What’s your Bag? [A Quest for the Perfect Woman's Camera Bag]
Posted by Guest Contributor | Posted in Articles | Posted on 11-02-2010
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In this post Lisa Newton from Travelin’ Local shares a little of her quest for the perfect woman’s camera bag.
Many women want the option to have a camera bag that looks as great as it functions, so it can be part of our wardrobe. I’m certain that I’m not alone in this need.
So in my quest to find the “perfect” woman’s camera bag, I was eager to do my homework. So I read several reviews, posts, and forums on the subject. For example:
- Sime’s favorite Camera Bag is the thinkTANK Streetwalker HardDrive camera backpack.
- Peter Carey wrote a great blog post about Choosing a Day Bag for Your Camera.
- And everyone who answered the poll that DPS provided, which aggregated their readers varying opinions about their favorite camera bags, into a top category list.
In my dogged pursuit of finding the “perfect camera bag,” I thought it would be a “cake-walk.” Although, I pursued my homework and more, shat I didn’t expect to find was that I couldn’t find a bag that fit the criteria I needed.
I didn’t think my requirements would be too difficult to meet:
The bag had to be large enough to fit my “purse” accoutrements including my wallet, make-up, and hairbrush, etc. Plus, I needed a bag that would be able to fit my laptop, which I want to take with me on various location shoots.
Most importantly, I wanted to be able to fit in my camera, a Nikon D40, along with enough room for both the camera’s 50mm and 70-200mm lens’. I always use both because I never know which one is going to provide me the shot I want and envision.
For my new camera bag I needed one to meet my main requirements, which include:
- Sturdy fabric
- Pockets
- Large internal space
- Shoulder straps
- Look likes a purse
- Reasonable cost
After shopping around a bit—actually quite a lot–I couldn’t find what I was looking for. I love the backpack camera bags, but I’d prefer to walk into a business meeting carrying something more resembling a “purse,” not a backpack or messenger bag.
As a result, I found that there are a few camera bags designed for women like the Shootsac, which is pretty cool, but not exactly what I was looking for. Or the Jill-e Designs, which are also great, but again, didn’t meet all of my criteria.
So, what did I do?
I crafted my own camera bag!
First, I purchased the bag part from eBags. It’s actually a large purse, which met all of my above requirement criteria.
The next problem I had to solve was the issue of protecting my laptop and camera. Laptop sleeves are widely available so that wasn’t a big problem. I already had a lens case for my 70-200mm, so in the search for my perfect camera bag, I had two of my requirements met. But I still had one more problem to solve, because I wasn’t really familiar with how to best protect my camera.
Looking around a little more, I bought a Domke Protective Wrap, the large 19 incher. I hadn’t seen it before, but it turned out to be the perfect “bag in a bag” for my camera.
So now, I have my perfect camera bag—it fits all of my female items, my laptop, and all of my photography gear into one bag that met my requirements and needs both as a woman photographer, and as a publisher and photojournalist. When the bag is fully loaded, it’s a bit heavy, but the way I look at it, I’m getting a little more exercise when I walk, while carrying an overweight bag.
