CMcKee
2nd of October 2009 (Fri), 00:35
Since these Giottos bags are new I thought I'd give a go at a bag review.
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I was shopping for a waxwear Domke F-2 today because I had given up on finding a feminine bag and then I stumbled onto this Giottos bag(new this fall I believe). I had looked at the Jill.e bags but what I've read about the Jill.e bag straps has made me hesitant to buy one. What I really like about this bag is it looks more like a purse then a camera bag, without looking overly flashy or attention getting.
Going rate: $105.99 (I got locally but I see B&H has them up on their site too)
Size, from Giotto:
14.96 x 7.87 x 9.84" (LxWxH)
13.78 x 5.51 x 9.06" (LxWxH)
Weight: 2.8 lbs
I find the outside width to be more like 9 to 10 inches with the pockets loaded.
Color of the one I purchased is a nice muted olive green, but they also come in khaki and black. The canvas is soft to the touch and is supposed to be water resistant. The hardware on the bag is a nice heavy brass, that's a big plus for me. Every single backpack I've owned with plastic clips the clips have always broken, even the expensive ones. The clips are quiet too they don't squeak or jingle as you walk. On the outside it has two front roomy pockets with both a zipper and a magnetic closure, inside those pockets are zippered mesh pockets in the back.
Inside the bag is a removable insert that zips close and it has handles that go under the bottom of the insert. Since the bag zips close on top and the insert zips and has handles, I do find that this is a bit much to dig thru to reach your gear. I solved that by folding the top flap over and tucking the handles and the flap down. I think having the closable top is nice so you can remove the insert fully loaded from the bag with no fear of anything falling in or out. The interior of the insert is soft to the touch and you can attach the Velcro from the dividers anywhere inside the bag.
There are pockets inside the bag too, a solid zippered pocket along the back of the bag and a multi layered pocket on the front. This is sort of hard to describe so bare with me. There are two mesh pockets on the front of a solid pocket that Velcro’s into place. Behind the solid pocket is a mesh divider. This gives you lots of room to cram little things.
From what I saw today the bag is roughly somewhere between a small or medium Jill.e bag. I got more into the bag then I thought possible, I was able to fit: 16-35 2.8L, 135 2.0L, 85 1.8, 580 ex II, a 5D with the 24-70 2.8 attached, a backup battery with charger, passport hard drive, cleaning cloth, wired remote, and two large filters. In order to fit the 5D with this long of a lens attached it has to sit with the lens facing up. The bag will not close if the body is on the top facing down. The top of the bag only needs to be about a half inch longer for it close. This is a bummer and I would like to see them change that, but it still is workable. There is some room for a few more small items but putting all this stuff inside does fill this bag up. If you were going on a trip and wanted a loaded small bag this would still work ok. For my day to day use I may leave the flash and 85 at home, pull out some of the inserts and sit the camera on the bottom.
Giottos does make camera equipment, but this seems to be their break out into the camera bag market. Maybe that gives us a leg up in the theft department for awhile since Giottos sounds more like an Italian designer then a camera company. If you look at their website it looks like they are putting out several lines of camera bags, and there is plenty of stuff for the fellows too. www.giottos.com (http://www.giottos.com/)
All and all, I'm really liking the bag so far, since it’s small and stylish I’ll be carrying my camera around with me even more.
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Ok, I thought these bags were brand new because I just couldn't find any information on them. Looks like these might have been around for awhile just not common in the US.
http://www.photoreporter.com/article.asp?issueID=&num=11&vol=17&articleType=n&articleID=2969
------------------
I was shopping for a waxwear Domke F-2 today because I had given up on finding a feminine bag and then I stumbled onto this Giottos bag(new this fall I believe). I had looked at the Jill.e bags but what I've read about the Jill.e bag straps has made me hesitant to buy one. What I really like about this bag is it looks more like a purse then a camera bag, without looking overly flashy or attention getting.
Going rate: $105.99 (I got locally but I see B&H has them up on their site too)
Size, from Giotto:
14.96 x 7.87 x 9.84" (LxWxH)
13.78 x 5.51 x 9.06" (LxWxH)
Weight: 2.8 lbs
I find the outside width to be more like 9 to 10 inches with the pockets loaded.
Color of the one I purchased is a nice muted olive green, but they also come in khaki and black. The canvas is soft to the touch and is supposed to be water resistant. The hardware on the bag is a nice heavy brass, that's a big plus for me. Every single backpack I've owned with plastic clips the clips have always broken, even the expensive ones. The clips are quiet too they don't squeak or jingle as you walk. On the outside it has two front roomy pockets with both a zipper and a magnetic closure, inside those pockets are zippered mesh pockets in the back.
Inside the bag is a removable insert that zips close and it has handles that go under the bottom of the insert. Since the bag zips close on top and the insert zips and has handles, I do find that this is a bit much to dig thru to reach your gear. I solved that by folding the top flap over and tucking the handles and the flap down. I think having the closable top is nice so you can remove the insert fully loaded from the bag with no fear of anything falling in or out. The interior of the insert is soft to the touch and you can attach the Velcro from the dividers anywhere inside the bag.
There are pockets inside the bag too, a solid zippered pocket along the back of the bag and a multi layered pocket on the front. This is sort of hard to describe so bare with me. There are two mesh pockets on the front of a solid pocket that Velcro’s into place. Behind the solid pocket is a mesh divider. This gives you lots of room to cram little things.
From what I saw today the bag is roughly somewhere between a small or medium Jill.e bag. I got more into the bag then I thought possible, I was able to fit: 16-35 2.8L, 135 2.0L, 85 1.8, 580 ex II, a 5D with the 24-70 2.8 attached, a backup battery with charger, passport hard drive, cleaning cloth, wired remote, and two large filters. In order to fit the 5D with this long of a lens attached it has to sit with the lens facing up. The bag will not close if the body is on the top facing down. The top of the bag only needs to be about a half inch longer for it close. This is a bummer and I would like to see them change that, but it still is workable. There is some room for a few more small items but putting all this stuff inside does fill this bag up. If you were going on a trip and wanted a loaded small bag this would still work ok. For my day to day use I may leave the flash and 85 at home, pull out some of the inserts and sit the camera on the bottom.
Giottos does make camera equipment, but this seems to be their break out into the camera bag market. Maybe that gives us a leg up in the theft department for awhile since Giottos sounds more like an Italian designer then a camera company. If you look at their website it looks like they are putting out several lines of camera bags, and there is plenty of stuff for the fellows too. www.giottos.com (http://www.giottos.com/)
All and all, I'm really liking the bag so far, since it’s small and stylish I’ll be carrying my camera around with me even more.
------------------
Ok, I thought these bags were brand new because I just couldn't find any information on them. Looks like these might have been around for awhile just not common in the US.
http://www.photoreporter.com/article.asp?issueID=&num=11&vol=17&articleType=n&articleID=2969