Camera Labs

Hi, I will be travelling to Europe soon and I am wondering about the best way to carry my camera and other bit and pieces. What is the most convenient way to carry the 550D with a 15-85mm, 55mm and associated cords chargers etc.. I was wanting something that can also hold my travel documents, passports, cash and cards. I have a sling type holder but it does not have many places to secure the personal items. (although I have already been advised that it is unwise to carry important documents, cards, passports and the like in the same bag) Any suggestion would be welcome

I always just use a small backpack which i can carry on with me. I'd recommend models by Crumpler, F-Stop, or even Jansport with a bit of modification.

Consider the weight of the bag too. Shoulder bags are my personal favorites, but if its contents (or even the bag itself) is a little heavy, you'll start to feel that in your shoulder soon enough. Backpacks offer better weight distribution, but depending on the location you are visiting, you may want to consider putting locks on the important compartments.

My bag of choice is a Billingham bag, which seems to be a Leica user favorite. The best thing about it, from a practical point of view, is that the straps that close it take some getting used to. Sounds bad but it isn't: you won't have any trouble getting into the bag, but anyone else will have to figure out how to before they take something. I'm sure a thief will be able to do it unnoticed, but then the bag doesn't scream photo-bag as some of the other brands do.

- Bjorn

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Street and documentary photographer | Google+ | Twitter | Tumblr

Leica M9-P (my article on Camera Labs) | Leica D-Lux 5 | 50mm Summilux

I'm using a Lowepro Fastpack 350, which is a great camerabag and a nice laptop bag. There are three main compartments: The camera part for the camera and a few lenses / flashgun. Then the laptop part, which is also nice for some papers which shouldn't be folded.
Finally there's the upper part for whatever you want to carry around with you. A one litre Coca Cola bottle fits into that part of the bag: (What I had in my bag when I went to Hong Kong in February 2012: https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/- ... directlink - few changes: 18-55mm --> 24-105mm 4L | EOS 33v --> EOS 5D III | 50mm 1.8 broken)
Usually I have some accessories in there (card reader, flashgun, cable shutter realease, laptop accessories) but it's just nice for food or other things you need when taking a walk.

My girlfriend has the Fastpack 250, which is a bit smaller but hardly smaller from the outside; just the camera compartment seems to have shrinked so my 100-400mm wouldn't fit there anymore but just a flashgun.

Both of those backpacks have two straps, which is nice if you carry them for a longer time.

I like the versatility of this kind of bag and that's why I chose this when I went to China for a while. Also proved to be great in everyday life - with or without camera. I'd go for it again. OK, there are other nice bags - for example the Tamrac Evolution 6 looks pretty interesting but it has no compartment for a laptop or some A4 papers. It can hold a tripod though, which is not possible with the Lowepro.

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Canon EOS 500D + Canon EOS 5D Mark III + Canon EOS 33v
Canon EF 24-105mm 4L IS USM + EF 100-400mm 4.5-5.6L IS USM + EF 100mm 2.8L Macro IS USM + Sigma 12-24mm 4.5-5.6 EX DG HSM + Canon Speedlite 580 EX II + Nissin Speedlite Di 466