166: What's the Best Camera Bag for Your Style of Photography?

Choosing a camera bag is very personal and it really varies from person to person . About how you're going to carry your camera gear on a wedding day , I have tried a variety of things over the past 15 years and I can tell you that I've finally landed on what I like .

So in this video , I'm going to be talking about things that I really like , things that I haven't liked , and why . The first type of camera bag I'm going to talk about is the backpack style . The backpack style bag is amazing because it's very versatile . You can carry things on your back , which makes you flexible and be able to move on the go .

A lot of times , they can fit a lot inside and they're pretty non-obvious , certain and pretty discreet .

I know , even with my rolling bag , for instance , a lot of times I'm you know , excuse me , excuse me asking people to move their feet or like watch their step because I don't want anyone to trip , but you never really have that problem with the backpack , so backpacks are very good .

For those reasons , when searching for a backpack , you want to find one that is specifically made for photo gear , so it has the compartments , it's really comfortable to wear , but especially that it's going to protect your gear . Examples include the Low Pro , protactic series , think Tank Photos , street Walker series and Peak Designs Everyday Backpack .

I personally have and use the Camrette and I love it . I do not travel without it . One of my favorite things about it is that it actually can hold my 16-inch MacBook Pro , which is clutch , and then inside I can fit , you know , several lenses , a camera body , batteries , all of the things . So highly recommend the Camrette .

Recently I was photographing a wedding , which I'll get in a minute to what I use .

But I was photographing a wedding using my rolling bag and my second photographer that was there with me that day had on a backpack , and I don't know if you know what a New Orleans second line is , but we're essentially like walking backwards to the streets and moving pretty quickly , so I had to stow my backpack on the bus , which took a few minutes to like

get it on there , and meanwhile she was ready to go , had her backpack and was just walking in the street . So that's just a little insight into why the backpacks are so amazing . The next thing I'm going to be talking about is rolling bags .

So that's what I use to store the bulk of my gear , and the reason being is that I don't want that weight on my shoulders . One of the rolling bags that I have actually does have straps on it , so you can convert it from a rolling bag to a backpack . It's made by Think Tank , but I never use it as a backpack .

I actually used it for one second line and I saw I would never do it again because it was so heavy . I really load that bag down with extra gear , extra lenses , batteries , all the things and so it's quite heavy even just to lift up into a car or onto a bus , and for that reason I have chosen to have a rolling bag .

I want to feel like I'm prepared , I have all the gear that I need , that I'm not having to pick and choose between whether or not I have like backup gear on me , for instance , and so that's why I've gone with the rolling bags . Examples of rolling camera bags include the Think Tank Photo Airport Series and the Pelican Air Cases .

I specifically have the Think Tank International Bag . It's a great size and I love that . It allows me to carry my gear onto an airplane and not have to check it . You really don't want to check your gear if you're flying , so have a bag that's small enough to where you can carry on and keep your your gear inside .

One thing that I will say is that I have two Think Tank bags , both of which I've had for almost 15 years , and they're both in great condition . One of them the handle kind of like started to dry , rot , and so I emailed the company and they sent me a cover for the handle and it worked great .

But they're super durable , excellent for a lot of gear , and I highly recommend that line . Part two of the gear that I carry is a shoulder bag .

So a shoulder bag is going to be something that you know you wear crossbody or on your shoulder , and the reason why I like a shoulder bag is I like to have certain things on my person that are quick and easy to access .

When I first started shooting , I was shooting with a lot of prime lenses and changing them very often , and it just made it really easy to do that . Now I sort of keep one lens on my camera for longer , but I still like to have the other lens in my bag in addition to , like , water , batteries , personal items , and so the shoulder bag is really great .

People are always trying to take it from me and you know , not take it from me like they're trying to be helpful and say like , oh , that looks heavy , can I carry that for you ? Because it almost looks like a purse . But I really wear it almost the entire day .

I only take it off really towards the end of the day at the reception , whenever , you know , I'm walking around and kind of at the point where I'm just using my 204070 in a flash , but it's so convenient . So I really love my shoulder bag .

The shoulder bag that I use is called the Onochelsea bag , but there are other really great shoulder bag options that are wonderful to use . I also own the Kali bag by kindly . It's a smaller version , and I also like the shoot sack . Although I don't know if the shoot sack is still being made .

It's very nice because it's lightweight , but I also love the look of , like , you know a heavier duty bag . Some popular options include the Tenba messenger series , the Ono bags and the Domki F2 original shoulder bag . You want to look for a bag that's comfortable to wear and it has compartments .

I think one of my biggest pet peeves is a bag a messenger bag without compartments in it . But we also do have like for Brad's bag , for example a compartment that you can put inside of the messenger bag , which works really well . A shoulder bag and a sling bag are kind of one and the same to me . They're just bags that you're able to like keep on you .

They're just designed a little differently when you wear here , when you wear across . But a few other examples include the Peak design , everyday sling , the low pro slingshot series and the Tamrak Stratus series .

I think it's nice to have a combination of , like a backpack and a sling bag or a rolling bag and a shoulder bag , so that you can keep a few things on you but then have the bulk of your gear in something that you can set down and pick up if you're like moving from locations .

The next way to carry your gear that I'm going to talk about is a belt or modular system . So I experimented with this because for a long time I was using the whole fast moneymaker and I still do shoot with that camera strap . It's essentially a dual camera strap that allows you to hold two cameras at one time .

But what I found was that my shoulders were kind of bothering me , sometimes in my neck , and so I was like you know , I'm going to switch to a holster type system , like something that I can wear around my waist , and so I switched to the spider system . But it's funny how that happens .

I felt like my back started hurting , my lower back started hurting , and so I did eventually switch back to a single camera on a camera strap with my shoulder bag . But I want to talk a little bit more about the , you know , belt system .

A lot of people really love the belt system because it allows them to carry a lot of gear on their waist and not on their shoulders , putting any strain on their neck . In addition to like the weight distribution using a belt is that it also gives you that hands free experience . You can , you know , squat down and stand up really easily .

The only thing I will say is it makes you a little bit wider than you are in everyday life , and so you have to pay attention to like where you're walking or you know what children you're walking next to Same thing with . I guess the whole vast , because sometimes you can accidentally bump someone . But it is a really great system .

So some examples of great modular and belt systems include the Spyder Pro holster system , the Think Tank Photo Modular Belt system and the Peak Design Capture Clip . So other things that you want to consider outside of the type of bag are going to be qualities like organization and capacity .

So how much can it hold and how well organized do you feel when holding that bag ? That's one of my biggest differences between , say , the Onychel C and the Kindly bag is that one is much smaller than the other and so I can't really hold as much gear and they each hold their own place . But I love the Onyx .

It has the exact amount of compartments that I need and it can hold , you know , memory cards . In certain slots they're zippers . It's just really really really well designed . The next thing you're going to want to pay attention to is comfort and ergonomics . You're going to want something that fits well to your size , to your shape . How's the padding ?

How big is the bag ? Is it bulky ? And then , of course , the appearance too . There are so many different fabrics and materials that bags are made of Everything from leather to nylon , and those are going to give a different vibe when you're wearing them and even different colors . There's like tan bags , there's colorful bags , there's black bags .

I love to wear all black on a wedding day , and so I try to keep everything that I'm holding in that same color vein . But you do want to think about that in terms of , like , the appearance , the overall feel of the bag . You also want to think about durability and weather resistance .

A lot of the bags including like the Think Tank series , for instance come with a rain cover , but for all of the bags that I've owned , I read a ton of reviews . I like compare different options and really thought hard about what is this made of and is it going to hold up , something that's not going to rip or tear over time .

You want things that are going to last , because a lot of times you know you might get used to a system and then they discontinue it , and so you really want to keep these things up and hold on to them as long as you can . But I really love the fact that both of the on-person bags that I carry are made of leather .

I think that they've held up really well , and so the test of time . And then , of course , the Think Tank bags . The zippers are really solid and strong , all the compartments are laid out really well , and so everything's lasted pretty , pretty great over the years .

One thing that's really interesting about especially the Think Tank series is the security and theft protection option . So on their bags you can actually lock them .

This is pretty crazy , but at a venue that one of the vendors was working at recently that I know , they had left their keys in their bag and their car got stolen from that particular venue , and so because of that , it kind of made me a little bit more aware of what I'm leaving in my bag and where I'm leaving it and for how long .

So if you're going to be leaving valuables inside of a bag , just think about you know , of course leaving the bag because you don't want someone to walk off with it , but also , if it's a bag that you feel like you know maybe no one's going to take it per se , you can have it locked so that no one can access what's inside .

And then , of course , the additional features of what you're carrying is helpful . You have to figure out what works for you , but some of those additional features might even be a nice exterior pocket for like a styling mat or a tripod or light stands , etc .

I know , for example , with the camera I mentioned earlier , that you can put your laptop in it , which is huge . I like search for forever and ever for a bag that could even hold a large 16 inch laptop , so you want to think about those additional features as well .

I know that there are so many options out there when it comes to choosing a camera bag , but these are the ones that I've experienced most closely and have the most confidence in , so I hope this is helpful for you and gives you a great starting point for something that you want to try in your own business .

What we carry our gear in is very important because it protects it and helps us move and navigate the wedding day with ease , and so , if you have any questions or comments , if you want to share your setup , feel free to drop a comment or a photo , and I just want you to know that I so appreciate you tuning in If you found this content or any of the

content helpful on the channel . Please feel free to subscribe and I look forward to seeing you in the next episode .