Buying tips for your camera bag(s)

After raking your brains on what photography equipment you must buy first, you’ll be faced with another question: “What camera bag should I buy?”. Like the previous questions of  what camera to buy and what accessories to buy next and in what sequence, answering the question of what bag to buy is a headache.
Don’t worry, most of us will face this problem. When I faced this problem, here’s what I did:

1. Identify the purpose of the bag
   The bag could be used for any or all of the following purposes:
   • Bag for Active Shooting – Active shooting means you have the bag on your body while you’re taking pictures. Sling bags, belt bags, and backpacks are ideal for this purpose especially the smaller sized one.
   • Bag for Transporting – When you use the bag just to store and transport your gear, you can opt to get the bigger shoulder bags or backpacks. Bags for transporting your cameras are usually left on the floor, in a corner, in a car, or on a table while you take pictures. These bags are also the ones you use when you travel with all your gear, the ones you hand carry on your flights. Take note that there are size limitations on bags you can hand carry on airplanes, so make sure the bag you’re going to take meets this limitations, or else you end up checking the bag in and have airport personnel throw it around.
   • Daily Shooting – When you bring your camera with you everyday, it’s best that you put it in a bag to minimize the damage caused by your daily routine. The bags for this purpose are usually the small one that can fit a camera body and some memory cards and batteries.
2. Identify the gears that will go inside the bag

I made a list of my all my gear and possible gear purchases. Once I did this, I got a better idea of the size of the bag to buy.

3. Identify the budget
   Identifying the budget helped me narrow down the brand of the bag to buy. If money is no object to you, get the well-known international brands like Lowepro, Crumpler, and Tamrac.

My  Bag Story
In my case, I was really on a tight budget, so I opted for a 20 dollar generic camera shoulder bag that could fit my EOS 300D, flash gun, filters, batteries and other smaller accessories. After 3 years it’s still in good condition but I decided to retire it. These days I have three bags to fit three  purposes: Lowepro Fastpack 250 for transporting my camera gear and laptop, Lowepro Off Trail 2 for  active shooting, and Lowepro Rezo TLZ20 for daily shooting.

I guess you’ll be asking,”Is it really necessary to have more than one bag?”. My answer is “No”.  I survived with only one bag for 2 years. But eventually, when you already established your shooting style and habits, you’ll realize that you won’t be carrying all your gear. You’ll also learn to be practical when it comes to gear selection, and hopefully you’ve already identified the type of photography you’ll be doing more often. For example, when you’re just starting out, you’ll probably be carrying all your lenses, camera bodies, and accessories because you’re not sure what you’ll be shooting when you go out. You’ll be preparing for landscapes, portraits, candids and whatever else you can think of.  But as you mature as a photographer, you would realize that not all your gear will be used. So gradually you’ll be shedding of those extra baggage. You won’t be a carry-all photographer anymore: you’ll be a weight-sensitive, gear-efficient shooter.

That’s why I have 3 bags. My Lowepro Fastpack 250 carries all my gear and laptop when I go on official or paid shoots. When I’m covering events outdoors that requires me to be always on the go, I use my Lowepro Off Trail 2 that can be used as a shoulder bag or a hip pack, lessening the burden on my shoulders. And when I go to work or just walk outside and I decide to bring my camera, I put it in the small Lowepro Rezo TLZ20.

Things to look out for
So when you’ve decided on what bag to buy, check the following parts:

• Weather protection - waterproof and water-resistant. This is already self explanatory.
• Padding – thick enough to protect your gear, but not too thick to be very bulky. You need some of that space for the actual gear not just for the foam.
• Strap – check the material of the strap and the spaces of the webbing. The finer the spaces,  the better and the stronger the strap.
• Stitching – Get the bag with the double stitches.
• Zipper – check the teeth of the zipper, make sure they’re at least 4mm thick and are made of metal or hard plastic. Also check how well the zipper is stitched to the fabric. More often that not, the zipper will give way to stress at the stitch points on the tape rather than on the chain (check this site for the parts of a zipper). The sliders should also have provisions for inserting cords or strings for easier pulling.
• Velcro – As weird as it seems, too much velcro is not good for your bag. It will put more stress on your bag everytime you open it especially on the stitches. Also, make sure that the velcro side with the hooks are fully covered when you close the flap. Having those hooks exposed can damage other clothing material, i.e. when it rubs on other textiles like your shirt or the insides of your bag.
• Buckles – check the material of the buckle, make sure the plastic is stiff enough that it doesn’t slide off, but it’s flexible enough to bend and not break when pressed.
• Hooks -avoid aluminum snap hooks if possible because they tend to crack or become brittle over time. If you can avoid bags with hooks the better. They’re the weak link in your bags. I’ve had several bags with these aluminum snap hooks and almost all of them broke because of the weight.
• Ladder locks - these are the locks on the strap that you adjust. These things handle a lot of stress especially when you’re bags are fully-loaded. Check the plastic used for the locks. If they bend or look brittle, don’t buy the bag. Once this ladder locks break, you’re bag will be out of service, probably for good. If you can find metal ladder locks, the better.
• Comfort and Fit – make sure that you’re comfortable with the bag you’re buying. Try carrying it or putting it on then put some pressure or load on the bags to test how it distribute the weight. If it becomes uncomfortable after a minute or less, don’t buy it. Imagine suffering with that uncomfortable feeling for hours.

I hope you got a better idea on how to buy your camera bag. The process of selection would be hard but it will be a rewarding experience. It’s your turn to get the bag that’s right for you.
Good luck!

Related posts:

1. Gear Lust and Buying your First DSLR
2. Budget Photography (Introduction)
3. Budget Photography: Why get a DSLR?