Best messenger style bag for my 5D and two or three lenses?

Got any suggestions? Tired of having to take a backpack on and off for a simple lens change. It doesn't have to fit a 70-200, but would be nice if it fit my MacBook Pro and/or my iPad.

ThinkTank Retrospective 10 can fit 5Dii with 24-70 and few lenses + iPad in front pocket (no laptop). Or if you really want laptop then something like ThinkTank Urban Disguise 50 would work. Fits camera + few lenses + 15" MacBook Pro.

of course there are other great bags but these are two that I own and know that they fit the gear.

Yeah, the retrospective bags look really nice and are definitely the kind of look I want. Not sure if I like the inability to carry my laptop though.

Primarily getting this for walk-around stuff. The kind of thing I can walk into a coffee shop with and not have people look at me like "who the hell does this guy think he is?" My Dakine Reload is nice but its @#*$&ing huge and not fun to carry around.

Messenger bag from an Army surplus store, and a messenger bag insert from B&H with configurable compartments. I love mine; plenty of room easily configurable, comfortable and cheap. I carry my 70-200 in it and can put a notbebook in there if I need to as well.

Nice and simple no BS bag..... Lowepro exchange messanger

Look at the Rotation 360 by Thinktank. It's a backpack that you can access without taking it off! If you're going to carry that gear plus a laptop, your shoulder is going to get very sore.

the timbuk2 messenger snoop medium could work. Its on sale at amazon too.
I got the small and like it but it doesn't have a top handle.

The medium is big.... and will fit alot of stuff. My small fits t3i with 135 kit lens, the 10-22 wide and a 50mm.

I'm waiting on the bag and insert for the DIY army messenger bag to compare it to the timbuk2.

tvphotog wrote in post #12521846
Look at the Rotation 360 by Thinktank. It's a backpack that you can access without taking it off! If you're going to carry that gear plus a laptop, your shoulder is going to get very sore.

The most gear I'm going to carry is my 5D, a 17-40L, 50/1.4, and possibly a 85/1.8, and my laptop or ipad.

I am really liking my tenba messenger bag so far.

It holds everything well and has a nice thick padded strap.

I also like that he flap has a zipper on it and you can easily remove the camera.

I spent a lot of time with the ThinkTank retrospective 10 and 20 as well. Those bags seemed to be more solidly built then the Tenba but initially I have been preferring the ergonomics of the Tenba.

guyzer09 wrote in post #12521844
Nice and simple no BS bag..... Lowepro exchange messanger

I love my Exchange Messenger but it doesn't fit the iPad very well and will never fit a laptop.

If you already have a messenger bag (non-photo), here's a nice solution that I'm using:

Patagonia Half Mass Messenger Bag

+

Mountainsmith Kit Cube

This is pretty versatile because then you can take the Kit Cube and put it in any other bag/backpack/etc.

In the Kit Cube I can fit:

Canon T3i, with Canon grip + EF 24-105mm f/4 L attached with reversed hood
EF 10-22mm (hood detached and floating in bag)
EF 50mm 1.8
B+W circular polarizing filter
a few other small accessories

Vanguard Up Rise 32 or 38. I bought a Vanguard Up Rise 32 about six months ago.. Only relatively new on the market place but a brilliant bag. One of the best I've owned/used.

http://www.vanguardwor​ld.com …deo/detail-1-1-4-433.html

domke f3x

i easily fit my 7D, 85L, 17-55 and 30 along with an ipad in my crumpler 6MDH. theres room for small accessories...but thats about it. i can squeeze a 430exii in there too if i wanted.

I agree with Bbydon and samueli: any inconspicuous messenger bag with an insert. I ended up having timbuk2 messenger small + tenba insert. From the pictures on timbuk2 site it seems that my setup is almost the same as timbuk2 snoop, but that bag wasn't available when i bought mine.

This works fairly well for me. I normally don't put camera in the bag, but instead put lenses, flash and couple accessories. If you really want to, you can pack, a camera with a grip, 2 lenses (normal and telephoto zooms), a flash, 15" mbp, filters, chargers, small notebook and a paperback book. It would look quite stuffed, but it works if you need to transport things from A to B.

And another advantage of this setup, is that you get to use the same bag as a normal messenger bag. The fewer bags, the better.