there IS a perfect bag

[buzzardkid]

Recipe for trouble
Take one or preferably two expensive cameras (or some cameras you really love), some film (or memory cards, if you must), some extra lenses, a flash and lots more of small stuff. Now, get a fancy looking camera bag that looks the deal, and pack everything in there. Next, go out shooting, shopping, have a meal and maybe a drink. Let your guard down until somebody grabs your all-to-obvious camera bag and runs off with it.



The late Al Kaplan once explained to me what the photo journalists in the sixties used to carry their gear in: gas mask bags! Al had a decades-long career in Rock 'n Roll photography à la Jim Marshall and news photography, so of course I was interested in the story. And when running into a Swedish Army gas mask bag last year, his story made sense right away.

This is the bag:

And the strap that you can see hanging from it, is attached to my Leica M2.

Here's what the bag can hold without any trouble:

There's my M2 and my M3, both with lens attached. A 90mm Elmar, four rolls of film, a cloth and an exposure calculator disc.
To make sure the cameras do not bump into eachother too much, the order of packing is important. Luckily, the best order is also the most practical one, how is that!

Step 1: Start with tossing the film in the bottom. Boxed film is even nicer, it cushions more. Next, add the 90mm lens and cover it up with the cloth:

Step 2: Now put in the first M body. I either put them in with the bottom down, or with the VF window down. Always lens to the front. Cover the body with part of the cleaning cloth.

Step 3: with the cloth covering the first M body, now put in the second body and leave the strap hanging out from the front.

Step 4: Should you require a hand-held lightmeter, you can either put it in on top somewhere here, or put it in your pocket.

Step 5: Now, the trick is to simply hang the bag either from your shoulder (I'm carrying it on the left hip, so on picture above the strap hangs out at the front) and keep your hand on it (strap in hand, ready to draw and shoot) or carry it left-hip with the bag strap over your right shoulder, in which case I mostly put the bag on before putting on my jacket so that no strap is even running over your chest and back. Stealth mode!


Whenever I feel it is crowded around me, I simply put my hand over the bag (flap is always undone, gotta be ready to shoot, right?), or pull it to my front, where it will hang on the front of my left thigh and cannot be reached from behind.


The camera bodies will be perfectly protected on the bottom by the film boxes as long as you do not do a lot of picking the bag up and putting it down all the time. And since it is a really small bag and does not weigh very much, I cannot see why you would. This bag and contents can be carried for hours without even noticing its weight and size. I've sat down for a meal in a restaurant and have not even taken it off.


Whenever one camera roll is finished, I can swoop out the other one, change the lenses if I need to, and then dunk the used-up camera in the bag until I have the chance to re-load it. There's room for eight rolls of film under the cameras, and it would be easy to pack a few more in pockets.


This bag cost me EUR 15.00. It looks a mess and will be of little interest to any thief scouring for expensive stuff.

[FPjohn]

Do you think the method is transferable to my humble insulated lunch bag?

yours
FPJ

[FrankS]

I sometimes use army surplus canvas bags as camera bags. The gas mask bag pictured, looks too deep to me, but I'm happy that it works for the OP.

[back alley]

i used to use an old army bag when i was just starting out in photography. i could not afford a good bag and frankly didn't know one bag from another.

these days i prefer the domkes and one reason why is that they are mostly a very basic bag with little padding.
i find it interesting that so many folks want to stuff their expensive gear into cheap bags like it's a badge of honour or something...much like having a $2000. lens on a similarly priced body and using the cheapest drug store film that can be found.
for me, the domkes are a nice compromise...not all that expensive or showy yet practical and protective enough...and i have yet to have anyone scream 'camera'!!! at me when i walk down the street.

[buzzardkid]

Originally Posted by back alley

...

... like having a $2000. lens on a similarly priced body and using the cheapest drug store film that can be found.

...

Now that is something I will not do, compromise the image like that!

Thing is, I have an old Billingham Press bag that I used to use for my M's, but nowadays I use it to carry the Mamiya and lenses in and I hate repacking over and over. The exact same bag I have not found in the last two, three years, the newer models have the shoulder strap connecting to the bag in two places on either end and they do not form around my hip and b*tt when walking around with them. I keep on bumping into stuff with a bigger bag on me.

Since this gas mask bag is quite small and close to the body and I keep my hand on it or close to it, it's actually really simple to make sure the cameras don't dent into everything I encounter. It will still take years before my M3 is anywhere near Jim Marshalls brassed M4 at this rate

[damien.murphy]

Deep bags not really for me, but I can see how using such a bag would be great for weight distribution, and carrying the load. For now, the pair of F-5XA and F-5XB Domke bags I use are as close to perfect for me, serving as a one-body, and two-body bag, respectively.

Wouldn't mind a Billingham now though, as typically having solved my own bag dilemma, now I seek a bag that will take niceties such as a book, notebook, pens, etc. also

[Matthew Runkel]

I have the exact style of Swedish bag pictured, which is from the WWII era. Cheap in cost only as it is overbuilt to a degree not seen much today (note thick leather bottom). I removed the leg strap and added the deep single Domke insert plus a piece of foam at the bottom of the insert, which is otherwise unpadded. This is a favorite among multiple bags. I have not found another military surplus bag that touches this for my needs. In it I would normally carry one M body with lens mounted, plus one or two lenses in wraps.

[ferider]

Originally Posted by back alley

i used to use an old army bag when i was just starting out in photography. i could not afford a good bag and frankly didn't know one bag from another.

these days i prefer the domkes and one reason why is that they are mostly a very basic bag with little padding.
i find it interesting that so many folks want to stuff their expensive gear into cheap bags like it's a badge of honour or something...much like having a $2000. lens on a similarly priced body and using the cheapest drug store film that can be found.
for me, the domkes are a nice compromise...not all that expensive or showy yet practical and protective enough...and i have yet to have anyone scream 'camera'!!! at me when i walk down the street.

I actually find domkes (the small ones, that is) in practice quite useless. They offer almost no protection on their bottom, the velcro of the separators comes off easily, and they get wet - in real situations, when out in the rain, I need to be able to put my bag on the ground - impossible when all that separates my lenses from the wet is a thin cardboard sheet and canvas. And for what they are, the domkes are actually quite expensive.

What I like about Johan's solution is the sturdy (leather?) bottom of the bag.

Roland.

[back alley]

roland, some very cheap closed cell foam solves all those problems and add versatility to the domkes.

i never put my bags on the ground, they hang off my body at all times.
never had the velcro come off, ever.

[ferider]

Originally Posted by back alley

roland, some very cheap closed cell foam solves all those problems and add versatility to the domkes.

I do that too - but still prefer ballistic nylon as outer material.

[back alley]

Originally Posted by ferider

I do that too - but still prefer ballistic nylon as outer material.

well, the domkes also come in ballastic nylon but i prefer old fashioned canvas.

[FrankS]

I placed a peice of blue foam (3/4inch thick) from a camper's bed roll (that I'll never use again in that capacity!) to add padding and protection in the bottom of my Domke 803.

[back alley]

same here frank.
i also put it in the domkes inserts, mostly to get my tiny cv lenses closer to the top and thus easier to grab.

[bwcolor]

Don't like deep bags, but do like the idea of less than attractive bags. I use shallow tactical bags from Maxpedition.

[Jamie123]

Speaking of Swedish bags, I think Sandqvist makes some very nice bags and backpacks. Check out the "Roald" backpack!

[jarski]

interesting Johan, but doesn't it become the mess when you want to change something in hurry ? lens, film... think I'd mess up the order pretty quickly

[DanOnRoute66]

A back pack or a hand-held bag would never work for me. I want to have quick access to a bag, which a back pack won't have (you have to take it off, fish around, put it back on). And I don't want a hand-held bag because I want my hands free most of the time to shoot. A hand-held bag gets forgotten or stolen as soon as you put it down. That's why I like shoulder-slung bags like the Domkes, which aren't perfect (wish they would make a shallower, longer bag better suited for RF gear) but they're still the best out there, at least for my needs.

[back alley]

dan, the domke 5xc is a deeper bag but with a difference, you can build a floor in it and have separte access to your lenses down below, much easier than stacking lenses lke i do with the 5xb.

[DanOnRoute66]

Originally Posted by back alley

dan, the domke 5xc is a deeper bag but with a difference, you can build a floor in it and have separte access to your lenses down below, much easier than stacking lenses lke i do with the 5xb.

I'll take a closer look, back alley. Do you have any experience with the F-5XA, by the way? It's the smallest of the three F-5X bags.

[back alley]

the smaller 5xa is also a great bag, depending on what you're packing. i have bought and sold a couple and am wondering about getting yet another.
it works great with one body/lens combo and another lens. it barely feels like it's there when worn over the shoulder.

the 5xb is great for either one or 2 bodies and 2 extra lenses. the 5xc hold everything i own, 2 bodies with attached lenses and 3 extra lenses in the 'bottom' of the bag.

the 5xc is 3 inches higher than the 5xb and weighs 7 ounces more.

[bwcolor]

Domke also has their newer waxed bags which give that old, lived in appearance.

[bwcolor]

I've just got to stay away from these gear discussions... F5XC on the way for newly acquired SLR. No bottom pocket on the waxed version.

[buzzardkid]

You're welcome, Thomas! Should you have an interest but trouble locating the correct bag, I might have a lead on another one here, in a military surplus shop in Groningen, some 30 kms away. Just gimme a holler!

[MC JC86]

The Domkes have a variety of OEM padding options for the bottom. You can buy a nylon and closed cell foam pad that works well for the bottom. Some also come with a hard plastic insert that lines the bottom, about 1/8" thick. I waterproof some of my canvas ones. They're great. I like the OPs use of the mask bag a lot, but it wouldn't be able to deal with everything being stacked under everything else.

[drewbarb]

I gave up the bag search years ago. My 35mm kit is about the same as yours, but these days I just carry one or two cameras over my shoulders under a jacket or heavy shirt. Film and etc. goes in my pockets. I've found that for me the most minimal camera kit is most often the best- at least in terms of the images I come home with. Hence, no bag at all is the best bag.