate having to go back and forth to change lenses or reload film or change SD cards, etc. So I'd probably use the (soon to be chosen) shoulder bag for carrying my main stuff around (all cameras + film + SD + extras), and a roller or something for the backups and the backups of the backups.

But I wouldn't keep my main stuff in the roller lying there. No way. I've been lucky by being cautious about theft and carrying all my main stuff on me.

Quote:

My favorite camera bag is a regular Timbuk2 messenger bag with a Tenba camera insert.

I considered that route as a few people talked about it in previous threads. Hmm... I'm thinking it'll probably get really heavy though once loaded up with all my gear? I remember using a 5MDH (Crumpler) in Japan and it was just ouch on my shoulders... and I ended up shedding lenses (leaving them in the hostel) and going with a basic setup and no netbook!

dugrant153 · 01-06-2011, 01:24 PM

Just curious if anyone has any experience with the "waist strap" on the Lowepro Stealth Reporter or Classified bags, or experience with the backpack harness for the Thinktank Urban Disguise?

01-04-2011, 01:11 AM	#1
dugrant153 Veteran Member Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Vancouver, BC Photos: Gallery Posts: 1,059	A good tight (but large) shoulder bag?? Hi folks. Looking for some help in sorting my thoughts out! Curious on your thoughts on this one? So, after doing some event work and realizing that the belt setup is becoming too heavy for me (and doesn't suit my work flow of lots of travelling in buses and such), I'm looking into a different kind of bag to swallow my gear and hopefully make it comfortable enough to cart around. My purpose of a bag: carry with me to weddings and events, and also everyday use (street photo, travel photo, still lifes). Must be not overly massively huge (I intend to carry it everywhere I go). I've tried backpacks but found access to slow and cumbersome (even the flipside and the classified slings), plus prefer not to have one on while shooting formal event. Tried belt system and worked, but started to get too cumbersome to move with and access everything once I tried to load all my gear on it, especially the medium format. I am thinking a slim and comfortable shoulder bag that won't bring too much attention to myself (I'm sure my Mini Diana Lomo cam will do that... hehe). Tried a few shoulder bags and found them uncomfortable on my shoulders but... these ones I picked out seem to have a way to compensate that a bit. Equipment to carry: Pentax 645 medium format camera Pentax PZ-1P + FA31 Limited Pentax K-7 + DA*55 2 x 120 film inserts FA77 DA21/DA40 Room for 35mm and 120mm film rolls Room for a flash (if I need it - I shoot natural light most of the time) My considerations: Thinktank Urban Disguise 50 - Looks like a great bag. Somewhat discrete. The design looks to be excellent and the quality of the stuff is superb, as with all Thinktank products. I wasn't considering this shoulder bag at first, but then I realized there's a backpack strap attachment you can get to "convert it" to a backpack. This makes it almost uber awesome if my shoulder gets tired since I just convert it to backpack mode, and use in shoulder mode when working. Lowepro Classified 200 AW: Very slim and slender. Looks to be well made and looks very very discrete (great if I go into funky areas for street photography). Top access makes it great for pulling out all my wears if I need it. It also apparently has a waist-belt attachment? How does this work (if it does at all?). Lowepro Stealth Reporter D550AW: A little on the "thick" side compared to the other two, but looks to swallow my gear. Love the idea of top access, sliplock attachments (I have a few pods) but the main attractor is... the waist strap. I'm thinking this'll take a load off my shoulders? Sorry for the long thread folks!

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01-04-2011, 02:02 PM	#2
Ratmagiclady Veteran Member Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: GA Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 13,563	Looks like you have some pretty good options, there. I've got a big canvas bag I call 'The Caboose' which could also take that stuff, but I don't see any more on Ebay. What I liked to do for weddings and events is actually to bring two smaller bags, one of which would be basically-emptied, (usually the medium format body, flash, battery, and bracketry, also extra film and bits.) Then I could cache that bag somewhere and not have to be carrying around such a big affair all night, just working out of the smaller one. Not that you don't sometimes want a bigger bag, anyway.

01-04-2011, 05:34 PM	#3
anthers Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: California Photos: Albums Posts: 125	My favorite camera bag is a regular Timbuk2 messenger bag with a Tenba camera insert. I use it with the insert when I need it to be a camera bag, and I take it out when I want a regular shoulder bag. Works great! Easy access, not too conspicuous, very portable. I'd imagine something similar might work well for you. One caveat to shoulder bags is they load all the weight on one shoulder, so it can give you a sore back after a day's worth of lugging stuff around.

01-04-2011, 09:47 PM	#4
dugrant153 Veteran Member Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Vancouver, BC Photos: Gallery Posts: 1,059 Original Poster	Originally posted by Ratmagiclady What I liked to do for weddings and events is actually to bring two smaller bags, one of which would be basically-emptied, (usually the medium format body, flash, battery, and bracketry, also extra film and bits.) Then I could cache that bag somewhere and not have to be carrying around such a big affair all night, just working out of the smaller one. Not that you don't sometimes want a bigger bag, anyway. I have considered that option and I think I may do it to a certain degree. But I guess I like having all my stuff on me since I move to the back of the church, the corner of the reception room, up front, etc etc. I hate having to go back and forth to change lenses or reload film or change SD cards, etc. So I'd probably use the (soon to be chosen) shoulder bag for carrying my main stuff around (all cameras + film + SD + extras), and a roller or something for the backups and the backups of the backups. But I wouldn't keep my main stuff in the roller lying there. No way. I've been lucky by being cautious about theft and carrying all my main stuff on me. Quote: My favorite camera bag is a regular Timbuk2 messenger bag with a Tenba camera insert. I considered that route as a few people talked about it in previous threads. Hmm... I'm thinking it'll probably get really heavy though once loaded up with all my gear? I remember using a 5MDH (Crumpler) in Japan and it was just ouch on my shoulders... and I ended up shedding lenses (leaving them in the hostel) and going with a basic setup and no netbook!

01-06-2011, 01:24 PM	#5
dugrant153 Veteran Member Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Vancouver, BC Photos: Gallery Posts: 1,059 Original Poster	Just curious if anyone has any experience with the "waist strap" on the Lowepro Stealth Reporter or Classified bags, or experience with the backpack harness for the Thinktank Urban Disguise?