Tag: Camera Bags for Street Photographers.

What do you do when you have a serious addiction to trying to find the right camera bag? Or should we say, the right camera bag for you. Camera Bags for Street Photographers, is something that is tricky as you need to carry it all day, when out walking so that weight issue can become a problem. Too big a camera bag and you are liable to stuff too much in. As you think I have room, so why not take it (whatever it is). To small a bag and you leave behind something crucial. Will the bag stay dry, if you get caught out in a monsoon, or will you sweat to much carrying it.

I have lost count of the number of camera bags that I have brought over the years. My wife says, that I have more camera bags than she has handbags and I do believe, she could be right.

I have finally however found, that I was chasing something that was not really attainable. Good Camera Bags for Street Photographers, do exist. Yet not all camera bags are as good, as they are advertised or their reputation will lead you to believe. As we all have different needs and physiques, so will depending on your needs and your size. Are you tall or large, small or you know whatever. This can also affect how a particular camera bag works for you. As photographers age, they also find that they tend to want to carry less over longer periods of time. So what when you are in your 20’s is not a heavy bag, by the time you get to your 60’s becomes a lead weight.

Shoulder or Backpack?

I like backpacks and I like shoulder, sling or messenger type bags, each for their own reasons. Whichever type you select, will have strengths and drawbacks. Let’s discuss a few common issues for all camera bags and some of the things to look out for and consider.

Camera Backpacks

You can carry a lot in a backpack, they range in a wide variety of sizes and features. Some are designed by people who make backpack for travel and camping so they are ergonomically comfortable for long carrying. Others are not so well designed, in this regard.

I always have this thought in the back of my mind, if I am traveling around London on the Tube or when visiting Paris on the Metro. Is my backpack contents going to be safe in a crowded train carriage. In other words, does it have easy access camera compartments on the back of the bag, where someone could help themselves to your expensive camera gear.

For a Street Photographer, when considering a backpack, you want to make sure you brought one that does not have easy access zips all over it. Some backpacks, have side access panels, that are designed to make it quicker, to access your gear. Personally, I think this then makes them more vulnerable, to people being able to help themselves to your gear.

In summer a Backpack just leaves me feeling hot and often rather sweaty, so I prefer an over shoulder camera bag, as it can hang away from the body. Whereas in winter, I do not over heat and the extra warmth of wearing a backpack on the cold streets of London, are appreciated.

Backpacks also have the added advantage of spreading the load across two shoulders.

Backpacks take longer to get stuff out of so if you are changing lens or accessories all the time. As you may have to take it off to gain access to what you need. If this is an issue then maybe a shoulder bag might be more your thing.

Camera Shoulder Bags

A shoulder bag is faster to get into when you are working, if you decide to change lens or need something from it. It can also be swung in front of you if you are in a crowded situation so you can keep your eye on it.

Yet with a shoulder bag by its nature going over one shoulder and if you have a lot of street photography equipment in there, then it gets heavy really fast

Does the ideal Camera Bag exist for a Street Photographer? For me my solution was not one but …

I finally decided that a three camera bag set up is ideal, I can then chose the right camera bag, for the task.

For various reasons, this works well. I now have the backpack for when travelling and I need to take a lot of photography gear with me. I then transfer the cameras that I am going to use, to either a small camera bag or an even smaller camera bag.

Now Street Photographers are told to only use one camera and one lens. While this is solid advice it is in effect hard to do.

I that personally I am lucky, as I can afford to have both a Leica M11 colour camera and a Leica M11M Monochrom camera. Yet, if I leave one behind, I invariably want to use the one left home, so often I will be using one camera and have the other hidden away in a small 3 litre bag.

Then as I am also trying to set up a YouTube channel I keep thinking I need to take a video camera and as the Leica M system does not do video I take out with me a DJI Pocket 3 camera and accessories fortunately it comes in a nice little carry case but that is to big to stick in pocket so I then need a bigger bag. On top of that these days, if I am being is sensible I go out with a water bottle. Consequently, I want to be able to carry that, as well as all the other assorted junk, that we need for modern life, (wallet, travel card, phone, phone charger, pen notebook etc). So in summer I am now using a still, small 7 litre camera bag.

Versatility is what makes the three camera bag the ideal set up. I can even take the camera bags travelling, as they can be filled with socks and other bits and put into my luggage. While I carry my backpack. Which, I recently discovered does snuggly fit into the EasyJet cabin allowance bins, that they so eagerly force you to use when flying in the attempt to get you to pay more for your flight.

The Backpack is by
Shimoda
Urban Explore 20 Backpack , which you can see here

The other two shoulder bags are by :
WottenCraft
PILOT Travel 7L Camera Bag, which you can see here

and the small camera bag is the

WottenCraft
SLING Pouch 3.5L, which you can see here

I also own bags by Domke, Think Tank and others, which some I really like, but for reasons that I will eventually go into. When we start reviewing cameras bags, on the Street-Photography.net from the perspective of active Street Photographers, I am not currently using.

What is your ideal camera bag set up? Do you use or own more than one camera bag? Are you happy with the one/s that you currently own or do you suffer from GAS when it comes to Camera Bags?

In ending this article on Camera Bags for Street Photographers, I want to invite you to join the conversation here.

Please add your comments, in the comments section below, so we can begin the discussion.