Had a young railfan ask me the other day about camera bags, and it reminded me that there might be an interesting discussion topic here for this list.
I own four camera bags and use all four depending on what kind of shooting I'll be doing. Normally, all my gear fits nicely into the Tamrac model 787 Super Photo backpack. We've talked about the merits of this system before, but it bears repeating...photo backpacks are a great way to schlep a lot of gear into remote photo locations; they are equally at home lying flat on the back seat of your car, keeping your gear organized and "at the ready" for guardrail-fanning. I generally carry one camera body and 1-2 lenses with me to work each day...I have one of those great jobs that often gives me access to interesting railfan photo opportunities, but there's NO WAY I can carry the backpack to work each day. For this, I have one of the nice Tamrac model 606 bags...small, padded nicely and it fits under the rear seat of a small aircraft or in the back of a van (both of which are my work vehicles). I do a fair amount of still photography for my wife's business, and that typically entails a lot of walking around heavy construction areas, utilizing 1-2 camera bodies, 1-2 lenses and a flash, and swapping frequently between camera bodies and lenses. For this kind of shooting, not unlike a newspaper photographer, I use a Domke bag. I have two of them, a large, regular Domke and the medium size one. These bags are not long on padding or gear protection, but their construction is such that it makes it easy to work with the bag open, to swap gear quickly, without stopping to set everything down. Note that the backpack is the only bag that accomodates everything...the three other bags are used on a "temporary" basis, depending on the nature of the shooting. I own two tripods and carry them in Domke sling bags. I have never shopped around for the ideal tripod bag...I got these at rock-bottom sale prices. How do you carry your gear when you're out shooting trains? --Dave Busse I am not a lawyer nor do I play one on TV -> SPORRS: Serious Photographers of Railroad Related Subjects -> Web Site: http://www.anet-stl.com/acphotog/sporrs
