Shoulder bag recommendations

Turbo-G

Turbo-G

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Grant
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Hi all,
I'm looking to pick up a shoulder bag, for photo walks mainly...

I already own a lowepro fast pack 250 (I think) backpack which is great and very practical, but is a slight squeeze for my full frame gear.

I also have a lowepro nova 200 aw which is quite spacious, but in hindsight isn't a good option when out and about, as it is very boxy and screams camera gear...

Therefore I'm looking for something that is a bit more discreet, and more of a messenger style.

The bag needs to hold a gripped d750, 24-70, 70-200, SB-700 and a few choice accessories - e.g rocket blower, cloths, spare batteries etc.

I don't like the retro satchel style ones (e.g Billingham), but quite like the styling of ThinkTank Retrospective, Crumpler Jetpack and the Peak Design stuff. Preferably it won't be black also, unless it contains some colour accent. Water repellence would be good too.

Any recomendations out there?

Thanks,
Grant
 
Lowepro messenger aw200 or most large bags from tenba, that being said carrying almost any gripped camera in a messenger bag is a bit unbalanced imho
 
Thinktank Retrospective 20 would do the job, will be damn heavy for one shoulder though...
 
Think tank 20 which used to hold my old D600 with 70-200 attached just. With large lens pouch either side plus all the extra pockets. Very comfy bag. Looking at retrospective 5 now i have gone mirrorless.
 
Turbo-G said:
Hi all,
I'm looking to pick up a shoulder bag, for photo walks mainly...

I already own a lowepro fast pack 250 (I think) backpack which is great and very practical, but is a slight squeeze for my full frame gear.

I also have a lowepro nova 200 aw which is quite spacious, but in hindsight isn't a good option when out and about, as it is very boxy and screams camera gear...

Therefore I'm looking for something that is a bit more discreet, and more of a messenger style.

The bag needs to hold a gripped d750, 24-70, 70-200, SB-700 and a few choice accessories - e.g rocket blower, cloths, spare batteries etc.

I don't like the retro satchel style ones (e.g Billingham), but quite like the styling of ThinkTank Retrospective, Crumpler Jetpack and the Peak Design stuff. Preferably it won't be black also, unless it contains some colour accent. Water repellence would be good too.

Any recomendations out there?

Thanks,
Grant
Click to expand...

I carry a similar amount of stuff in a LowePro Urban Reporter 350. It doesn't exactly fit your bill but it is currently only £50 from Amazon. It's pretty massive and carries a D750 (ungripped), Tamron 24-70 f2.8 & 70-200 f2.8, a couple of primes, macro extension tubes, light meter, flashbender and a heap of other bits and pieces. It's pretty much full now, though, and not hugely comfy for carrying any distance but that's mainly down to the weight.
 
juggler said:
I carry a similar amount of stuff in a LowePro Urban Reporter 350. It doesn't exactly fit your bill but it is currently only £50 from Amazon. It's pretty massive and carries a D750 (ungripped), Tamron 24-70 f2.8 & 70-200 f2.8, a couple of primes, macro extension tubes, light meter, flashbender and a heap of other bits and pieces. It's pretty much full now, though, and not hugely comfy for carrying any distance but that's mainly down to the weight.
Click to expand...

Thanks Simon - I actually do quite like that. Probably should have opted for it over the nova 200aw.

How 'boxy' does it feel in use? Does it look more like a regular bag?

Grant
 
Turbo-G said:
Thanks Simon - I actually do quite like that. Probably should have opted for it over the nova 200aw.

How 'boxy' does it feel in use? Does it look more like a regular bag?

Grant
Click to expand...

It's quite soft but it is definitely boxy. It hangs from the opposite shoulder quite well but I don't like having it on the shoulder of the side where it hangs.
I mainly use it for transporting stuff to a location, not for going walkabout with it.
 
Vanguard Up Rise messenger fits the bill there are other more normal photo bag shape in the up rise range as well. but the up rise messenger is great I've got the 33
 
Just to close the loop on this for anyone interested, I opted for a thinktank retrospective 30, in black canvas.

I opted for the retro 30 as it looked good, was well made, very flexible in internal configuration, and it's quite discrete in appearance - very happy with my choice.

Picked it up via Amazon for around £120 - sold by an independent camera store.
 
Turbo-G said:
Just to close the loop on this for anyone interested, I opted for a thinktank retrospective 30, in black canvas.

I opted for the retro 30 as it looked good, was well made, very flexible in internal configuration, and it's quite discrete in appearance - very happy with my choice.

Picked it up via Amazon for around £120 - sold by an independent camera store.
Click to expand...

That looks like a really nice bag. Ive not seen these before. Might look in to one for myself.
 
I have a lowepro urban sling 250 so I guess similar size. I found that it's ok for short trips and wandering around town with my camera, but not so convenient as a shoulder bag in terms of access and I wanted to get easier access and (although there's a tablet pocket) carry more whilst travelling

So I looked at the Tenba DNA messenger bags. They do 4 different sizes (8,11,13 and 15) and the larger ones can also accommodate a laptop alongside your photo gear. They also do separate gear inserts and wraps if you need more.

I was going to go with a DNA13 but in the end splashed a bit more cash and went for the Cooper 13 DSLR. I've been on holiday with it for 3 weeks and was well happy. The only thing I would say is if you intend on carrying a laptop around in the bag definitely measure it up properly first....I thought mine would fit in the 13 so it would double up as a daily work bag, but it doesn't.

The quality of the cooper is top notch and it doesn't look like a laptop or photo bag IMHO.

http://www.tenba.com/uk/collections/cooper.aspx
http://www.tenba.com/uk/collections/messenger.aspx
 
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Ohhh, those Tenba bags are also new to me and do look very nice. I do feel they are very similar to my Vanguard Up-rise, for a lot more money, but im sure there are differences.
I must admit i do like bags with top zips/access, ive never really got on with having to lift flaps.
 
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