shoulder/messenger bag users...

[wasabean]

does your shoulder get sore after walking around with some equipment? i'm not talking about lugging around your entire arsenal, but just typical walk around equipment.

if so, how do you overcome this?

[brucea]

I use a Timbuk 2 messenger bag. I limit what I carry -- I don't need the whole collection every time I go out. I try to think about what I will be shooting before I leave the house and only take what I really need -- and that is generally the camera with the lens mounted, perhaps a second lens, and spare batteries, memory cards, filters, etc.

I don't wear the bag on my shoulder, the strap goes over my chest -- these are bike messenger bags.

Short answer -- my shoulder doesn't get sore.

[Jon]

Change shoulders. Seriously, I use the Domke Shoulder Pad on my bags. It helps even on the fully-loaded F-1 or F-7. On the F-3, which I use with a camera, flash, and a couple of lenses, it's great.

[wasabean]

timbuk does have some nice messenger style bags. i dig their classic artist canvas bag where you can draw, paint and stencil on the canvas. how do you pack/pad your camera to keep it safe from rolling aroud in the timbuk?

[timeasterday]

I also use the Domke shoulder pad. I think they call it the Post Office pad or something like that. Works great and I can carry my bag (across my chest) pretty much all day without any soreness.

[brucea]

I put a piece of closed cell foam (backpacker's sleeping pad) in the bottom of the timbuk2 bag to provide some padding (not much). I don't find that the gear in the bag moves very much so that is not an issue for me.

I guess one could also use the Domke partitions.

For any lenses not on the camera, I keep them in Canon lens pouches. This gives some degree of protection from rolling around and dinging into other bag contents.

[_aravena]

We have two shoulders! I change it or depending on where I am the bag can get set down every now and then. It takes quite a few hours before it hurts enough I have to switch though.

[René Damkot]

does your shoulder get sore after walking around with some equipment? i'm not talking about lugging around your entire arsenal, but just typical walk around equipment.

If I lug around my full Billingham 445 for an entire day: Yes.
Just my Billingham 335 for a few hours: No.

I think everybody has a "personal weight limit". If you go over that, it starts to hurt after a while... Seems my "limit" is a bit below 8 kgs or so.
if so, how do you overcome this?

I don't. I just live with it.
For some reason my bag won't stay put on my left shoulder, so switching shoulders isn't an option...

[Robbierob]

thanks for this thread...i have been debating a shoulder bag for a couple of weeks now and was considering the lowepro slingshot200

[ogre1231]

had a slingshot for about a month, didn't like it at all. i know some people do. I sold it and bought a crumpler. much happier with my 6 and 7mdh.

[TaDa]

I have a Crumpler Company Embarrassment that holds a gripped 5D, 70-200 2.8 IS, 17-40 and 24-70 2.8. That's around 10 pounds of gear when you factor in the flash and all the other stuff. For me, it all comes down to the shoulder pad. The shoulder pad on the CCE is amazing and very well padded. The shoulder pad I had on my old 7MDH was pretty thin comparatively speaking. When my left shoulder gets a little sore, I move the bag so that the pad is on my right. If I'm out for 4 hours at the zoo with the kids, it maybe happens once.

[ersit]

Some bags have a slot for a waist belt, which enables you to distribute some of the weight to your hips. I have the Kata SB-902 and SB-904, both of which comes with a detachable belt and I highly recommend them. The older versions of the Lowepro Stealth Reporter bags used to have a belt slot...

[Helena]

I recently got a messenger bag after have only used a backpack. I shoot with two cameras and really like how much more practical the shoulder/messenger bag is. Being able to keep both cameras in the bag (with mounted lenses), but still have quick access to them, is just great. This has made me take more photos, because with the backback I'm sometimes too lazy/slow to take out the other camera, even though that camera has the best lens for a certain shot.

Total weight for my stuff (5D, 450D and three quality primes), a bottle of water and a few other items is about 3,5kg, which doesn't feel too heavy. The two times I have been out with it so far my back did get somewhat "tired" in the end, but maybe it's just that I'm not used to carrying a shoulder bag. We'll see. So far it definitely feels worth it.

[wasabean]

right now i'm using a messenger bag. i have a nanueu (sp?) bag that i used to use, but i took out the camera pouches from inside and jsut put it into my messenger bag. right now theres nothing securing (usually velcro) the pouch to anythign so it sometimes shifts around. i really like the timbuk design since it has a waterproof liner which offers some degree of rain.

but maybe if i put some shoulder padding on my messenger bag with some velcro strips inside bag to secure the padding, i should be good to go.

[the_ghi]

I have a crumpler complete seed with a crumpler bucket and the shoulder pad made by crumpler really feels comfortable when i'm lugging my gear, textbooks, and my laptop.