Does the perfect camera gear bag exist? Is it possible to design one?

Permit me to remove the suspense before I even start. There's no such thing as a perfect camera gear bag.

I've been in the midst of a discussion for a couple of months about the perfect camera gear bag. Many photographers have two, three, four, perhaps more camera gear bags. For this article I counted mine. I have seven camera gear bags, plus Pelican cases for shipping or hauling gear for various special shoots.

The problem is, all bags have some strengths and weaknesses. Many bags are general purpose, while others are for specific uses.

There are shoulder bags, belt bags, belt systems, sling bags, roller bags, and backpacks to haul photo gear. I use a backpack when in transit, a smaller backpack hiking, when shooting wildlife images, a Dryzone backpack by Lowepro for rain, snow, rainforests or rafting and a modular belt system by Think Tank in cities. I have other bags for other purposes.

Each bag isn't quite suitable as a “perfect” multipurpose bag. Some are heavy, not protective enough in all conditions, a pain to carry all day, or scream “Steal me!” Some aren't large enough, for some shoots.

Photo Equipment Backpacks Part IV: My Favorite Backpacks

In Part I, of the Photo Equipment Backpack series, I discussed making sure the backpack was properly fitted to ensure the gear inside could be carried comfortably.

In Part II of the series, I discussed the competing needs of in-transit and shooting backpacks, and why those needs have prevented “cross-over” backpack design success, to date.

In Part III of the series I discussed how to ensure photo backpacks will have the required capacity, and what features are essential in quality photo backpacks.

In this conclusion of the Photo Equipment Backpack series, I'll discuss my five favorite backpacks, and why I like them, as well as explain why one of these backpacks is likely the precursor to a truly workable “cross-over” backpack, able to handle both in-transit and shooting uses.

Photo Equipment Backpacks Part III: Sizing for Equipment & Features

In Part I, of the Photo Equipment Backpack series, I discussed making sure the backpack was properly fitted to ensure the gear inside it could be carried comfortably.

In Part II of the series, I discussed the competing needs of in-transit and shooting backpacks, and why those needs have prevented “cross-over” backpack design success, to date.

This week I'll discuss how to ensure your photo backpack will have the capacity you need, and what features are essential in quality photo backpacks.

In order to size your backpack, make a list of potential destination types and locations you wish to photograph: cities, seashores, seas, mountains, rural areas, national parks, historic sites, religious buildings, wildlife, architecture, sporting events, family get-togethers, etc. Then determine what equipment you would use for each. Finally determine what combination of destinations, locations and photo shoots, you'd likely visit in one journey. Once you've completed those lists you'll know what equipment your backpack(s) will need to carry, and therefore the size backpack you'll need.

Photo Equipment Backpacks Part II: In-transit vs. Shooting Use

When advising photographers about backpacks, I've often found they've neglected to consider how well the backpack fits when making their choice.

I'm constantly saying, “A photo equipment backpack, first and foremost, must be designed as a great backpack, with a well designed harness, and must fit its user properly.”

In Part I of my “Photo Equipment Backpacks” series I discussed the importance of having a backpack fit well to ensure one's photo gear can be carried in it comfortably.

How it's used, is equally important. The two major uses of photo gear backpacks, are in-transit and shooting.

In-transit backpacks are designed to maximize the amount of photo and related gear they can carry, often including laptop computers and tablets. In-transit backpacks need to carry the photographer's total kit chosen for each journey. When out shooting, the in-transit backpack provides safe storage for gear not needed that day.

Shooting backpacks are designed to carry the photo gear needed for a day's shooting, while simultaneously carrying the non-photo gear needed for the day, including food, drink, clothing and emergency items. Photographers' daily shooting needs can change substantially, as one visits different venues with divergent shooting opportunities.

Let's look at the competing needs of in-transit and shooting backpack designs.

Photo Equipment Backpacks Part I: Avoid choosing the wrong backpack

I've found that serious photographers understand the importance of careful, meticulous, product research, before they purchase new photo equipment. It's not surprising, considering the cost photo gear these days.
For backpacks, photographers seem to typically investigate capacity, flexibility, zippers, flap pockets, tripod mounts, rain protection, axillary handles, security, and other features.

Unfortunately, by the end of the first day using their new backpacks, despite their research, far too many photographers, immediately relegate them to a closet, learning the hard way, the one attribute they never considered was whether the backpack would fit them well, allowing them to comfortably carry their gear hour after hour, day after day.

Regardless of its capacity and feature set, a photo equipment backpack has to fit the photographer's body well. A poorly fitted backpack, will result in sore shoulders, and/or a sore back. It can turn a great photo hike/walk into misery and exhaustion.

A photo equipment backpack, first and foremost, must be designed as a great backpack, with a well designed harness, and must fit its user properly.

Choosing photography equipment bags for travel - Epilogue

I've been getting many queries about choosing bags for travel, for photography gear. The two major domains in which photographers carry their gear on trips are “in-transit,” and during shooting.

In Part I, I discussed the problems of “in-transit” travel, which also affects how you pack for your trip.

In Part II, I discussed the specifications for bags for carrying your gear while “in-transit” which must be considered when choosing bags for that purpose.

In Part III, I discussed bags for carrying your gear while shooting.

I created this blog to offer helpful information for travel photographers; general tourists capturing beautiful memories, through advanced amateurs intent on sophisticated travel photography. I'm not writing articles to induce readers to use the same equipment I prefer, merely because I use them.

So, with reluctance, due to many emailed requests, I will reveal below which bags I currently use for my travel photography, and why. I hope everyone will concentrate on the why, and not the particular bags themselves.

Choosing photography equipment bags for travel - Part II

I've been getting many queries about choosing bags for travel for photography gear. The two major domains in which photographers carry their gear on trips are “in-transit,” and during shooting.

In Part I, I discussed the problems of “in-transit” travel, which also affects how you pack for your trip.

In Part II, below, I'll discuss specifications for bags for carrying your gear while “in-transit.”

In Part III, I'll discuss carrying your gear while shooting.

As already discussed in Part I, whether traveling by bus, train, ship or plane, the issues of “in-transit” travel are similar. When traveling solely by car, the traveler is restrained only by the car's capacity and the traveler's personal convenience, so whatever works for other transportation modes, will work for automobile travel.

In Part I you learned it's essential to stow photography equipment in “carry-on” bags while traveling, due to breakage, and liability issues, and the ability to take photos, even while “in-transit.”

There are three general constraints for any “carry-on” bag, including photography gear bags; size, number and weight.

What is the perfect camera/equipment bag for travel?

I can answer that question which was recently posed on one of the larger Internet photography forums, quite succinctly. "It doesn't exist."

We all travel to many varied destinations, under such diverse circumstances that there is no single bag which fits everyone, or even anyone, every time.

I did some research before setting out to write this article. There are many categories of camera/equipment bags. The main ones are: shoulder bags, backpacks & daypacks, sling bags, belt systems, hip/waist packs, briefcases, satchels, and rolling bags. At B&H Photo-Video's web site, a brief survey shows they carry 592 shoulder bags and 256 backpacks for cameras and accessories. That makes 848 camera bags when I stopped counting, and I wasn't even close to half-way through all their bag choices.

When I finished counting my camera/equipment bags, it totaled 12 which include: shoulder bags, backpacks, belt systems, waist bags, a brief case, and a satchel. Some were used for a while, then discarded when they didn't meet my needs, and are now used only for storage, but I do use 2 backpacks, a belt system, and a satchel regularly, chosen mostly, at this point, according to where I'm going and what equipment I'm carrying.

Photographers have varied bag purposes, equipment, body types, and travel destination requirements. I've found that these four factors are the main ones in determining the bag(s) needed for any particular journey. I regularly use 4 different bags for my travels, according to the those four factors.

1. Bag Purpose — When I travel, I often have two diverse needs for a camera bag which must be fulfilled on a trip; hauling equipment to and from airports and hotels, as well as carrying equipment while taking photographs so they are readily accessible. In airports and hotels my equipment needs to be secure and safe, protected from the elements and potential shock or breakage, in a bag which meets the requirements of government security and airline rules. When actually hauling my equipment while taking photographs, protection from rain, dirt, wind, etc. continues to be important, but now fast access becomes critical.
2. Equipment — I don't know about you, but I travel with at least one DSLR camera body with zoom lens attached, plus a wide angle zoom, and a super zoom telephoto at a minimum. In addition, I bring along a portable battery powered hard drive, memory chips, a flash, flash bracket and cable, cable release, filters, all kinds of other accessories, plus my laptop and its accessories. They all have to make it on my trip, and some need to be carried during the shoots.
3. Body Type — I'm not a big person, and I'm not twenty any longer, but I'm in good shape. I've gotten to the point where I haul around a lot of gear and aggregately it's not exactly light. As a result, I prefer to spread the weight on my body, so most of the time when I travel, I use a backpack from airport to hotel, etc., and a belt system while shooting. I occasionally use a satchel when I'm on a day trip, and most of the time will not actually be carrying equipment, or at least not much equipment. My main problem with shoulder bags, sling bags, brief cases, and satchels is they rest all their weight on one shoulder. Other bags use more body to spread their weight. That being said, many photographers love shoulder bags for their ease of equipment access and capacity.
   
4. Travel Destination Requirements —If I'm traveling to a city, I need my bags to withstand their environment, but if I'm traveling to a rain forest, or perhaps white water rafting, I have a completely different set of requirements which includes the need for being waterproof, not just water resistant.

All the bags do have some common requirements. The bags must,

• have the capacity to carry the required equipment.
• have a high quality to handle the rigors of travel.
• have strong zippers able with withstand the torture of use during travel.
• be protective of the gear through shock-absorbing, water resistant materials.
• meet carry-on requirements of airlines if used for that purpose.
• have customizable organization in the case of backpacks and other bags, or have enough variety of modules to carry gear in the case of belt systems.
• have rain protection built into the bag which can be used as needed.
• have the capability of carrying drinking water while traveling.

Each photographer has to carefully determine their own bag requirements to find their perfect bags.