Stylish sholder bag that can duo as a school bag?

Probably a silly question, but..

I'm looking for a cool-looking bag that can carry one body and one small lens along with say, 2-3 textbooks or a laptop. I know it sounds wierd, but sometimes I like to carry my whole stash to a party after my classes or something, and I'm the type of guy that wears a fancy outfit often so I want something that goes well with it and I like to have my camera along with me everywhere.

Probably out of the question since it would be hard to find a bag that's designed that way.. but, something like this was what I was thinking of, apart that I'm not too much a fan for Pokadots

I know for school I should get a dedicated backpack probably since books do take up quite a bit of space, but then I like to carry my camera around.. Size is a major factor.


Tried doing some searching, but didn't find much.. most of the results were for women (assuming that men didn't care about looks, lol?)

Buy a small camera insert from Ebay and insert it in your favorite laptop backpack.

http://cgi.ebay.com …ain_0&hash=item​414f6535a9

A Domke or Think Tank Retrospective 30 pinestone partitioned into 1/2, such that books or a laptop take the back half and your camera gear takes the front half? I know I did something like that for my Crumpler 7MDH (sold).

There's not really much out there. You'll have to trawl and trawl to find something that actually works. I was looking for the same, and I wanted something that just worked. I was looking at the ThinkTank UD60 but it was way too expensive. I just found and bought a canvas backpack at a local shop here to turn into a shoulder bag (won't be hard to, I prefer them over backpacks). It is a monster of a bag. I just put my 1D2+300/4L on the bottom of it and there's still a good few cm along the side of it. Height wise, it doesn't even take up half. That's how big it is. I usually only take my netbook in a smaller canvas shoulder bag (same brand, same shop) but now I can take my 1D2+24-70L along with me. I won't bother with any inserts, but you could definitely fit some in there.

It was from a camping/outdoors shop and it was ridiculously cheap (AU$15, the UD60 is AU$260...) so I'm more than happy with it. I guess you could look somewhere like that over there, although I'm not sure what you'd find? Maybe even just search eBay for a canvas shoulder bag and see what comes up.

I'd get a great, comfy laptop backpack and use a magic cloth for the camera and lens. How often are you going to use the bag for your camera gear? I have lots of bags, and I just bought a Swiss Gear backpack at Target for $29, it's orange. There's plenty of room for the laptop and a bunch of books and the third zipped section fits my 5D2 with 24-70 in the magic cloth just fine. Just remember not to take it off like my teens do, slamming the bag on the floor.

The other choice would be something like a UD50, but that's very pricey.

I forgot. Have you considered the Domke F-802? It's a Domke, so it's very sturdy and canvas, and you can configure the bag as different as you'd like depending on the inserts you put in it. That's my most used bag. Get the extra strap thing for comfort, though.

Thanks for the help guys...

I will be using the bag practically every other day, and I always like to have my camera with me
In the future the most it's going to be is probably a 5D and say, a Sigma 50 or 35L or something along those lines, along with a small laptop and 3 textbooks. Those days I'm not at College I'll probably bring my other lenses along..

Maybe a Lowepro 250 AW? It might be a bit big though, I suppose.

Deep Pocket wrote in post #10800629
Thanks for the help guys...

I will be using the bag practically every other day, and I always like to have my camera with me
In the future the most it's going to be is probably a 5D and say, a Sigma 50 or 35L or something along those lines, along with a small laptop and 3 textbooks. Those days I'm not at College I'll probably bring my other lenses along..

I think the Domke (or another similar Domke) is the best option then. Domke's are like what I mentioned I bought, except they're made to be camera bags first, so you've got the ability of having dividers and a lot of space.

I believe there's a few Domke clones available on eBay if you want to go a bit cheaper.

I have always used Timbuk2s for school bags. They hold up to anything and are waterproof. I use to add an insert and have it double as my camera bag also.

Look at the Lowepro Classified series , there are a few sizes .

tenba messenger fits the bill.

or maybe you could check out Orkio Canera bags. not sure if theyre available there though.

http://filtersxchange.​multiply.com …50/BAGS_ORKIO_C​amera_Bags

valdore93 wrote in post #10800851
Maybe a Lowepro 250 AW? It might be a bit big though, I suppose.

What's a LowePro 250 AW?

firebug wrote in post #10802881
I have always used Timbuk2s for school bags. They hold up to anything and are waterproof. I use to add an insert and have it double as my camera bag also.

Exactly what I have and use as a camera bag.....

tgara wrote in post #10810071
What's a LowePro 250 AW?

This.