Just Bought A New Camera Bag

[kja]

I know it's not very exciting but I needed something for the 1DIII that I could just grab and go but that didn't look like a camera bag. Something I could take to the pub, or out to dinner, or to a friend's place etc. Our local surf store had this Ripcurl bag so I took it home to test out. I think it looks OK and it definitely fits what I need it to. I am so not a purse girl so I have no idea if I'm delusional

The images on the web of this bag SUCK, I can't believe they put them on there; on the site it looks like fake plastic shiny vinyl (FWIW the bag isn't shiny at all, it's a matte finish) and the colour is terrible. So I quickly shot this in my backyard and it's better than what they have. What do ya think? Keep it? Take it back?

Edited June 26, 2010 by kja

[helen]

Looks great

[julesluvscavs]

I like it, mostly because its red ! LOL

I would keep it, looks fancier than the usual camera bags ;-)

[Winterpaws]

I like it!!!! What is the inside like?

[TerraNik]

All 3 of us here approve!!!!

[kja]

Thanks! I am such a non-fashiony chick, I really seriously need help on all things related LOL

Inside is a single compartment with a small zippered pocket and one small open slide in pocket, I presume for a phone. It's essential to have no dividers in something like this so I can reconfigure to suit whatever gear I might take with me. I have about seven zillion padded inserts of varying sizes so depending where I go I may slide one in on the bottom and this bag has enough room to do it easily. I also have some stick on velcro that I can use if/when I need to make a separate area inside it. I may try to take some photos of the inside as I fiddle around.

[persephone]

It looks great to me- I would worry about padding tho .. on the bottom, and the top , as well as dividers I love the colour!

Would enjoy seeing pics when you have it all kitted out, too !

[kja]

OK, it was futz around with this or do real work

I'm not concerned with padding too much for most of what I intend to use this bag for, but now that I see how totally simple it is to toss in there and still get my gear in and out without having to muck around, I'll likely find all the right bits and use them most of the time.

I apologise in advance for the mix-match of dividers, I really couldn't be bothered digging in the closet for my all black (or all grey) dividers for the trial run. These are the padded dividers I'll use more or less: one long one that fits perfectly along the bottom of the bag, like it was measured just for this bag + one medium long divider that wraps on the end where I stash the camera + one small divider that velcros in front of the lens attached to the camera. If I take a second lens, I will add one medium divider that will wrap at the other end of the bag and around the sides of the lens.

Here's the inside empty and as I build the dividers and with the Canon 1DIII w/ Canon 135L 2.0 attached + Canon 85mm 1.8 (I had the Canon 24L II in there but decided to use it to shoot instead - it is decidedly fatter and bigger than the 85, so it's cool to know it fits!)

One thing I've noticed on some bag reviews is that getting the thing closed when it's loaded the way you wanted gets overlooked. But this bag closes with no problem, no struggle, no having to jiggle stuff around to work the zip. And when it's closed, it looks good.

I think I'm keeping the bag, it feels good loaded. I'd like the handles to be a little longer, but I think that's just me not being used to carrying a bag like this - almost all my others are backpacks LOL

[persephone]

That looks good ! I do love the bag Well done!

[tlc]

Looks great!

[kja]

$50 Australian Inserts were "free" since I have about 200000 camera bags all that come with too many of the dumb things LOL

[huga]

Fantastic idea, looks very cool.

[Ravyk]

That is gorgeous!!