The Man Purse Problem

I carry a small, thin man purse of some sort pretty much all the time. I hate stuff in my pockets.

For a full size camera I'd carry a small bag like an Ona Bowery. Otherwise, it's a slim canvas bag with essentials and a GR or XA2.

Never understood why more guys don't use them. I'm partial to the vertical format like this one.

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Man bag is better than murse (man purse). My take is that I am secure enough to not care what my friends think. That said, the preference is domke these days after using many more expensive and prettier alternatives in the past. When I use a Ricoh GR or two, I use a Topo Designs Accessory Shoulder Bag. It is just big enough to fit my GRIII and GRIIIx next to each other and is only about an inch think.
 

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Meh, camera bags? It’s what ever I can find at Value Village for less than $5. Plus I go on senior day and get an extra 30% off. Have built up quite a collection over the years, have spent perhaps $60 total, and just select the one appropriate for the day.
 
Because I walk or take two wheels most places, I always keep a small, shoulder-slung Peak Design bag on me. It's incredibly useful. Not only can you keep stuff out of your pockets, but it can hold a camera with a lens, maybe another lens, a small flash, phone charger, glasses/sunglasses case, spare film, small things you need to carry around, etc. Those who call, pejoratively, a utility bag a "man purse" have no idea what they are missing!
 
Judge Holden said:
Hear, hear. Bags are a great way to carry things around that you cannot fit in your hands or pockets. If a purse is best for your needs and fashion sensibility, so be it. If another kind of bag, so be it. Don't be a wimp who conforms to society's arbitrary standards of what a man should be. Be an individual.
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I've used a shoulder bag for years, after I got tired of trying to carry a bunch of keys, cell phone, comb, pen, eyeglasses stuff, etc. etc. in my suit pants pockets and jacket. Certainly in Europe I didn't get any looks, and while I got. few here in the States, over time those have disappeared. And I can drop a Minox GT-E in there pretty easily. Really, a bag makes a lot of sense these days.
 
I cannot quite fathom why carrying a satchel for odds and ends is a "girly" thing. Folks have carried satchels, large and small, for thousands of years. And now we think we are sexually defined by what we use to carry things in. Like a briefcase is "guy" and a satchel is "girl." Really? Feh Use whatever works.
 
boojum said:
I cannot quite fathom why carrying a satchel for odds and ends is a "girly" thing. Folks have carried satchels, large and small, for thousands of years. And now we think we are sexually defined by what we use to carry things in. Like a briefcase is "guy" and a satchel is "girl." Really? Feh Use whatever works.
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I do not think it is the satchel, but the beauty and size of the satchel that makes people react weird. Dudes are weird.
 
Most of the time I'm carrying a couple heavyish Nikon rangefinders, so I use a regular backpack with a camera insert. However, like jsrocket above, when I want to travel a little lighter, I use a Topo Designs block bag. It's perfect for my Bessa R, an extra lens, some film, and other accessories. Yes, my wife calls it my man purse, but I call it my street photography assault bag. So there.

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I have like 10 bags for vacations but for daily use... it's pockets only....one camera, one lens, one extra roll of film. Add-ons include a spot meter in my back pocket if using Rollei or early Leicas, eyes for the DR Summicron if I take that. Non-photo essential items: pipe (extra tobacco in another film can), zippo, phone, wallet, and keys. Summer can be challenging with the addition of sunglasses, a book and/or a Bluetooth speaker.
 
Bill Pierce said:
...
...For those who think a smaller camera attracts less attention shooting in public areas - It’s your behavior, mannerisms and shooting technique much more than camera size that attracts or doesn’t attract attention - at least that’s my opinion.
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I so agree Bill.

I love Swiss Gear small messenger bags. Carries all I want to - phone, small compact digi-camera, keys, headphones, paper pencil, coins, maps, brochures, papers, passport, etc. It has so many little pockets and zippered compartments to store stuff. Brought this to Europe with me and felt so secure walking around with this slung across my body (not draped over my shoulder) - and usually with the zippers facing inwards towards my body. Pockets free of stuff; ok, maybe my wallet in my cargo short pants with secure pockets or in the bag. My hands are free for "whatever" I may encounter :)

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Man, ^^ that ^^ could be a problem around embassies and official state buildings etc. Could be mistaken for something else. :)

In Paris, while my ex-girlfriend was shopping for something for me (er, no her) at the Hermes store, I went out photographing the streets/scenery nearby and came across these beautiful tall embassy doors. Once I was on the adjacent sidewalk, I was approached and stopped by a Sentry Guard who exited his shack - hands on machine gun - asking what business I had there. I explained to him just a tourist photographing. He suggested I leave the immediate area. Yikes! And, I just had on cargo shorts, athletic t-shirt (it was hot!), and my little Canon S90. Go figure...

This was in 2015 - several months before Bataclan incident occurred. But seeing armed guards with automatic weapons patrolling in 2's, 3's, or 4's around the various state buildings was a little off-setting when we first arrived.
 
Bill Pierce said:
So, here’s the question. Is the smaller size of the rangefinder with wide-angle lenses a significant advantage to you? For those who think a smaller camera attracts less attention shooting in public areas - It’s your behavior, mannerisms and shooting technique much more than camera size that attracts or doesn’t attract attention - at least that’s my opinion. But always having a camera with you. It’s wonderful to have a camera you can wear under a jacket or carry in large pocket or a tiny belt pouch. The full frame mirrorless combinations like the one we are discussing are too big for that. I carry mine in a little bag along with the wallet, cell phone, face masks e.t.c.. But I also notice that when I’m out with friends, I’m the only person with the impediment of a “man purse.” Your thoughts,,, And perhaps any solutions to the problem of the little bit bigger cameras and man purses.
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Short answer: embrace the bag and stop caring about how it appears to others.

Long answer:

I don't know about where you live, but in Melbourne, many men carry bags. It's just the way it goes. Everyone from the scrawny hipster with a leather satchel, to the Lebanese bodybuilder in a Versace tracksuit and Gucci bum bag, everyone has one, and no one bats an eyelid. I know some guys who have a small backpack that goes everywhere with them, which carries their iPad, extra jacket, umbrella or whatever.

As someone who prefers smaller cameras for everyday carry, I go out with a few. The Sony RX0 is the size of a DSLR battery and is always in my pocket, replacing the Ricoh GR cameras I had used for years before. The secondary camera is often my Panasonic LX10, which has the advantages of f1.4 at the wide end and up to a 72mm equivalent zoom. Depending on what I'm wearing and how I feel, the LX10 goes in my shoulder bag or a belt pouch.

And finally, the main photo camera for walking around is either my M9, Panasonic S5 with a smallish lens, or Panasonic GX85, which is a rangefinder style m43 camera. Sometimes I take out my Panasonic G9, but with the Olympus 12mm f2, a very small wide angle lens.

Around 2004, I bought a small shoulder bag and never looked back. I don't know how I did without one, even if I was wearing a jacket with a lot of pockets. The sheer convenience of a shoulder bag cannot be underestimated. That purchase lead to a fairly comprehensive bag collection which included some mistakes, like a beautiful leather satchel I never use as it is too heavy, a Billingham Hadley Pro I hardly use because flap-bags annoy me no end, and a sling bag / bum bag which is too soft to comfortably hold anything as chunky as a pocket camera.

I prefer bags with a bit of structure so they hold a camera, but not so rigid that they stick out from me. Currently, my favourite bags are:

- bellroy sling - it's very flat and compact, but can expand to accommodate a small drink bottle if necessary

- Crumpler Dry Red boarding bag - this has sadly been discontinued, and I should have bought another before it disappeared. It's big enough to hold a M9 with Distagon 35, a couple more lenses, and a second body like the GX85. The bottom isn't padded, so I've used a strip of Billingham foam to make an inside base.

- Alpaka Bravo X Sling - the shape makes it fit to the body, and easily holds a M body with flat lens like the Elmarit 28 or Color Skopar 21, 25 or 35 along with all the bits and pieces like cellphone, wallet, keys, masks, sanitizer

- Crumpler LLA Waist Bag - although the material is very soft, it's lightly padded, and works well for smaller cameras like the Panasonic GX85, or M9 with a small lens in a pinch. Being very light, it acts like a giant pocket that can hold whatever you don't want in your hand.
 
Is this the man purse problem?
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FWIW younger folks have no such hangups. I see nearly as many men as women carrying bags nowadays.
People with messenger bags, backpacks, sling bags and all variations thereof seem to be everywhere I look.

My main gripe with carrying a bag is that nearly any camera gear is a burden that will invariably slow you down.
It's a bad idea to explore The Crevices at Lake Minnewaska wearing a waistpack camera bag. - Ask me how I know!
And having too many options can work against you. Several times I have missed the best shot while changing lenses.

I own many camera bags of all sizes, mostly Domke. However I will carry nothing larger than the F5XB.
Larger models are never toted about and are exclusively for storage at home or transported in a vehicle.

Chris
 
For me, smaller is better, both for lenses and camera bodies. That’s one reason why I like Barnack-type Leicas (and Canons) so much, as well as the Leica CL digital, which is the same size as a IIIc. My M-240 with the small CV Ultron 35/2.0 is on the large size, but still small enough to carry around easily.

For the past year, I’ve been carrying camera gear like the above in a small, black bag made by Timbuk2: the Vapor Cross body. It doesn’t look like a camera bag and doesn’t attract much attention. It’s got three compartments that can hold a small rangefinder with a 35 or 50 lens mounted, one extra lens, some film or batteries, an extra card or two, a pen, and a notebook. It’s lightweight, water resistant, and pretty well constructed IMO. I’ve used this bag as a walkabout camera bag for daily shooting, where I’m not carrying a ton of gear. During a photo workshop last October, I kept the CL digital with the 18mm Elmarit in the bag, and had the M-240 with the Ultron 35 in my hand, as I walked about. It worked very well.
 
Folks who can eschew a bag, simply slinging a camera over their shoulder for a day's shooting, are very fortunate. But most of my life was spent either right beside the ocean, or, now, in the desert Southwest. Airborne salt spray or blowing dust will destroy your cameras in short order, or, at least, find their way to your sensor and create havoc there. My cameras stay in the bag until I need to shoot; inconvenient, yes, but the alternative is too ugly. And my vote goes to anything from Think Tank: unobtrusive, efficient, and incredibly tough.
 
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