What professional case do you use to carry all of your equipment?

[cimino55]

Hello,

 

It seems I've outgrown my Lowepro backpack, and with an order from B+H today (Canon 135mm F2L), I

am really hard pressed for a place to store all my equipment. I'ver seen cases from Lightware and Tenba,

but I am wondering what you use. I'm not talking overseas travel, but maybe carrying equipment to a

photo shoot or to a wedding.

 

I need a case for a Canon 5D, 1.4ex teleconverter, and about 3 "L" lenses and futuristically a 70-200mm

2.8 IS USM and a Canon 580 EX II speedlight, and various Gary Fong accessories. What do you use?

 

Regards,

 

Adam

[chrisjb]

personally use foam cooler boxes in the car boot and 1 good solid 15in high aluminiun case, handy to stand on, I never carry all in 1 unit as to easy for an unstrupulous person to walk of with, happened in a club here not long ago luckily not mine. Course someonr could knock off the car. :)

[joe_robinson2]

I am not one to depend on for this, I just wanted to say that I have always bought a bag that seemed to shrink and had to get a larger one.

I like to have a bag that will hold all my camera gear, in one basket so to speak. So all I want to say is, get one bigger than you need now as it seems that we always wind up getting more gear.-JoeR

[jeff mein smith]

Adam, I've had a Pelican 1550 (with padded dividers) for years. It's brilliant: as their advertising claimed, protects against shark-bite, bear-bite, but maybe not 5 year-olds... I've hauled it around sand-dunes, mountain tops (helicopter access!) on all manner of wedding assignments etc etc. The new 1510 carry-on looks useful, too.

[frolickingbits]

I have a Pelican 1550 Case, which holds my 30D, 28mm f2, 50mm f1.8, 20mm f1.8, 100mm

f2.8, 85mm f1.8, with room left over for a second body, and probably an on camera flash

unit like the 580, although I use a big potato masher unit, which gets its own aluminum case.

I highly recommend the Pelican-it keeps all my gear organized, and I have a smaller one

which came in handy at a wedding where the couple went for a short kayak ride around the

lake before the wedding, and I followed along.

[cimino55]

I just bought a Pelican 1654 case with lid organizer. Thank you for the feedback!

[cmphoto]

I agree with the Pelican idea...you will not be sorry.

[john engle]

Tamrac 787.

 

It holds my EOS-3, 70-200 f2.8L, 100-400 L, 17-35L, 28-70L, 28-135IS, 100 2.8 macro, 550EX, Sekonic 505, 2x converter, plus a bunch of misc stuff (filters, screw driver, swiss army knife, pens, batteries, lens cleaning cloth, film, flash diffuser, remote shutter release, tripod plates, etc, etc). And then I have room on the outside pockets.......

[whwhitejr]

Hi Adam,

 

I use the pluck foam aluminum tool box suitcases sold by Lowe's about $25. I have three. One for my 30D with most the lenses I use with it and one I use with my 5D with assoc. lenses. The third one I use for a camera and a telephoto lens assembled(70-200f2.8 or the 300f4)for football or most any other sporting event. They help insulate in the trunk on a hot day. They come with dividers for odds and ends. They protect and are tough as well as key lockable. Don't know anything about soft cases. Good luck, Bill

[thomas_brabant1]

Good post. But I can't help but remember a conversation I had years ago with a long time employee of a camera shop in Lexington, KY. To carry his Leica "stuff", he bought an attache case, cut out foam to fit all his lenses, cameras and stuff. Just fit. I asked him how it worked. He said "Fine, but I couldn't pick it up".

 

Cheers, Tom

[medina photography cherry]

I just got the Tamrac 695 LP5 Big Wheels Rolling Strongbox - Black. I like it as it holds all my gear. (3 bodies- a 70-200 2.8, 24 1.4, 50 1.4, 85 1.8, 24-70 2.8, 17-40 4, 2 canon 550ex flashes, 2 cpe-3 battery packs, 70 batteries AA's, chargers, 3 pocket wizards, extraBP 511A batteries, CF Cards.

The nice thing I really like about it is when you open it, there are straps on the sides that keep the lid at 90 degree angle.

[catchlight]

http://www.thinktankphoto.com/index.html

 

Besides looking at their excellent product line, read the two .pdfs on travelling with your gear.

[ymages]

Kata HB-207

http://www.kata-bags.com/Item.asp?pid=273&cid=28&perentId=4&ProdLine=4

[james_sawle]

I use the LowPro Mini Trekker AW for various reason, the first is that I like a bag that does not obviously shout 'CAMERA BAG', I have seen many get stolen over the years, and I think having it on your back makes it a little harder to take. The next reason is that I go a lot of places on Motorbike, so again, being on the back is an obvious choice for me, and the bag is fairly comfortable, and have I mentioned cheap.

 

There are a few niggly bits, the water proof cover that comes with the bag is a bit on the tight side, If you dont put too much in the bag it is OK, but with me I carry 1 D-SLR, 5 Lenses, 2 Flashes, a Converter, Spare Batteries, Memory Cards, 2 Focusing rails, Filters and Cables, I am pushing it, and for me I need something bigger already, the waterproof cover does fit, but it is hard work with this lot in the bag.

 

The next niggle is the only REALLY annoying thing about this bag, the so called Tripod/Monopod Mount, 'it works' is all I can say, if you use a 190 Manfrotto like me, with a head fitted, the bottom of the tripod hits you on the arse every step you make, it also pulls back on the bag a lot, and although it is still comfortable on the back, the constant movement of the Tripod gets to be very annoying to the point where you just do not want to take it anymore, this I leave it at home unless I am working with Macro, then no choice.

 

Now I have slagged this bag off a bit, but that aside I do think it is a good bag for the cost, it holds the gear safe, it is comfortable to wear, and is really easy to get the gear out of when you need it.

 

Would I buy another, being honest, NO, but not because of quality or comfort, I am running out of space, so I have been looking at larger ones in the LowPro range, but I found that they all use the same method of hanging the tripod off the back of the bag, and ONLY because of this I will not be buying another. I do like the look of the ThinkTank range, but the bag I like is too big for treaking and on the back of the bike at speed. I am still on my quest for the perfect bag, but if you dont need a Tripod, then I can honestly recommend the LowPro range for Cost, Comfort, and features. If you do want a Tripod, then FORGET IT!

[cimino55]

James,

 

I have a bag like this as well, called the Computrekker. Do I like it, yes. Can I fit a

day's worth of equipment in it? Hell no! It looks nice in the corner of my office I must say.

It really only holds my 5D and 2 "L" lenses. I moved up and bought this enormous Pelican

case on wheels.

 

Regards,

 

Adam

[james_sawle]

I have looked at the Pelican bags, they do look nice, a bit impracticle for me on the back of my Yamaha YZF-R1 at 160mph, Like you I had to compromise on a few items, I can get most of what I need, I normally take my 30D, 100-400mm + Lens Hood, 100mm Macro + Lens Hood, 17-85mm + Lens Hood, MP-E65mm Macro, and a 50mm + Lens Hood, with a 2x Converter, 1.4x Converter, 2x Batteries, Battery Grip (Already attached to the Camera), 2x Manfrotto 454 Focusing Rails, Manfrotto 190CL Tripod, Samsung Miniket Digital Camcorder, Remote for 30D, Small Just Photography Sensor Cleaning Kit, Battery Chargers and Main Leads, Spare Memory Cards, and all this just about fits, It is a push and I do need a bigger bag, but trying to find something as comfortable as the LowPro, but maybe more waterproof and still not be too big for the bike so that it becomes to dangerous, I do keep looking at the Tamrac Expedition 8, but I live on a small island and none of the retailers here hold this bag, plus it is a lot to pay for something that might not offer me much more than my cheap LowPro, thus till then I will still stand by my LowPro, Cheap, and it does the job, just...