Compared to choosing a camera body brand, model, and lenses, a camera bag may seem like a simple decision. If you’re lucky it might be, but over the years I’ve bought, used, and sold various brands, models, types, and sizes of camera bags: CaseLogic, Crumpler, LowePro, Tamrac, Timbuk2, backpacks, fanny packs, shoulder bags, and sling bags until I found the bags that work for me. Adding to or changing your gear can also necessitate needing a different camera bag.
Crumpler and Timbuk2 don’t make camera bags anymore. Tamrac bags are consistently lower quality and poorly designed compared to LowePro bags. I’ve settled on four bags, all from LowePro. For a super light shoulder bag to just carry an M camera body with 1-2 lenses, then the Lowe Pro Adventura SH 110 II is a handy bag. It’s only $19 on Amazon so not a lot of money. I keep one of my extra bodies in this bag.
To carry more gear including a water bottle, I use the discontinued Lowepro Passport Sling. The Lowepro Passport Sling is now in its third iteration and retails for $65. Unfortunately it’s been discontinued, but I’ve seen them on eBay for $20-$50. The first version has a little pocket for your SD cards that version II and III don’t have. There are no notable differences between the versions other than color so get Version 1 if you can find it.
Two modifications to this bag are absolutely required.
- The supplied strap is absolutely terrible with no padding so I replaced it with this strap from Amazon. Once you find the right length, you never have to adjust the strap so why have an adjustable strap?
- The other required modification is to add handles. These are requisite changes if you plan to travel with it or take it on hikes several miles long. I had my local dry cleaner/alterations shop do it for $15.00
This bag is a great shoulder bag once you’ve made the required modifications to it. This assumes that you want to carry 3 EF-M lenses, maybe a flash, iPad mini, etc. It has an external water bottle pocket and two external side pockets for energy bars, and other stuff. I collapse my small tripod and put it inside in the tall section of the bag. You can also carry a DSLR in this bag with an extra lens but it gets a bit heavy to carry on the shoulder. For a short hike it’s okay, but I’d recommend a back pack for DSLR or hiking with the M. Why? Large DSLRs, Canon 5D, 7D, Nikon D500, D800, D810, D850 with 2 or more lenses will overload this shoulder bag. The weight on one shoulder will be too much after even a short hike. If the hike is moderate or difficult, shoulder bags will shift back and forth when hiking so a backpack would be much more convenient.
Since the Passport Sling been discontinued, consider the Nova 160 AWII for $60.
For the backpack, I use a Flipside 300 AW II that sells for $90 on Amazon or lower on eBay. It fits my Lumix S5, 28-70 f/2.8, 20-60, 100-400 and other stuff. There is a water bottle side pocket and tripod holder that works well. The smaller Flipside 200 is too small. The latest version of this the Flipside 300 moved the tripod holder to the side. I like it better in the center since it balances the weight better. Maybe you can find one on eBay.
Fanny pack bags were popular in the 90’s not just for camera gear but for general use. LowePro used to make two excellent “waist packs” as they call them, but they have been discontinued for a few years now. The Inverse 100 AW and the larger Inverse 200 AW. The 100 AW is an amazing bag. For an M system the Inverse 100 AW is a perfect fit and is my favorite pack right now. It has a handle, SD pockets inside, a zippered external pocket, a large unzipped pocket, a left side external water bottle pocket, a right side smaller external pocket, a well padded belt, compression straps, shoulder strap, and carabiner straps. An amazing deal for $40-$80 on eBay. Waist bags don’t shift around like shoulder bags, carry the weight low and close to the body.
Question: “Instead of trying all these different bags, why not just go to the store and try them?”
Answer: This is called “show rooming” and is difficult since there are not that many brick and mortar photography stores around anymore. Additionally, you need all your gear with you to load it up. You then need to go out on several shoots to see if it works. Buy it online from someone who has a good return policy like Amazon. Leave the tags on and keep all the packaging. Try out the bag and see if you like it. If you don’t, return it.
Canon M Cameras 