crazybobbles

A few weeks ago my coworker went to New York, and I was in a gear buying mood (having asked to purchase a 28mm f1.8 USM lens from another coworker earlier on) so I did some camera bag researching since my current Canon one was a bit dated and crumply (funny how I should use the word crumply). Anyway, after much research I found out these “Crumpler” bags which were not only built for cameras (so filled with compartments and waterproof etc), but look very stylish and avoids screaming out the typical “I’m a LOWEPRO CAMERA BACK, I PROBABLY HAVE SOME HARDCORE GEAR INSIDE SO COME ON IN! STEAL ME WHILST I’M OFF PHOTOLISING MYSELF ON TOP OF A HEYSTACK!” (apologies for the painful use of caps and apologies Inn to her lovely shot of her on a heystack (but it defintiely made me think about random farmers coming to steal your gear whilst you’re on top of that thing). The selection was unfortunately limited in the UK so I thought I’d venture into the US for my dream camera bag, and out came the 6 million dollar home.

Took this at work, notice the robot aka Dr Strong Tron

Here are the lovely specs for the bag, because I’m very sure you want to know about this (haha)

• A protective environment for your basic photo and or video equipment that doesn’t scream “photo bag!”
• Water resistant 1000D Nylon shell & 420D Ripstop Nylon lining
• External pocket with internal mesh pocket
• 2x hidden internal side pockets
• Mesh zip pocket under clip & Velcro release flap
• Padded & Brushed Nylon-lined main compartment
• Configurable dividers
• Plastic stiffening layer in base
• Carry Handle
• Adjustable and removeable shoulder strap with removable shoulder pad
• Fully padded

The bag can carry:
A digital SLR, vertical grip & “twin lens kit”, external flash unit and basic accessories. There is no tripod holder.

Dimensions
12.6″ W, 9.45″ H, 7.1″ D

Six million dollars worth of goodness, priced at £66.60

Now a quick story about the bag, originally I wanted the 5 million dollar bag so I asked my coworker to buy it on amazon.com and have it shipped to the US office for her to pick up, eventually I did some more research to find out that the bag was pretty small and so I quickly bumped it up to the 6 million dollar. I then went out to a gig an FINALLY met someone carrying a SEVEN million dollar bag and sort of fell in love with it too haha. Though having said that I didn’t want to ask my coworker to change the order AGAIN because that’s just taking the piss. I eventually settled with 6 million dollar home and did some further research into it to find out it’s actually a nicer size to the seven million dollar home. The price worked out to £66.60. Well I rounded it off to that for shits and giggles and paid my coworker exactly that (since it was a six million dollar bag).

Now the “bag can carry” bit is quite a touchy one, when the bag finally arrived at my office (all pretty and new) you instantly realise how small it was, the names are so damn confusing (for example the Pretty Boy XXXL can only carry a dslr and a few lenses here and there, it’s still very ickle!) which I already knew in advance after some review digging (sadly I couldn’t find many photos of people actually wearing the damn bag). Though having overestimated the size of the bag, I’ve grown to like the size of the 6 million dollar dream, it’s just right for a camera/outing bag. I can easily fit all my gear in there but I sort of stick to the bare essentials.

Sans DSLR camera, where's that? behind the shot ;P

So yeah, here’s what I typically stuff inside my bag (ie the essential stuff):

• Canon EOS 400d avec 28mm F1.8 USM Lens attached
• Memory cards (though that’s pretty much permanently attached to my dslr camera strap so I don’t need to run about looking for it during hectic moments (it’s pretty neat)
• That ickle manual for the 400d (though I never read it anymore, again mostly for show)
• Canon 50mm f1.8 mkii lens
• Canon Powershot G9 (aka Eve)
• Either a PSP or a DS depending on my mood
• Notebook (though I hardly write in it, mostly for show, damn efficient mobile phone)
• Paperback book (right now I’m reading Birthday Stories)
• A 1up plush toy, in case I get killed outdoors (insert 1up sound effect)

It’s not heavy to carry (especially with the lovely shoulder strap) and I have room for loads more (including a signed copy of lomokev’s hot shots). I’ve customised the compartments so lenses go in one place, camera goes in one and the middle is for the compact, psp, notebook. One thing I’ve noticed is that the velco is pretty tough so it takes a bit of an effort to open the bag, but you’ll soon get used to it. The material and feel of it is pretty high quality, you can tell that these guys did a lot of thinking when making the bag. But yes, it’s very hard to find any other faults in the bag, it’s probably best you have a look at the camera bag in person and get a feel of it before making the purchase, you don’t want a bag that’s too small or too big. For me right now, I think the bag is a bit too big for me, but this won’t be a problem when I begin buying more lenses (always thinking ahead ).

How high the camera bag is

Gear Remorse

Man this is such a photography nerdy section, it must be boring reading this crap haha. So yeah, that’s about it, I’ve already began customising the bag with bits and bobs and have taken it to a gig. Would definitely recommend a crumpler bag if you’re into photography or just want stuff to carry (I can convert the bag into a bag filled with books if I wanted to). Due to the limited variety of bags in the UK I would recommend trying to get it from abroad, otherwise I’d pick the rather pricey Crumpler Daily.