This is an official, "I've now lost my bag review viriginity" thread.
Background:
I shoot sports for a living and therefore it's imperative that you are able to change lenses quickly and efficiently. Well, at least that's what I think. Suffice to say I have tried some bags in the past, notably the Boday Dry Junior (great in concept, in reality a poorly made bag) and most recently the Urban Disguise 20.
UD20 was doing fine for me when I decided to include a netbook into the mix. The bag was too small and thefore it was the prefect time (or excuse) to buy yet another bag.
Requirements:
-Fit 2 out of the 3 lenses at all times; 70-200 2.8, 16mm fisheye, 17-35.
-70-200 2.8 needs to fit vertically.
-These lenses must be easily taken in and out of the bag.
-SB800 flash, SU800, other accessories also need to fit.
-Weatherproof
-Netbook (Samsung NC10) needs to fit.
-Lightweight.
-Minimal padding
I considered Domke F3X, but as a working camera bag, canvas wasn't an option and it wouldn't hold the 70-200 2.8 veritcally.
After some time, I ran into BBB (aka Bare Bones Bag), but I wasn't crazy about the colour. Yes, that's a very important aspect of a good camera bag. Since it was made by Courierware, I contacted them and thus began the jourmey of customization.
Eric at Courierware was extremely helpful and through number of emails (about 6) and phone calls, I got the bag I wanted.
Pictures:
The bag from the outside. You can customize the clips as well. I opted for it as sometimes I wanted the bag to be as air tight as possible. The measure is there for size.
http://picasaweb.google.com/toksuede...44686537886642
Rear end. The netbook will be inserted into the pocket seen here. This pocket can be sealed with the velcro.
http://picasaweb.google.com/toksuede...44692477516530
With the flap open. You can see that there is velcro, but I asked Eric to use the velcro silencer on the flap side. If I want to use the velcro, I just remove the silencer. You can see the two pockets at the front here as well.
http://picasaweb.google.com/toksuede...44690365152098
From the top. There are 4 pockets inside the bag and the space in the middle can be used as well. More velcro on the inside wall.
http://picasaweb.google.com/toksuede...44689041139778
Outside again, this time with the 70-200 2.8 sleeve sticking out. This was the solution to carry the 70-200 vertically. It is now relatively easy to change this particular lens during a shoot. The sleeve is attached by velcro.
http://picasaweb.google.com/toksuede...44692621555010
The sleeve. It's got a bit of cushion around it, but not much.
http://picasaweb.google.com/toksuede...44692621555010
Configurations.
http://picasaweb.google.com/toksuede...45058665451938
http://picasaweb.google.com/toksuede...45062647889938
http://picasaweb.google.com/toksuede...45069731050770
With the netbook. I also bought a strap pad as longer I used the bag with lots of equipment, the redder my shoulder became. The netbook can be inserted into the back pocket with or without the netbook pouch.
http://picasaweb.google.com/toksuede...47579690395010
http://picasaweb.google.com/toksuede...47583101859074
Conclusion:
Sadly, the football season was over before the bag came so I cannot say if certain aspects of this bag (ie the vertical sleeve) works well or not. But I used it for the past week vacationing in New York city and it worked very well. If other bags were built like GM or Chrysler cars, this one is built like a Honda or a BMW. Others have said that the build quality of this bag is great, but I didn't know that it was this good. The material is also rain proof and it will protect your gear in most conditions.
It's light. I had it made so that there's absolutely no padding around the bag except for some at the bottom.
Compare to a Domke or other rustic looking bags, it looks like a normal messenger bag. Very inconspicuous.
As for what it was built for, lens changing on the go, so far so good. As I have said before, I have yet to field test it under normal work condition, but with the limited amount of lens changing occasions, it performed admirably. I think the lens fit slightly too snug into the sleeve, but that's more to do with my calculation of the size of the sleeve than the quality of it. If the sleeve doesn't work out, I will ask Eric if they can make another one slightly larger.
The pockets fit all the lenses that I want to fit and taking it in and out is easy.
If you are looking for a SLR / DSLR bag to work out of or a bag to carry couple of lenses and a rangefinder, you should definitely consider this to be one of your choices. Mind you, this is not a bag to carry a DSLR with or without a lens attached.
Last but not least, Eric at Courierware was a pleasure to work with. The fact that you can custom build your own bag under 200 dollars (mine was around 150 including shipping) can't be beat.
Ryu
Linear Mode
