camera bags

I bought a lowepro bag for my Nikon D70s but am already outgrowing it. I'll
be ordering a flash and telephoto lens this week and was wondering it you
have any recommendations for a bag? It is so hard to decide on a size based
solely on measurements! Thanks. Mo

 

Just the other day I was looking at the Lowepro DryZone 200 and was
wunderin the same thing. I suppose we could drag our stuff to the store
and if it all fits, we commit.

http://www.lowepro.com/Products/Backpacks/waterproof/DryZone_200.aspx

 

Ya know, just a thought...so much theft going on these days, someone
suggested that you're just advertising your wares with an obvious camera
bag, so they just used a nice large diaper bag. Probably be able to keep
your lunch in there too.

 

One trick to get more into a bag (if you have two or more fairly
short lenses), is to glue two of the back caps together. The knurling
on the Nikon back caps interlocks, and I've glued them together by
holding them together, and dripping a light run of MEK (Methyl Ethyl
Keytone) onto the point of joining, then separating them slightly to let
it run between the two, and pressing together again. Hold it together
for perhaps fifteen minutes (light spring clamps work well for this, and
it is then together forever, or until you physically break it.

This allows two shorter lenses to be stored on end in a camera
bag in a single storage compartment. In my case, it is a 20mm f2.8 and
a 16mm f3.5 -- both are AI and need manual exposure setting. I can do
the same with the 50mm f1.4 and the "28-105mm f3.5-4.5 D", so I expect
the 18-70mm "kit" lens (when I get it) to work well on this same sort of
arrangement.

The 180mm f2.8 (Also AI, but converted to CPU for auto exposure)
is as tall as the two lenses combined.

I use all of the above with a D70, but the probable difference
is that I keep the camera body and one lens out of the bag, so it holds
the SB-800 flash, the stack of two lenses, the 180mm f2.8, and whichever
of the 50mm f1.4 or 28-105mm zoom is to on the body at the time, along
with the charger and power cord, and a spare battery (in a film loop in
the lid).

In addition, a handheld meter in the front zipper compartment.
All of these fit in a LowePro Elite III with no problem, but to hold a
tripod and a collection of filters, I've gone to a somewhat larger kiwi
bag which I already had around the house.

I would suggest keeping the LowePro, and using it for carrying a
subset of all of your lenses for when you know that you won't need them
all -- just to make the load lighter.

One thing about the Kiwi, however, which makes carrying a larger
load easier (including a tripod strapped to the case) is that it has a
belt to hold the case to the body, so it does not swing around as you
walk and climb over obstacles.

Enjoy,
DoN.

 

I reckon an old cheap looking but funtional bag is the way to go. Just
remember not to store your camera equipment in it after use.
Some of the bags that I see with foam in them are a very bad idea for
camera storage. They get wet from a little rain, then they get dumped
camera, lenses and all in a cupboard, take days or weeks to dry out, and
act as a fairly perfect incubator for growing fungus.
I found a couple of old nikkor lenses in my basement that I had more of
less forgotten about for 15 years. I sold one - it was stored loose in
the bottom of a cardboard carton, and was perfect. The other was in a
genuine padded lens case - and if lens fungus had the value per kg as
black truffles, this one would have been priceless.

 

Point taken... on the one hand I'm not terribly fond of the neon yellow
either, unless I'm chasing it down the river - on the other hand, the
specs infer the contents would likely survive such a stunt. Or I could
just stick with some other enclosure and stuff it in a seabag which is
what I did last year in Costa Rica when I chased on the Pacuare. Sadly,
this one-strap bag has waaay too many miles on it and is no longer
trusted, and the Tamrac inside just isn't big enough. I'm concerned
less about theft and more about protection from the elements while 600
miles from pavement. Maybe if I strip off the pretty logos and paste a
bio hazard sign on it...

 

I,m using a LowePro Stealth Reporter 500AW with my D70 kit and it works well
so far....
D70 + 18-70
AF80-200 f2.8ED
AF50 f1.4
2 x batts + charger
cleaning kit, 2 x CF, CF reader, notebook, pens. maglite..

Still room for a flash....

Guy

 

Kata R-103 or Kata R-102

 

What a great tip! I have been pondering a way of getting more manual focus
short lenses into my Magnum AW bag for a while now.

So far in the bag I have managed to cram in:

D70 with 18-70mm DX
F100 with 28-70mm f/2.6 Angenieux (big lens)
FM2n (body only)
70-200mm VR
17-35mm f/2.8
16mm f/2.8 fisheye
105mm f/2.5 AIS
SB-800
Minolta IV flashmeter.

Everything fits nicely, but I would like to carry along my 24mm f/2.8 for
the FM2n. I could do this by hitching it up to the 105mm.

Bag weighs a ton but this is only for times when I am not going to be
walking far. For that I have a locally made backpack that swallows up just
about everything.

Another good bag is the Lowepro Minitrekker. It carries quite a nice
assortment of gear. I'm sorry I sold mine.

 

I've got a Lowepro Comutreker, and it's a great backpack, one of the
features I like is if you run out of space inside you can just add another
Lowepro pouch to the outside.

-SL

 

I use a LowePro 5 (Nova?) for two bodies and 5 lenses, 2 lasrge
flashes, and the usual assortment of large diameter filters, fil, and
doo-dads of all kinds. Two of the lenses in there are quite large
(80-200 f/2.8 and 28-70 f/2.8).

I keep my equipment in there all of the time, so I just need to 'tune'
what is in there according to whatever outing I'm on.

I keep thinkig of a new bag but to date I haven't found the right one.

Cheers,
Alan

 

[ ... ]

[ ... ]

I can't claim originality on this. There was such a glued
back-cap on the 180mm f2.8 which I picked up at a hamfest about a year
ago. I did not get the previous owner's name.

However, the lens back-cap pair had been used so long that the
rotation stops on the bayonets were worn mostly away, so you could keep
on rotating until it came free again. That was a bit of an inconvenience,
so -- I bought a spare pair of back caps, and tried the MEK to
solvent-weld them together. It worked well, and I'll be doing more pair
as time goes on.

That one sounds impressive. I didn't know that Angenieux made
lenses with a Nikon mount. I presume that it is too much to hope that
it will meter on the D70 body?

O.K. That's the one which I have back to back with the 20mm
f2.8 -- nope, that is a f3.5, not an f2.8. Does yours have the set of
four filters built in selected by an extra ring on the lens? Neutral,
yellow, orange and red.)

With the case?

O.K. I don't have one of these at all -- just a Gossen LunaPro
SBC.

The longest walk that I've taken with this (with a subset of the
lenses, but with the strapped-on tripod) was for the 4th of July
fireworks. My wife drove two of us (a friend and me) to as close as we
could get, but that was rather restricted. And when we returned, we had
to walk even farther to get to where she could pick us up. Luckily, it
was not a killer hot day, unlike some the week before.

I wonder how it compares with the Elite III that I have.
Smaller than the Kiwi, but it carries a reasonable amount of stuff. I
have no idea when it was new, as I got mine third hand, back around 1980
or so.

Enjoy,
DoN.

 

I bought a little Lowepro bag just for my new Rebel XT, and then when I
bought the Tamron 75-300 I bought a padded case for it. Added a monopod,
external flash, etc.. My solution was to stuff all of it into an $18
backpack from
Wal-Mart believe it or not. Very comfy, holds everything, even has a water
bottle
and pocket! Cheap, and certainly doesn't say "CAMERA!"

T.W.

 

Sorry for the delay in replying - I was having trouble getting this group
for a while.

The Angenieux I have is a full auto-focussing F-mount lens that works
beautifully on all my Nikons without restriction.

I have the filters but they are fitted by means of a bayonet mount at the
rear of the lens.

Yep. In the case, with the diffuser and all other accessories too.

When I still had my Canon kit I made the mistake of carrying this bag with
a whole assortment of Canon gear around the opening of the city's new
aquarium. I had a sore neck for a week after!

I can't say I know those makes. I am however, determined to get another
Lowepro Mini Trekker before the end of the year.

 

This thread is almost a month old, but I'm a bit behind on my usenet
reading.

On 18 Jul 2005 00:06:45 -0400, (DoN. Nichols)
wrote:

[[snip]]

[[snip]]

Don,

Are you having that guy in South Carolina do the conversion? the one
with the weird web site? I'd like to get some of my AI Nikkors
"chipped" but there are a lot of lenses he doesn't convert, such as
the 105 mm f2.5.

When I was first learning about this guy and his service, I followed
some threads linked from his web site. Read those carefully. There
are some very unhappy people out there with this guy's service and
turnaround time.

Padre Kodak

 

[ ... ]

Already done -- I received the lens back in time for last
Halloween, and it got a lot of use on the drive up to a cousin's
wedding.

In part, it is because he has to find chips with a matching
maximum aperture, and I guess that there is no f2.5 lens with a chip.

In part, it is because he has had difficulty finding room in
some of the lenses for a chip -- otherwise, I would have sent my 20mm
f2.8 off to him after the other lens was done.

Agreed. I spent a lot of time reading all of those links. I
got the 180mm f2.8 at a hamfest for $100.00. Until it got converted, I
would not be able to use it as I would prefer, so I sent it to him with
careful documentation of what I sent, including listing the protective
case, and the lens front and rear caps. I talked to him before I sent
it. I did not bug him while it was in process. (I know how time can
get away from you when you are doing something on the side like this.)

The end result was a lens which worked perfectly, aside from the
minor quirk that it lies to the camera, claiming to be a 300mm lens,
instead of a 180mm lens. (A minor quirk, all told, as with the 1.5 crop
factor, it is closer to 300mm (270, IIRC) than it is to its real focal
length.

I have three lenses which I would like to have converted, but he
does not do them. The 16mm f3.5 fisheye (which I am *sure* does not
have room for the chip), the 20mm f2.8 (which might be a bit tight), and
a 80-200mm f4.5 zoom with the focus and the zoom performed by the same
collar -- push/pull for zoom, twist for focus.

I now have the 18-70mm "kit" lens, so I have the range of the
20mm covered, though without the f2.8 speed. Some of these days I will
get the 70-200mm f2.8. Generally, what I need the 16mm f3.5 Fisheye for
can be handled either by a hand-held meter, or by "chimping" with the
histogram.

I can't say whether others will have good luck with his work,
but I am pleased with what he did for me.

Enjoy,
DoN.