Beyond the Lens - In the Bag

Written by Tamara Kwan of TammyLynn Photography

Featured on I am Gloucestershire 365's website under FYI Daily Blog on Thursday, 03 February 2011

Photographers, we love to talk about our equipment and the bags we keep them in.  To me a camera bag should be like your personal assistant, ready with your gear at your finger tips. We all have our preferences when it comes to bags and what we want them to do, the most important thing being to protect our gear. I’ve bought a lot of bags over the years, and they’ve all done a pretty good job at protecting my gear. I must say though that not all bags are created equal; and you usually get what you pay for. I’ve bought cheap bags that look really cool and that I was excited about only to be let down when it starts coming apart and zippers break. That said I’ve also had an expensive name brand bag come apart on me as well. I tried to contact them about it as the bag was still fairly new and they didn’t want to know about it. Needless to say I’ve not bought any more of their products.

The above bag which I’m holding and showing off my Olympus kit is the Lowepro Fastpack 200. This was my second Lowepro bag. The first one was the first series of their SlingShot bags. I really loved that bag and how I could swing it around and have easy access to my gear without having to set my bag down. Sadly I had a shoulder injury and was advised by the doctor not to use sling bags anymore, but to use backpacks to evenly distribute the weight. That’s why I got the bag above, same sort of system but as a backpack. Love these bags, nice and sturdy with loads of pockets. I especially love the tiny pockets for memory cards and small things you are constantly looking for, all at your fingertips.

As for customer service with Lowepro? Well I’ve never had a problem with their bags so I’ve not contacted them with a problem. I have talked to a few of their representatives and they’ve always been more than helpful. A friend of mine did have a problem with one of their bags though, the zipper broke on it. He contacted them to ask about repairing it as he loved the bag, not expecting them to replace it or anything as it was a well used bag. Well they did replace it and they replaced it with the latest design of the same range. Now that is good customer service!

Recently I reviewed one of their bags for them, the Pro Roller Attaché x50. 

 I’m in love with this bag; it’s like having my own personal assistant!  You can read my review here on my blog: TammyLynn Blogs: The Lowepro Pro Roller Attaché x50. I also had a bit of fun with this bag and made a very short stop motion animation video with it. You can see this on YouTube here: TammyLynnPhotog: Lowepro Pro Roller Attaché x50. My little video was also featured on the Lowepro Blog, you can read about it here: Lowepro>Products> An Animated View.

When you find a good camera bag that’s just right for you, it’s like having a best friend look after your gear. J

Here's the video: 

The Lowepro Pro Roller Attaché x50

I recently received the new Lowepro Pro Roller Attaché x50. When I first saw it I had my doubts. At first I thought, my word that's small, will I get all my gear in there? It's a lot bigger than it seems, I can tell ya! And if you need a bit more room for gear you can always take the soft bag out of the roller case and either carry it or slip it over the pulling handle of the other bag.

It's nice and sturdy and has lots of pockets, it even has a pocket for a small 14inch laptop. Sadly my laptop is too large for this, but I don't think I'd want to carry a laptop around with my camera gear anyway. Though if I had a small one I probably would.

My Canon 5D II with 24-70mm 2.8L lens attached, wrist strap and a tripod foot attached fit nicely in the bag along with an extra large lens (or two smaller lenses) a flash gun (or two), triggers and remotes, mini reflectors and colour charts and lots of other bits and bobs all fit nicely in the bag. All the stuff I usually take with me on assignment. I can even squeeze in a back up body with no lens attached.

They have really thought of everything with this bag, though a few tiny pockets for cards and batteries wouldn't go amiss. I really love how it opens up like a drawer with instant access to all your gear. You don't have to hunt for a place to put your bag down or try and fiddle with stuff or worry about your gear falling out. Makes quick lens changes a breeze!

Above is a quick photo I took to show the bag in use on a job. I really love how I can quickly attach a flash gun to the handle and use the bag as a light stand. A light stand with built in counter weight and wheels! It was so easy to move the bag and flash gun around to get the shot I wanted, even quickly wheeled it outside no problem! Of course I had to be careful, I didn't want to knock the flashgun and break it off, but it honestly wasn't any trouble at all to move around with all attached. It's like having an assistant along with you!

This bag is perfect for travelling with. Take the inside bag out and use as a lovely top loading shoulder bag for your gear. It's made to slip over the handle of the outer bag if you happen to need more space. It can also be use as a suit case for your clothes and travel needs. It's suppose to be airline approved for carry on luggage, though I've not actually travelled with it myself. I would think that if the roller bag didn't pass you could take the inner bag out and carry that on and let the roller bag go in the hold. I hope to be travelling with it soon, so I'll let you know. :-)

This bag definitely gets my seal of approval. I've been dragging it around with me everywhere. Really saves my back and keeps all my gear right at my finger tips. It's much much more than a camera bag, it's my new personal assistant. :-)

Below is a little stop motion movie I made with the bag down at the studio yesterday. (Saturday 22, January 2011) I was in a bit of a rush but I wanted to see if I could do it, had the idea swimming around in my head awhile now. I put my camera on a tripod, but my bag in the middle of the infinity cove. Turned on 4 flash heads, aimed two at the background, only using the modelling lights. I didn't set off the flash. I took 144 images moving the bag a bit between takes. Then went home and swore at the computer for a while until I finally managed to put this together.

Can you tell I like this camera bag? :-D

All of the images above including the ones in the video, were taken by myself, TammyLynn. With the exception of the photo taken at Morrisons, all of the photos above were taken at The London Road Studio in Gloucester.

UPDATE: Lowepro have seen my little video and have featured it on their blog! Lowepro Blog link

Lowepro said this on their Facebook and Twitter post about the movie:

You've got to spend 56 seconds to watch this animated film made by TammyLynn featuring a Pro Roller Attache x50. It's fun.