DIY: Make a Stealth Camera Bag

[ziggie216]

Check this out.. looks interesting


Sometimes you need a fancy camera bag, with a tripod strap and little slots with which to pamper your memory cards. You need a waterproof hood, a padded strap and a big fat StealMe™ logo on the front.

Other times, you just want to sling your camera into the most anonymous sack possible, get out into the street and start shooting. But using an old canvas bag doesn't mean you shouldn't be protected. Today, we'll see how cheap and easy it is to turn a military surplus shoulder bag into a stealthy, knockabout camera carrier.


http://howto.wired.com/wiki/Make_a_Stealth_Camera_Bag

[_aravena]

Cool. Plenty of us have done it. I've made three. My latest is my current everyday bag.

[jacobsen1]

a bunch of us have our own DIY camera bags. Using Domke inserts is easier and offers better/more protection IMHO, but they're not cheap.

Here's my DIY bag:
http://www.newschoolofphotography.com/wp-content/gallery/zoo-york-bag/B5DA0705.jpg

it's an $11 zoo york messenger bag.

[Laramie]

a bunch of us have our own DIY camera bags. Using Domke inserts is easier and offers better/more protection IMHO, but they're not cheap.

Agreed. While the Domke inserts are more expensive. They offer good protection and help you turn anything into a nice camera bag.

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f282/tylerpebley/bag006.jpg

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f282/tylerpebley/bag005.jpg

[Andrushka]

i'd post mine, but i want it to remain low profile :-) hahaha - just kidding, when i am just walking around and shooting casually i just through my camera and attached lens in a messenger bag that i put a piece of foam in the bottom of... its the best, keeps me light and doesnt attract attention, until i whip my camera out of course!

[Mutombo]

That's why I bought my Crumpler 6MDH :)

[jrdbrn]

Agreed. While the Domke inserts are more expensive. They offer good protection and help you turn anything into a nice camera bag.

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f282/tylerpebley/bag006.jpg

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f282/tylerpebley/bag005.jpg

I cannot see your lens :rolleyes:

[jacobsen1]

That's why I bought my Crumpler 6MDH :)

is it just me, or do the crumplers look like camera bags just as much as anything else these days? DIY bags typically look a bit less obvious, but only if you go low budget. Nice bags always make me wonder what's in them.

[Mutombo]

is it just me, or do the crumplers look like camera bags just as much as anything else these days? DIY bags typically look a bit less obvious, but only if you go low budget. Nice bags always make me wonder what's in them.

I think they might look like camera bags to those of us who are familiar with them, and know that in fact it is a camera bag. But in general, I think they look like any other shoulder bag.

I will admit though, the DIY bag is more "stealthy"

[CanuckBassist]

I just take the whole camera compartment out of my Crumpler Sinking Barge, and it fits perfectly in my canvas messenger bag.

[sneakerpimp]

That's why I bought my Crumpler 6MDH

+1

i don't get the whole stealth thing.

[_aravena]

^Ditto. I got Target bag because it was the only out there like it and it was cheap.

[Lowner]

They all shout CAMERA BAG to me so I'm another who has failed to grasp the issue I think.

When I'm shooting far from home I'm always far more concerned that I come across as someone who cares for the area I'm in and don't upset the people I meet. Carrying and using a camera/tripod/shutter release and the rest, if done in the right way, will actually help rather than hinder this.

[Wilt]

I used a K-Mart day pack, with closed cell compartments cut from ground pads, supplemented with Domke inserts...outside it looked like something a high school kid carried books and drugs and lunch in! Didn't have to worry about my camera gear being stolen, but about hit for the apparent 'drugs' ;)

Of course I really didn't have to worry, I was far too old to be mistaken as a kid with drugs!

[Sawbladz]

Before I got into this camera thing I never noticed peoples bags or thought about what was in them. I think you guys might be a touch paranoid.

[DDCSD]

They all shout CAMERA BAG to me so I'm another who has failed to grasp the issue I think.

My Kata backpack screams "TURTLE!!!". At least that's what my wife calls me when I wear it. I guess it doesn't help that my last name is Cecil......

[prinspaul]

That's why I bought my Crumpler 6MDH :)


Lol, but smart people know that Crumpler bags could contain expensive stuff like cameras and laptops :p

Crumpler bags are worth stealing

[macroshooter1970]

once people see you pull out the camera, it's not stealth any longer. so why bother with it

[Andrushka]

once people see you pull out the camera, it's not stealth any longer. so why bother with it

that is the irony!! But at least while you are in transit you can keep a lower profile, which is helpful especially if you use public transportation as many in large cities in the US like SF, Boston, NY & much of Europe do daily

[_aravena]

But as I've said. Who carries a bag without something important in it? Unless it's a lunch bag, there's bound to be something worth stealing in it. Duh.

[Johnsoir]

I use an old Roots bag, a) Because it doesn't scream steal me, and b) It's the only bag that I have that will hold enough gear and a 11x14 sketch book. I take the public transit to school, so aslong as I don't have my camera out I look just like every other student.

I don't leave my bags unattended, I almost always have it over my shoulder or rapped around my wrist, and I usually walk with 2 or 3 people when out in public.
It's more of a versatility thing then to be stealth, though it does help.

[Tapeman]

A diaper/baby bag is very stealthy. Just carry a Cabbage Patch doll as well.

[tin.risky]

My Kata backpack screams "TURTLE!!!". At least that's what my wife calls me when I wear it. I guess it doesn't help that my last name is Cecil......

Haha, I feel like a turtle sometimes with my Lowepro Flipside 300, but it's the only bag I have that can carry everything in my sig without killing my shoulder. I had to give up the 6 million dollar home because it's just too uncomfortable carrying it fully loaded, which isn't even everything in my sig. Good to know I'm not the only turtle out there.

[devil350]

Thanks for sharing the info.

Laurent.

[Eagle]

Before I got into this camera thing I never noticed peoples bags or thought about what was in them. I think you guys might be a touch paranoid.

once people see you pull out the camera, it's not stealth any longer. so why bother with it

But as I've said. Who carries a bag without something important in it? Unless it's a lunch bag, there's bound to be something worth stealing in it. Duh.

Yeah and on top of all this I don't think crack heads and thugs even know what brand camera bags are. To them any bag can have something worth selling in it.

[_aravena]

^Quite. Their thieves, I doubt they're picky, especially overseas.

[U100695]

I use a big purse for my camera bag. I think it's pretty stealthy because carrying huge purses seems to be in style right now so walking around I just look like i'm part of the trend.
http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm318/U100695/IMG_5826.jpg
http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm318/U100695/IMG_5823.jpghttp://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm318/U100695/Random/IMG_4849.jpg

[Wilt]

Not sure if it is better to look like a poor starving photographer with a nice camera, or better to look like a rich lady who is begging to have her wallet and cash and credit cards stolen! I think the former is preferrable. Nice looking bag to hide cameras in. Well done.

[Wilt]

When I made my daypack into a camera bag, I was going to be roaming about South America, and uncertain of what I would encounter in my wanderings. A phenomenal rate of kidnap was happening in Columbia, so guerillas could finance their wars by getting ransoms paid! I didn't want to overtly look like a National Geographic employee on assignment, so they might kidnap me.