Help me pick a bag.

[steeltoe]

I purchased the d30 (finally, after a six month "I'll sleep on it"), and I'm VERY happy with it.

I purchased the grip for it as well, and I am having a HUGE problem finding a bag that will fit around this camera ready to shoot.

What do you carry your gear around in?

Heres what I need in a bag:

The ability to have the camera with a lens (a short one, either the 24mm or 28-80) and grip attached, room for the 550ex flash and a 75-300 lens. Also need room for accessories (extra batteries, cords, and misc stuff.)

Suggestions as well as retailers welcome (I'm in the DC area).

Much love,
Ben

[JCDoss]

I just ordered a Lowepro Nova 5... My son bought me a bag as an early Christmas present... the Lowerpro Nova 1. WAY too small even for a D30, 50/1.4, and 28-135IS. And with the D30/grip combo, there was absolutely NO WAY I could fit all that stuff in. Heck, it was even too small for the D30/grip/28-135IS attached! I told him that I completely appreciated his thoughtfulness (he's only seven), but I couldn't use the bag because I made the mistake of buying too much stuff.

I liked the bag, even though it was small. It is a shoulder bag with a belt loop in the back. The matrerial is tough, weather resistant (but not waterproof, which means a drizzle or a light sprinkle is OK, but I wouldnt march around with it in a heavy rain), and relatively comfortable to wear.

So, I upgraded to the largest bag in the line, the Nova 5. I haven't received it yet, but it's supposed to be able to hold 2SLRs with attached lenses and 3-4 additional lenses plus flash and other stuff. I anticipate buying more lenses (100/Macro, 70-200IS, 16-35L), converters, extension tubes, filters, at least two flash units (550 and 420).

www.lowepro.com

If you'd rather get a backpack or something more weather resistant, Lowepro's got it. Check out the website.

If you like modular stuff, Lowepro and Tamrac have kits, but I'd recommend Kinesis... many of my friends have Kinesis stuff and swear by it.

Sorry this turned out to be so long,
JCDoss

PS: Good luck!
PSS: I'll get my stuff this weekend (UPS Ground), and I'll post photos if you're interested.

[Roger_Cavanagh]

Ben,

I have a Nova 5. I have managed to pack this with:

- D30 + battery grip
- 420 EX
- 75-300 IS (now part exchanged for the 100-400L, which won't fit with anything much but the camera :) )
- Sigma 28-70
- Vivitar 19-25
- Digital wallet
- Digital Ixus
- small pair of Nikon binoculars
- manuals
- usual cables, clothes and cleaners
- passport, wallet, sundries

My only gripe is that the bag is not deep enough for my Sony Vaio PCG-505FX, which I usually take for trips because it's handy to review images.

Regards,

Roger

[alex_t_king]

I just got a "Crumpler" bag from ebags.com. They have a variety of photo bags, I got the "Home Stayer" as I just wanted a small bag that was well padded and didn't scream "Hey, $3000 worth of camera gear in there!"

[gerry]

i have a 200 dollar lowenpro and i hate the velcro.

all i want is one that will hold the camera tight with the lens and battery adapter attached to the d30.

a couple of extra spaces for a tele and the battery charger and filters

[hallbert]

I have been very pleased with the Tamrac Model 757
Extreme series backpack. I carry my D30 with grip, attached to a 100-400 IS lens. I also keep a 550 flash, a 28-135 IS lens and a 1.4 extender in the main compartment. There is plenty of room for charger and extra batteries in the top compartment. If needed, I can use the removable side pockets but I don't keep them on the bag. It is easy to use with a shoulder strap or convert to a backpack. It is small enought that I have had no problems carrying it as my second (personal) carry on bag on American Airlines.

[genecx]

I bought the Tamrac 467 Photo Messenger 7 Shoulder Bag. It holds the following -
D30
Battery grip
28-70 2.8L (attached)
70-200 2.8L
50 1.8
2 550 EXs
ST-E2 transmitter
stofen omnibounce
lumiquest promax softbox
Winbook X1 laptop

The top zips out so I have easy access to the D30 with the 28-70 lens whenever a good shooting opportunity presents itself.

[nitwit3]

Me too in the Nova 5 department.
I can fit :
D30
100-400
70-200 (both standing erect)
28-135
50mm1.4
550ex
Omni-bounce
etc
Heckuva good bag...and not expensive

My $260 bag sits in the office gathering dust.

LarryM

[wcbert]

I have the Lowpro Commercial AW. What I like about it is:

1 - It has a 1" foam bottom. Great if sometimes I put the bag down
a little to hard.

2 - The front and rear pouchs are removeable. I replaced one with
a water bottle holder.

3 - The interor has removeable dividers that are 3/8"
thick. The bag was bought for my E-10 now I
configure the bag for my D-30.

4 - The shoulder strap is excellent with great padding.
The longest I have carry my camera bag is 12 hours
straight. While my shoulder did get tired from carry the
weight and had to switch sholders, it never once did it hurt from the sholders strap.

I cannot help you where to get a camera bag, but I can
recommend this. Find a store that has camera bags displayed
and take your camera. That way you can see which camera
bag works for you.

Here in N.Y.C., B&H Photo does have a large selection
of camera bags and I was able to bring my camera into
the stored. I had planned to buy a certain camera bag, but
I did not like the way the camera fitted in the bag.

Bill

[Cecil Walker]

genecx wrote:
I bought the Tamrac 467 Photo Messenger 7 Shoulder Bag. It holds the following -
D30
Battery grip
28-70 2.8L (attached)
70-200 2.8L
50 1.8
2 550 EXs
ST-E2 transmitter
stofen omnibounce
lumiquest promax softbox
Winbook X1 laptop

The top zips out so I have easy access to the D30 with the 28-70 lens whenever a good shooting opportunity presents itself.



genecx,

Looks like you have an identical set of equipment as I do. Very interested in hearing more about this bag.

Does the camera fit with the grip attached? From the specs, it looked like it wouldn't work. If it does fit, please describe how the camera faces.

Can you only leave the 28-70 on the camera or will the 70-200 also work?

What's been your experience with the bag (pretty happy, wish it had more room, etc)?

Thanks!
Cecil

[genecx]

Yes, the grip is attached to the body. Let me describe the layout of my photo gear. The bag is divided into 4 compartments.

At the bottom of compartment 1 is the 50 1.8 lens. On top of that is the 28-70 lens which is attached to the D30 body. The attached grip is taking up the top part of compartment 2. At the bottom of compartment 2 is a 550ex flash. The 70-200 takes up all of compartment 3. Compartment 4 has a 550EX with Omnibounce attached and the ST-E2.

There are pockets on one of the sides to hold manuals, the softbox (folded,of course), remote switch and cleaning supplies. The other side has room for a slim laptop. If needed, I can cram in a Stroframe flash bracket, palm pilot, magazines, etc.

I've never tried it, but it doesn't look like it could fit with the D30 attached to the 70-200.

The bag fits nicely underneath an airline seat. It has been one of the best investments I ever made.

12-27 update - I have to correct myself. The D30 can be attached to the 70-200. There is also room for another camera body.

[EugeneF]

I recently bought my second domke bag for my D30. Domke makes proffesional bags that really are comfortable on your shoulder and dont slide off. I had one of the larger bags and wanted a smaller one for the D30. I wound up with the Domke F-4AF Pro System Shoulder Bag. It holds my 3 lenses as well as one on the body the 550ex and a quantum battery as well as memory cards and a card reader.

[darrell]

just to put my 2 cents in. I've done a lot of traveling and found the best thing is to use a hard case. I've had this case for almost 20 years now and it's literly been around the world. the inside has custom cut foam so I can put the D30 with grip, a 400mm tamron zoom, the 28-150 canon lens, a sunpac 622 pro plus some batteries and the charger. it's waterproof (although I wouldn't suggest submerging it) and has two advantages the soft cases don't. 1. you can stand/sit on it. 2. you can check it as baggage if nessesary. I do have a soft bag with a sholder strap, but it's an off brand without any padding what so ever. Normally I don't like taking a whole lot of junk with me anyways, so haveing just the camera with the lens on the sholder strap works just fine. a couple of pockets for extra stuff and you're set. no extra bag needed.

[rojoyinc]

I just love my Domke Outback photo backpack.
See pictures of it here.

http://www.imagestation.com/album/pictures.html?show_all=0&id=4293028293&start=21&num_columns=5