I’m embarrassed by what number of digital camera luggage I personal. Not like the cameras and lenses which have come into my life and served their functions earlier than being bought to discover a new life with another person, my digital camera luggage appear to have entered the home by way of a one-way door. Maybe you share my disgrace. Tidy to a fault in different areas of my life, I’m—with regards to digital camera luggage—a hoarder.
Each photographer I do know has made a joke sooner or later about “nonetheless in search of the proper digital camera bag,” often proper after—or proper earlier than—shopping for yet one more digital camera bag.
And so, I’ve a confession: I simply purchased one other digital camera bag. Nevertheless it’s not what you suppose. It’s not as a result of I lastly discovered the proper bag (I did, however extra on that in a second). It’s not as a result of my final one wore out (it didn’t). It’s worse than that: I purchased it as a result of I like the color and I feel it’s useless horny. Don’t choose me.
It will get even worse. I now personal 7 of this specific bag. A few of them are completely different sizes. A few of them are completely different colors, and one is sitting on a shelf unopened, and I purchased it simply in case the corporate ever stops making them, that’s how a lot I really like this bag. The bag in query is the GuraGear Kiboko 30L.
When safari shoppers ask me to suggest a bag, the Kiboko is the one I like to recommend. For me, and my wants, it’s the excellent bag (that’s why I’ve 7 of them).
No, there isn’t any one universally excellent bag. The bag that works for avenue pictures received’t be fairly so excellent for wildlife, and the bag that matches that invoice may not do what you want for weddings. My excellent bag received’t essentially be your excellent bag. Like several gear we select, all of us needs to be asking “excellent for what?”
Right here’s what I want in a digital camera bag for many of my work:
First, it’s received to suit inside carry-on dimension limits of the planes on which I journey. That’s a non-negotiable. And it’s received to do that and nonetheless match my 600/4.0 lens.
It’s received to be mild. Many digital camera luggage are overkill with regards to the padding and the safety. I’d moderately commerce somewhat of that for a lighter bag. I don’t know what y’all are doing along with your luggage, however mine aren’t getting stepped on by elephants. It’s arduous sufficient packing gear to suit inside airline limits, so the lighter the bag (whereas nonetheless providing safety), the higher.
It’s received to be workable, that means it’s received to get my gear the place I’m going nevertheless it additionally must be straightforward to work out of once I get there. Can I get the gear I want once I want it? Is it straightforward to prepare?
And it’s received to be a backpack. No different bag type works for what I do. A lot as I would really like a curler, I want a backpack. Particularly now, strolling on a prosthetic leg I want to have the ability to put my gear on my again the place it’s balanced, and my arms will be free for different issues. Rollers simply add weight and don’t work on something however completely clean terrain. Good for airports, however not the tough floor the place I achieve this a lot of my work.
So, it’s received to be a backpack, however I’m not in search of one thing with which I can hike the West Coast Path. I want a very good harness, however not one thing so cumbersome that it fills the airport sizing units. Snug, however not cumbersome is tough to come back by.
For the final 15 years or so my fundamental digital camera bag when doing both humanitarian or wildlife work has been the GuraGear Kiboko 30L. When doing avenue work I at all times favoured a smaller equipment and located {that a} easy leather-based satchel was sufficient for me, however when flying with extra gear, together with bigger lenses, it has at all times been the Kiboko (which suggests hippo in Swahili). It’s mild, comfy, ridiculously effectively designed, and has every little thing I want and nothing I don’t. Listed here are some photos stolen from the GuraGear web site (it’s cool, they know)
I shouldn’t love a digital camera bag this a lot however I do. I shouldn’t be calling a digital camera bag “horny” however I’m silly like that.
That I’m even writing an article a couple of digital camera bag ought to inform you how a lot I really like these luggage. They’re mild. They’re brilliantly and thoughtfully designed. They’re loopy sturdy, and I’m very arduous on my gear. And so they match within the overhead bins on each airplane I’ve ever flown on, apart from these tiny regional jets however they don’t rely as a result of nothing greater than a jacket and a laptop computer suits into these. The Kiboko will, nonetheless, match underneath the seat in these circumstances. And it’ll nonetheless (hippo that it’s) swallow my 600/4.0 lens.
After I journey from one location to a different my Kiboko will maintain a 600mm on one aspect (or a 300mm and a physique, with room for a pair tele-extenders) and my 100-400, 24-105, two extra our bodies, and numerous batteries and SD playing cards on the opposite aspect. It’s going to simply take a change of garments, as effectively. And the brand new Kiboko 30L+ has a laptop computer sleeve, although I’ve received the one with out.
After I’m capturing on location, I can take away a pair dividers and it’ll maintain cameras with the lenses mounted (besides my 600mm, which is often in my hand), and the lengthy entrance pockets maintain my rain jacket in a single aspect, a sweater within the different, and a water bottle within the aspect. I’ve received it right down to a system. There’s a spot for every little thing. And if I don’t need to use the backpack harness, all of it zips away good and tidy, and appears like a smaller bag than it truly is. They’ve even colour-coded the within lip of the zippered compartments with blue piping so you realize in the event you see blue, the bag isn’t absolutely zipped up.
There are some good digital camera luggage on the market, however these are one of the best I’ve used, they usually’re excellent for what I do. That’s why I’ve 7 of them. When you’re trying, and different luggage haven’t been best for you, test these out. I’m embarrassed by how a lot I really like mine.
This publish was initially a part of a giveaway which is now over (and which accounts for the 600+ feedback beneath), however in the event you’re available in the market for a brand new digital camera bag, check out this one. I’m proud to be a part of the GuraGear household, and in the event you use that hyperlink, or my final identify—DUCHEMIN—as a coupon code once you take a look at, you’ll get 10% off.
For the Love of the {Photograph},
David
