So I got me this wonderful Sony FE 70-200mm and dug up the only bag in my collection that can hold it with the hood attached, the Lowepro Stealth D400. After a few days of carrying that my back began to protest vigorously. And that seemed kind of strange because I had carried the same outfit in my smaller Lowepro Nova 190 without having trouble in the physiology department. Problem! What use is a great lens if you're not able to carry it? The bag was the only variable changed here, so it must be the weight of the bag itself. Took the kitchen scale and started measuring my bags. The D400 weighs in at 1.7 kg and the smaller Nova 190 is only 0.9 kg. The difference is the weight of the 70-200mm! I set out the door immediately to walk to my local photostore (yes a 5 minutes walk, isn't that great? ) armed with that same scale and found a bag, helped out by one of the people there. It weighs a mere 0.5 kg and can hold the lens, the camera with a grip and a few smaller lenses and stuff. It's a Peter Hadley Berlin 90 bag; never heard of that brand before. Loaded with the A7 + grip, Konica 40mm + adapter, Olympus 24mm + adapter and polarizers, grey card, what have you. There's even space left for another small lens + adapter. Camera taken out, upper right is the Olympus 24mm. BTW, the Meike grip shown here is about 100 g lighter than the Sony grip! Just saying... The moral: if you're concerned about the weight you're prepared to carry, don't forget the weight of the bag itself!
Way to go Ad. I prefer shallower satchel types myself and use a way overpriced Domke F803; but it takes my FE 70-200 G on my A6000 (without lens hood attached) as well as my A7 with one or two other lenses. I shall have to weight it to see what that amounts to.
Really considering this grip for my new a7ii Have you had it very long? any gripes? Btw, congrats on the new lens! and Bag!
Ad, your equipment sensibilities are always so similar to mine that it is always nice to hear from you on these topics. Thanks for the insight. 5 Min walk eh? Jealous!
I've had the A7 grip (not the one for the A7ii, it's different) for a week or two and it has sat on the camera almost all the time. I'm still happy with it. One problem was accidentally operating the rear control wheel of the grip when used in landscape orientation. I "fixed" that by setting the grip's switch to off by default and switch it on when I move to portrait orientation. And as mentioned before, the grip's hinges for the battery door were too tight to my taste and that was fixed by cutting away a little bit of plastic of the hinges. Yesterday I saw that the original Sony grip didn't have to cost € 300 but only € 129 on eBay and for a moment I regretted not to have bought the Sony one. But hey, the Meike grip is almost 100 g lighter though so that's not bad and it simply works. I'm reluctant to spend a lot of cash on camera-specific accessories because they're obsolete once you change cameras; batteries are a notable exception so far which is great, but Sony might not stick to that for their higher end body that seems to be in the works, given that a lot of people whine (my opinion ) about battery life of the present A7 series. Thanks, went out yesterday with lens and bag again and now my back didn't object anymore while even carrying one extra lens. Money on the bag well spent!
I also like a thin satchel and have just ordered my second nice camera bag, the ONA union street (and it is seriously overpriced) it was a lot more than i wanted to pay but was the only bag i could seem to find that did everything i wanted. Worst still once I came to grips with the price I then found out the Australian price http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produ...igns_ONA003GR_Union_Street_Messenger_Bag.html
Wow, those prices! Paid € 60 for my bag. To be honest, I don't think it'll last for more than a few years as it's a bit flimsy but I don't care, it's light and it's cheap enough to replace it by something else.
The ONA brand do have quite a reputation for quality craftsmanship, though I doubt even in the end it will justify the price. In the end if the bad does what I want and lives up to its name ill be satisfied.
Yeah, it's great. That store doesn't carry Sony and that's good for my bank account . A larger store is a 20 minute bike ride away and they do have Sony and a lot of other nice stuff. Those are benefits of living in a rather large city although I'd prefer a more rural environment to be honest.
Another day, another bag... I couldn't bear the weight of the new shoulder bag after all. I also must have made an error in weighing it because the Peter Hadley bag is actually closer to 800 g. Anyway, I got me a Lowepro Slingshot 202 AW which is just deep enough to hold the FE 70-200mm provided I use a generic 72mm hood instead of the original Sony one. I have taken this bag with me a number of times, loaded with the A7 with grip, FE 70-200mm and Olympus OM 24/2.8 and 40/2, and that went well. Problem solved. For now.
Indeed, lots of storage space for small stuff. Almost all Lowepro bags have that. I've been using their bags for the last 20 years or so and I've used other brands like Billingham or Think Tank only sparingly.
I use the Thinktanks for their size to accommodate & protect bodies with long teles and hoods in place, and yes, they only have a couple of tiny pockets for a battery, micro cloth, etc...but they sure do protect a body & lens.
Nice bag Ad, I think that a bag is a pretty personal choice an everyone will like different things. My new bag arrived recently and I have used it a few times already. This is by far an away the best bag of any kind I have ever owned (and it bloody well should be heh). Build quality seems very nice and the padding is nice and thick. Only gripe so far is the strap is a bit slippery when just on one shoulder and not over my chest. _DSC2479 by Chris Thackray, on Flickr _DSC2480 by Chris Thackray, on Flickr
Doesn't look like a camera bag which is a good thing in my book. And yes, personal preferences seem to play an even much larger role in selecting a bag than in the choice of a camera (system).
A bag that didn't yell "Camera Bag" was very high on my priority, you can even take out all the dividers including the laptop one and use it as just a normal bag. Took it out the other weekend and managed to fit a large haul inside (2 bodies, 4 lens's, tablet, batteries and lens pens etc) but it was a bit too heavy for all day.
Biggest single reason I shy away from having to carry any sort of bag on the shoulder. I will say...and suspect you know...there are some good non-slip pads that can be attached to a shoulder strap...in fact, the strap that comes with a Thinktank holster has one built in and appears it would work very well although I don't use it that way.
I agree, I guess I was spoilt by the strap on my Domke f-5xb. It has rubber imbedded in two thin strips that run the length of the strap and works very well indeed.
