The Spirit of the Bears

Getting a bag for DSLR is such a major decision. Just when you thought the hardest decision has been made, i.e. which brand? (Nikon vs Canon vs Sony vs other brands), which model? (D90, D300, EOS50D, EOS40D, EOS450D, Sony A700), which kit lens or just the body? Something difficult comes into play. For many people, it may be where to keep the camera, i.e. dry-box, dry-cabinet but these come in standard designs and you only need to decide on its capacity. For me, the most difficult part is the camera bag. After all, when the camera is out from its storage, the next thing it goes is into a camera bag.

At this time, I should mention the major factors I had to consider when getting a bag:
1) Backpack/Sling/Shoulder/Waistpouch/etc
2) Brand: Lowepro/Crumpler/Kata/National Geographic/etc
3) Dedicated camera bag/multi-purpose bag?
4) Tripod holder?
5) Additional compartments for camera accessories?
6) Weather-proofing?
7) Style/Colour
8) Security
9) Price
10) Usage

*Note: the above factors are listed in random and not in any particular order.

As you can see, I have already 10 factors to consider. Adding another brand for consideration and I will probably throw in another 5 or 10 bags from that brand. It does not help that these bag companies throw up similar models for a particular range, e.g. Lowepro has Fastpack 100, 200, 250 and 350; Kata has 3N1-10 and 3N1-20; and other brands have their same product ranges as well. Over the last 3 days, my list has grown to an astronomical list that made me ponder if I should ever had gotten a DSLR in the first place.

Anyway, I promised to blog about my decision and here they are:

1) Backpack. I know right from the start that I will need a backpack. I keeps my 2 hands more freely than if I could have with other types of bags.

2) Brand. I initially wanted to get a bag that's not synonymous with cameras or laptops, one that does not scream "Steal from me, I have a camera in this bag because this is a camera bag!" I was hesitant about Lowepro. Everytime I ask an experienced DSLR user for advise about bags, their first answer was... "Lowepro".

3) As with my decision about brand, I do not want a bag that looks like a camera bag. Hence, slings and shoulder bags that holds only camera and camera accessories are out. They scream "Camera Bag, Please Steal Me!" If the hold personal stuffs in other compartments, taking personal belongings out from the bag in public places will not reveal the expensive equipment easily.

4) Tripod holder. I am a big fan of tripods. When I travelled with my wife, we hardly asked strangers to help us take photos. Why? Well, firstly, if the stranger should run away with the camera, it's your fault for trusting the stranger with your expensive gear in the first place. Secondly, on a couple of occasions when friendly strangers appear and offer to help us take our photographs, they tend to just "point-and-shoot". We were at Dongdaemun in Korea in January this year and it was night and the lights on this prominent landmark could only be captured with the nightmode/without flash on my Sony DSC-T200. (A good photographer knows the limits of his equipment, and thus, he works within or work-around the limits) My wife and me, through various try-and-errors, have come to understand our T200. Can you imagine us trying to tell the nice stranger to keep the camera still for a few seconds after pressing the shutter button? Can you imagine us trying to tell the nice stranger to take when there are no traffic (big buses and trucks and lorries) between us and Dongdaemun (we were on the other side of the road)? Can you imagine the nice man was Korean and we could not communicate in Korean?

5) Additional compartment for camera accessories. Now wait a minute, I'm a DSLR beginner, right? What do I have? Let me recount:

1 x Nikon DSLR with Kit lens 18-105mm
1 x Sony DSC-T200
2 x Sony DVcams
1 x Manfrotto 190XProB Tripod
1 x Takara TS-2040 Tripod

If I exclude the DV Cams, I only have a DSLR body + attached lens and a really small digital camera, batteries, cleaning kits, chargers and the smallest of items, the SDHC cards. Will I ever indulge myself in owning many lens for different scene and effect? Nope. I have no plans at the moment to own more than my current kit lens until I absolutely cannot work with/work-around the limitation of this 18-105mm.

6) Weather-proofing my camera bag is a must. The weather in Singapore is unpredictable. Enough said. During my bag research, I also came across the fully water-proof Lowepro Dryzone series which they claimed that the bag can float on water and stay totally 100% dry inside.

7) Style/Colour. Colour is relatively an easier choice to make. I will choose black as it is easier to match. Style, I leave it to my wife, my life-long style consultant.

8) Security. As I had mentioned above, the bag must have some degree of difficulty for would-be-criminals to attempt to steal a camera inside it.

9) Price. My most toughest choice would be, how much can I possibly not spend?

10) Usage. How will I use this camera? This will probably be in the order of most frequent to least frequent:
i) My girls @ home
ii) My girls outside the home
iii) Family events
iv) Close up of food, especially good and delicious food to blog about
v) Travelling
vi) Events such as friend's weddings,
vii) Outings with friends

At home, I do not need a bag. For the rest of the time, I will like a camera bag to provide some useful compartments for a possible change of clothes, ipods, chargers, space for water bottles, etc.

Finally, at the end of this very long post, and after a very long list of bags, I choose to buy one that did not appear in my original list. The Lowepro Primus AW. My reason, also reason number 11, is a bear. Polar bears are my favourite bears and Lowepro promises to use the funds that are raised from the sale of the backpack to support the Polar Bears International (PBI), a nonprofit organization dedicated to the worldwide conservation of the polar bears.

Reason 12 is because the bagpack is made from 100% post-consumer recycled fabric and it saved 22 or so plastic bottles from going to the landfill. 1 bag = 22 plastic bottles, 1M bags made and sold this way = 22M plastic bottles less at our landfills. Now that's a thought for the "future".