What Do You Use Or Recommend To Carry Your Camera Gear? Specific To Cameras With Large Lenses

Someone gave me a Tumi laptop computer bag and I love it.

It has enough compartments to hold my lenses, filters, and cameras.

Laptop bag. I only carry one camera, but several lenses, filters and whatever, but one of those canvas exterior laptop bags with the Swiss Army Knife logo works best for me. I don't like back packs at all because you have to take the damnable thing off to get in there. The one I have sits next to my desk, holding stuff I'm not using today and it's been sitting there for a while.

For me, it's a big benefit to NOT carry too much stuff and to have it on my side, not unlike a gunfighter's holster, so I can get in there quickly.

What a coincidence. I can't answer your question (yet), but this bag just arrived at my house this afternoon. I'll probably take it for a test run tonight. I've been doing more trail walking lately, so wanted a backpack solution.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0881CXVPT/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_image_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

My needs aren't quite that demanding, only one body and several moderately sized lenses. I have a Tamrac Adventure 9. It's a day pack/camera back pack. No longer made, but it's 16 years old and has held up really well. I've hiked with it, taken it on planes, dropped it, and dragged it. It has a waist strap which I consider a necessity for anything more than a 30 minute hike. It relieves a lot of pack fatigue. I often put an ice pack in the top and carry lunch. Unfortunately Tamrac hasn't really made a direct replacement that gives me the same features.

I have too many camera bags. Seem to depend on the trip.

If I'm just driving around New Hampshire and Vermont I can bring along my hard-sided Pelican case.

If I'm doing a photoshoot with lights, I pack all my lightstands and tripod into a long bag made for musicans. The strobes fit into place containers.

I used to use the classic Canon backpack bag - https://www.dogfordstudios.com/in-search-of-the-perfect-camera-bag/

But it had too many loose bits on the outside like extra pockets that made it bulky on the plane. I wanted something I could easily fit under the seat on the plane so I got this one - https://www.dogfordstudios.com/best-camera-backpack-for-travel-photography/

I personally use my husband.

Susan wins.

When I go out to shoot, I don't like to be weighed down. I shoot on the fly, so don't really have time to change lenses, an be weighed down or encumbered so why carry them. My camera weighs 8 lbs, that's enough for me, so I carry nothing else. Now if I am traveling, I have a case that looks like a carryon piece of luggage. Usually I am with the hubs and sometimes we switch cameras if we want to shoot with a different camera length. I don't carry a purse either. If it doesn't fit in my pockets, it stays home.

I have many bags and need more. For plane and ship travel I use a hard sealed plastic case from Pelican. That would be useless for hiking. I did have a backpack bag for hiking but I never used it in 10 years so I sold it. Mostly I just mount the lens on a tripod and put it over my shoulder for short hikes. Or I might put it in my Dompke bag. How big is big? I use a 400 f5.6. There are bags made for really long lenses and you can hook a tripod to it. I used to know an AP sports photographer with one but I don't remember the brand.

For short trips by car or even just a few hours I take 3 or 4 bags and 2 tripods. I carry a FF and a crop frame in the car and then I figure what I need and take 1 body and 1 or 2 lenses. I have a real nice Tenba bag too that could hold the 400, but it is not really made for hiking. More for commercial and portrait work. Like when I am wearing my Dockers and my button down shirt not my jeans and t-shirt. For setting on a kitchen counter not on the ground.

So basically if I had to take 2 bodies, a telephoto and a some shorter lenses it would be the Pelican. A hike is another story and I would just decide what lens I am going to want to use and not weigh myself down with a lot of gear. One thing I do not like is a bag that has to be set down to access the camera. Try that in sand or mud or snow or wet ground.
My next bag will be another Dompke. The bigger one. I am rarely far from my car. back when I used to hike it was always pick one lens and tripod and go. I am never gone for more than a few hours. I guess you could get a camel or a mule for longer trips. Or maybe an elephant. Or a dog team. Or an extra sherpa.

depends on how much weight you really want to carry, how easy the access, and how much you want to look like a guy with a lot of expensive gear on their back.

i choose light, i liked sling bags but my shoulder and neck didn't.

https://www.511tactical.com/side-trip-briefcase.html i got this one, but it was too deep. but it holds a lot if you modify it.


https://www.firsttactical.com/products/executive-briefcase
i'm using this one now, its easier, i wouldn't say its the best option but it seems to be working, though i haven't used it for a vacation yet because covid messed everything up. i had to modify it a bit, i have my camera and flash with this and that in there, but if i organize it, i could get another body or lens in there, though not both. however there are two side pockets that would give you a lens space, but its not that padded, better for water and such.

a back pack is your best bet, but just be sure to bring things you know you will use for a few hours and not just things you have that you want to bring, because i found that does not work. i nearly cut my shoulder in half from the constant force of like 15 or more pounds of gear on a strap that turned to a 1/4" rope over a 3 day trip. it was agony. now i pack light if i can.

so i like to have fast access, without attracting too much attention, i don't like it to look expensive, it shouldn't say i have a camera inside, steal me. just something low key that i can put under a table, take off easily, and have access to everything easily. something i can put into an xray fast without tangling like a vest might have.

i think i tried one of everything on the market.


----Mike Savad
http://www.MikeSavad.com

I just keep them in a padded backpack when hiking. Enough compartments to keep them from bumping into each other. Used to have a fancy Lowepro pack but it felt too heavy so now I just use a generic lightweight pack.

I use the FStopGear Ajna with the large insert.

https://shop.fstopgear.com/camera-bags/ajna-40l-travel-and-adventure-camera-backpack/

Not small but it has an aluminum frame to support the weight. You can buy different inserts for it to customize the inside. If you’re a hiker you can even get a camelback for it.

Lowepro Pro Trekker BP 450 AW II Backpack
Takes my Nikkor 70-200 when still attached to my Nikon D700 camera
Plus myriad other lenses etc.
Probably wouldn't take my sigma 150-600 when attached to camera ...

Thanks for responding, everyone!

Working my way through your suggestions.
If anyone has additional comments, feel free to add them now, otherwise I will close this discussion.