TGO Photographers come inside!

[Chucktshoes]

Soooo I’ve got about the crappiest bag on the planet to tote my gear around in. I desperately need something better and don’t have a lot of money to spend $3-400 on a bag. I’m looking for budget options to be able to carry my Sony a7III, 4 lenses, flash, MacBook Air and assorted bits. 
 

Any recommendations?

Edited November 27, 2023 by GlockSpock
Abbreviations are for X.

[TripleGGG]

This may be more than you want to spend but the Tamrac Anvil series are great bags. I have the Anvil 27 but they have some smaller etc. Great protection and very adaptable. Did professional photography for years and these just hold up. 

Tamrac Professional Series: Anvil 27 Backpack (Black) https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1146759-REG/tamrac_t0250_1919_professional_series_anvil_27.html

[Chucktshoes]

36 minutes ago, TripleGGG said:

This may be more than you want to spend but the Tamrac Anvil series are great bags. I have the Anvil 27 but they have some smaller etc. Great protection and very adaptable. Did professional photography for years and these just hold up. 

Tamrac Professional Series: Anvil 27 Backpack (Black) https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1146759-REG/tamrac_t0250_1919_professional_series_anvil_27.html

Yeah, that’s a really nice bag and what I’d be looking for if the funds were there.

That’s like an HK and I’ve rolling with Taurus money.

[TripleGGG]

20 minutes ago, Chucktshoes said:

Yeah, that’s a really nice bag and what I’d be looking for if the funds were there.

That’s like an HK and I’ve rolling with Taurus money.

LMAO. I understand. 

[TripleGGG]

B&H also have Ruggard and Tamrac bags. Pretty decent bags for the money. Usually around $50 or so. 

[hipower]

5 hours ago, TripleGGG said:

This may be more than you want to spend but the Tamrac Anvil series are great bags. I have the Anvil 27 but they have some smaller etc. Great protection and very adaptable. Did professional photography for years and these just hold up. 

Tamrac Professional Series: Anvil 27 Backpack (Black) https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1146759-REG/tamrac_t0250_1919_professional_series_anvil_27.html

A neighbor on mine is a pro photog. He uses the Anvil Bags. Swears they are the best.

[TripleGGG]

3 minutes ago, hipower said:

A neighbor on mine is a pro photog. He uses the Anvil Bags. Swears they are the best.

They are tough. I have several but the 27 is my main carry bag. 

[Jeb48]

Depending on how you packet and supplement interior parts, I find that the canvas tool bags that Harbor Freight and Lowe's sells make very good gun and camera bags with some creative modifications and don't look like they are full of expensive toys.

[Chucktshoes]

56 minutes ago, hipower said:

A neighbor on mine is a pro photog. He uses the Anvil Bags. Swears they are the best.

I ended up going with a Ruggard bag from B&H. $130 all in was not too terrible. If it is halfway decent, it’ll do what I need it to do. 

[TripleGGG]

2 hours ago, Chucktshoes said:

I ended up going with a Ruggard bag from B&H. $130 all in was not too terrible. If it is halfway decent, it’ll do what I need it to do. 

That should serve you well. 

[Chucktshoes]

So I got the bag in yesterday, and I think I wildly overbought.

 

 

There’s enough leftover room in here that I think I can even get my gimbal to fit.
 

Thanks again @TripleGGG.

Edited November 28, 2023 by Chucktshoes

[TripleGGG]

Lol. Think of all the guns, ammo and mags you can put in there. Ha

[Jeb48]

6 hours ago, TripleGGG said:

Lol. Think of all the guns, ammo and mags you can put in there. Ha

Funny you should mention that, I use one of my old camera bags as a small range bag.

[GlockSpock]

I have a lot to chime in regarding this. The best bag really...depends on the situation. If you are talking about a bag to hold all of your gear...I don't have much to add. There is a such thing as having "too much" gear with you at any point in time. Of course, if you have a reason to have a lot of gear then you'd need to find a bag to hold a lot of gear.

Me? I have a consolidated bag that will hold my Canon R5 w/ EF 70-200mm f/2.8 IS II and either my EF 50mm Art f/1.4 or my EF 16-35 f/4 depending on the situation. I could carry all three lenses but consider those last two more dependent on what I'm going for or shooting.

I'm a huge Lowepro fan.

My bag? Lowepro Fastpack BP 250 AW II. Looks like they no longer make or sell that one, but it could probably be snagged on Ebay. I use this bag most of the time. If I'm doing a small shoot for someone or going to do a studio shoot, this is enough to hold my main camera gear. This bag is amazing and I absolutely love it.

I recently purchased on a really, really good sale the Lowepro BP300AW. I haven't even taken the tags off. I primarily purchased this bag for two distinctive reasons. It is slightly more geared for outdoor work and I wanted a bag that I could wear outdoors and not worry about. If I get this bag dirty or damaged outdoors I don't have to worry about it affecting my "studio" bag. It's setup to easily use up to a 3l bladder, which was one of the major considerations in the purchase.

Bags are rather just like purses holsters. At some point you'll end up with so many you forget about some of them, you don't use most of them, and nobody ever wants to pay you for your bag what you paid for it in the first place.

Something else I highly recommend is a humidity cabinet, if you have a decent amount of money in gear. It may depend on your climate and climate control in your house. If your house has a good AC unit and/or a dehumidifier, you may not need one. That said, I consider it a must if you've got any money tied up in lenses. Bodies come and go, but a quality lens can last decades if stored correctly. High humidity can contribute to mold/fungus. Fungus can permanently ruin a lens, it can actually "etch" the glass. I keep my cabinet set point at 40% RH.

I'm a huge fan of Ruggard.

After having a minor issue about 6 months ago found out that I'm even a bigger fan than I thought. Their customer service is absolutely top notch and they took care of me very quickly. I used to have the 50l cabinet but recently upgraded to the 80l due to needing more space.

RUGGARD Electronic Dry Cabinet (80L)

[GlockSpock]

Plus, all your gear looks pretty nice sitting inside one.

[jhc77]

I e got a lot to learn still. My son does cross country in high school. The “main” photographer parent is done because his daughter is graduating and won’t hang around for another 3 years and volunteer his skill for free(the nerve). I’ve got an older camera body. Another freshman dad showed me a few lenses to look at to get with the times. New battery, bigger faster memory card and a new to me lens will get me going again. I’ll pass on a bag probably for a while. The lens is longer and that’s the only one I’ll carry for a while. 

[peejman]

Photog bags are like bugout bags and hiking packs. People get one that's way too big then think they need to fill it up. It ends up so dang heavy that you're exhausted after the first mile. 

Depends a lot on what you plan to do, but a body, 2 lenses, flash, and pocket or two for cards batteries, and tools is probably enough. 

[leroy]

I'm a bit late to the party, but I'm a photographer myself.  I used ta buy " real " photo bags. 

Now I go to eBay n search for used Crumpler or Timbuk2 messenger bags.  Ya can buy em for almost nothin used. 

My top buying price is about $35 to $40 each. 

They are the messenger type bags from little to big.  They are cheap and they don't scream " valuable photo gear inside ".   They are also great range bags.  The big ones can carry more than you can.  They are well made and very handy.  There are probably a half dozen laying around the house now doing either photo equipment, ammo, or pistola duty.

leroy... The " hippy bike bag man "...

 

[Chucktshoes]

22 hours ago, GlockSpock said:

I have a lot to chime in regarding this. The best bag really...depends on the situation. If you are talking about a bag to hold all of your gear...I don't have much to add. There is a such thing as having "too much" gear with you at any point in time. Of course, if you have a reason to have a lot of gear then you'd need to find a bag to hold a lot of gear.

 

5 hours ago, peejman said:

Photog bags are like bugout bags and hiking packs. People get one that's way too big then think they need to fill it up. It ends up so dang heavy that you're exhausted after the first mile. 

Depends a lot on what you plan to do, but a body, 2 lenses, flash, and pocket or two for cards batteries, and tools is probably enough. 

 

Yeah, I totally didn’t mean to buy such a honking big ass bag. I’m not planning on filling it with more gear, I just wanted it to safely hold my laptop and the gear I currently have as I generally take them on the road with me. So sturdy and well padded was what I was going for and when I was picking it out it was a case of lured into the bigger size by a small amount of extra cost not realizing that it was quite so effing yuuuuge. 
 

Still might see if my gimbal will fit as the bag serves more of a permanent gear home than anything.