What's In The Bag? Cameras, Lenses, Accessories Oh My
When I am toting around my gigantic Tamrac 614 camera bag, or as some call it my 'hockey bag', I occasionally get asked, "what's in the bag?" It's a fair question, because the bag could fit a small child.
My only complaint about the bag is that it weighs about 1,000 lb. when it is loaded up and my 13" MacBook Pro is along for the ride. I scored this bag on eBay at half price of new and the bag was in mint condition.
The short answer to the question in the blog title is: everything. Well, sort of.
If I have a freelance assignment, I can grab and go with extra batteries, chargers, notepads and pens. Everything I need to successfully shoot, edit and upload an assignment can fit in the bag. Two camera bodies with lenses attached are always at the ready.
1. Lock And Load
I am currently shooting with two Canon 7D's dangling from my neck at all times. For standard shooting I have my Canon 16-35mm f/2.8 II lens on one body and the 70-200mm f/2.8 IS on the other. With this combination I have pretty much all the focal range I want to cover at my fingertips, ready to rock. I have Really Right Stuff L-plates on both cameras for quick tripod mounting to my BH-55 LR ballhead.
Of course one day I would like to make the change to full frame sensors but I just cannot justify the expense. I try to look at it from the perspective of, "do I need it and is it going to directly impact my business in the positive?" Some of my favorite shots to this day were taken with my old Rebel and a kit lens, so I have to constantly remind myself that the gear is a tool, only as good as the carpenter, yada yada, that whole bit. It's true. Also, if it ain't broke, don't fix it.
2. The Basement
This bag has a sort of basement because of the way the cameras sit with the lenses across a "lens bridge." The panels beneath the camera bodies store two camera battery chargers, two Eneloop AA/AAA chargers and two camera battery replacement cartridges that allow for use of AA batteries if my camera batteries are dead. These areas are accessible through a rear zip panel that spans the length of the bag. Underneath the lens barrels I have my Canon 50mm f/1.4 an Rokinon 8mm f/3.5 fisheye and a home-made grid flash modifier.
3. Lens/flash Storage Columns
Along the back of the bag from left to right, I have my Made In China macro extension tubes with a headlamp resting on top, a pouch holding my Cowboy Studio flash triggers and then lastly my beloved Canon 45mm f/2.8 tilt shift lens In the front storage columns I have my Really Right Stuff B2-FAB clamps resting attached to my double Black Rapid strap, my Canon 430 EX II flash and my China big 'ol flash.
4. Front Laptop Sleeve
I keep a folder of blank model releases in this sleeve, just in case. I will have either my laptop or iPad in this sleeve.
5. Front Pouches.
Do you have a "junk drawer" at home? This would be my equivalent to a junk drawer. If I have some little gizmo or screw that I don't want to think about where it needs to go, it ends up in a front pouch. However, there are some specific things here that I use all the time.
In the front left pouch, I have my batteries. I keep the charged batteries in the plastic containers and the used batteries are loose in the bag. This makes it easy to know what needs to be charged when I get home and what's ready to rock on the job. I also keep my memory card wallet in this pouch with all my various cards. In the zipper mesh area I have some misc hex keys and spare iPhone headphones.
In the front right pouch I have some less commonly used, but equally valuable odds and ends. I routinely use a Rogue FlashBender when I need to shoot on-camera flash for an event and this folds up very small. This modifier is also useful as a snoot or off-camera diffuser in a pinch, and I've used it as basically a reflective umbrella. Next to that I have a fold-up style grey card. In the smaller internal pouches I keep a remote shutter release, USB cable for my camera, and pens.
6. Side Pouches
If there is an earthquake and the earth splits, I will use gaffers tape to hold it together long enough to finish the shoot. I have a roll of gaffers tape in the side pouch at all times. I use this gaffers tape to hold my camera mode dials in M position because I have found the mode dial incredibly easy to accidentally turn while in use. I've used gaffers to hold together unwieldy hotel curtains. It's awesome.
There is also a Nutria-Grain bar in there usually, just in case I get hungry. It happens.
The other side pouch has my filter pouch and laptop charger. No explanation necessary. Unless you want to talk filters... So when I started buying quality glass, I was told to buy UV filters to protect the front lens element. The problem with that is you can get some gnarly ghosting even with the high end filters, which I splurged on. If you want to buy my UV filters, let the bidding begin. I also have ND filters for all my lenses (minus fisheye) mostly for shooting video (and long exposures).
7. The Lid
This bag is older and the pouches in the lid are made for film. I have a small lav mic in one pouch and a shotgun mic holder in another. I honestly don't think about the lid, it's no-mans land.
This is just my big main bag that holds most of my stuff, and everything I need to shoot stills. I have a really great Lowepro backpack that I use in the field sometimes. It just hangs around empty until duty calls, then I throw whatever I need in the bag and go, great for hiking. All of my video stuff is in a smaller a Canon bag, but I won't get into that. Not to mention my trunk, aka the disaster area, home to all of my stands, tripods, reflectors and other various things; throw in some surf wax.
This post was really more for my sake, to document what was in my bag at this point in time. I really wish I would have done this previously, periodically as the bag grew and grew over time.
I hope you are still awake after reading this and feel free to drop me a line with any questions about my gear or if you would like to talk about nerdy camera stuff. I'm game.
