Camera bags. Don’t you just love them? I mean, we must love them, right? We collect them. Well, ok, it’s largely because finding the perfect camera bag is a fool’s errand. So yeah, maybe it’s not really love. In fact, perhaps they are the most annoying accessory to your photography because you never quite find one that ticks all the boxes.
I’ve got through a few camera bags already. I’m on my third “sling” type bag and I’ve just bought my fourth backpack type bag. That’s right. FOURTH. Why? Why on earth weren’t the previous three any good to me, and why did I stump up for a fourth (hopefully the last for some time)?
Well, I guess it’s down to evolving use cases. Many of you who know me/follow me on social media, will know that I regularly travel to Spain (on account of marrying into a Spanish family). One of my prime concerns when I go away is, of course, packing camera gear and computer gear. The former so I can do some photography whilst I’m away (obviously) the latter so I can hide myself away and make myself busy when I stay at the in-laws…
Up until fairly recently, I took all my camera gear with me. Yes. ALL. My D7200 and all of its lenses and the XT-3 and all of its lenses. I know, I know, overkill. I used to pack all of this in my Lowepro ProTactic 450 AWII, alongside my laptop and iPad. Now, I love that backpack for landscape photography, but it is an absolutely ballache to take on a flight. Too big (although still hand luggage size) and too heavy when full. So in the last year or so I’ve streamlined my travel gear. I now only take the XT-3, a couple of lenses, the laptop and the iPad. But here’s the thing, the backpack was still a bit overkill for a flight.
On top of this, on a recent day trip to London, I found my smaller backpack a little inconvenient for a trip out. I could fit my iPad, my camera, some accessories and a couple of snacks and a drink, but not much and it was a squeeze. It also only really had the potential for rear-opening. Meaning I had to take the bag off and put it down so I could get the camera out, and same again to put it away. Not great when you are in a location where safety and security are paramount. So clearly I needed something that suited a day trip to London and a flight to Spain. And that’s where the Peak Design Everyday Backpack comes in.
So this backpack seems to tick all the boxes. It’s compact and yet has plenty of room for all I need to take. The main compartment can easily take my XT-3 and all three of my lenses, there’s room for my cable organiser, loads of pockets for bits and pieces, a compartment for my iPad and a compartment for my laptop. Crucially, this still leaves plenty of room at the top of the backpack for anything else I’d like to take with me - additional clothes for a day out or books for a flight.
Now, I know with Peak Design sometimes it can seem a bit too…I dunno…pricey or even perhaps a bit gimmicky, but some of their stuff just works for me. The cuff has been great when out shooting on the streets, as has the 6l sling that I also take out with me on short trips out. I spent a lot of time thinking about buying this bag before taking the plunge, and it feels like (at this stage anyway) it was a good choice. We’ll find out for sure next week, however, when I take that flight to Spain. We’ll soon see if this is the game changer for our bi-annual trips that I hope it will be.
Time will tell whether this set-up will work for me or whether I’ll end up with a fifth backpack within a year (let’s hope not!). As it stands, I feel like my three main bags (this one, the Lowepro and the Peak Design 6l sling) should meet my needs for some time to come. But I’ll report back following our flight to Spain. Let’s hope this is the solution I’ve been looking for.