Dear Alison,
My careful choices for all my photography equipment is always based on a selection criteria of: do it right the first time, quality, compactness and lightweight, since I am petite and only 5ft 2.5 inches tall.
WHEELS - No, not for me & speedlites/strobist applications as wheels on any bag, (be it camera bag or lighting bag), usually adds approx 6 lbs.
When using larger Manfrotto 7.75ft lightstands with speedlights, a wheeled solution I have is a LITEWARE wheeled bag, good quality but found over the years too bulky & heavy for me. So I prefer my large speedlight bag, when using Manfrotto 7.75ft light stands and everything including the kitchen sink is this, a relatively compact for the requirement INTERFIT INT 433 bag: http://www.bhphotovideo.com …_Two_Head_All_In_One.html
which has lots of customizable partition/dividers.
(I have a wheeled bag for my strobe/monolights 4-Profoto D1Air500's, with modifiers & Manfrotto 9ft light stands and a wheeled California Sunbounce bag, for all my California Sunbounce stuff with varies sizes/shapes reflectors & scrims and with Manfrotto 12ft stands).
Weight of LOWEL LB-30 bag, a bit but only if/when fully loaded, but still tolerable, if I want the benefit of the versatility to be ready on location for up to a 5-580EXII speedlite capacity set up scenario; that is the necessary consequence. It is really compact given its beneficial capacity characteristics. Its black, not a bright nor zany color, so if you need color for “fun factor” maybe add a ribbon or something onto the handle or shoulder strap (haha!). It is an exquisitely manufactured top quality but cute nifty little bag. It fits compactly into the truck of my space restricted little sports car (BMW 135i).
LASTOLITE 36” Hotrod OCTA softbox – speed ring is very light-weight yet strong reinforced-nylon black plastic, with sufficient strength. The Lastolite 36” Hotrod Octa creates beautifully soft wrap around light for applications such as flattering portraits. It is definitely my favorite speedlight modifier (it does however take about 9 minutes to setup though, but light quality I think is certainly worth the time; in contrast the Ezybox 24” or 30” softboxes which take approx 2 minutes to set up. My 24” Ezybox soft box bag is in original circular style bag, not the newer, since approx spring 2011, awkward bigger triangle style bag).
http://www.lastoliteschoolofphotography.com/using-the-hotrod-octa-softbox (24:05 minute Lastolite 36” Hotrod Octa product video)
HARDWARE – organized in GLAD Zip-Lock clear sandwhich or medium bags, sounds funny I know, but it is simple and most importantly minimizes space and enables quick viewing of equipment when on location; enabling minimizing time and avoiding fumbling with stuff. I have thoroughly researched almost every conceivable small pouch on the market etc. and haven’t found anything other as thin & flexible, as other pouches took up too much space reducing the capacity of what I could carry in any of the small lighting bags. i.e. the main lighting bag would have been consumed/taken up with pouches wasting space rather than storing hardware and stuff. Other people may have other solutions - it's just an individual preference thing.
The GLAD Zip-lock bags concept are just the way I found satisfactory, keeping the hardware organized and in pristene condition avoiding chips & scraps. (GLAD-brand bags seem to be a few mils thicker plastic than other brands of plastic zip-lock bags).
If on-location applications definitely will only require say two light stands, then my other recommended bags (in entry #4) will suffice.
For example, if say I have to do a beach portrait setting, I may just put over my shoulder the Smith Victor bag (which I had my clothing tailor for $7 reverse the direction of the original bag’s zipper) to facilitate sticking out of the Smith Victor bag while on location (not during main transport) 2-580EXII with already mounted on the Manfrotto #026 adapters & Manfrotto Nano stands, and mounted Rouge Flash Benders-Large, so I can move quickly and effectively from one area to another at a site (with set up or take down in under 10 seconds!). This is equally helpful if I am soling, or even if I have my assistant carrying the lighting equipment.
Hope this answers your questions. Again good luck on whatever you decide would work best for YOU and your individual situations.
Keep smiling…
Mary
