Hey Everyone,

I am about to take the plunge and purchase the Sigma (Canon mount) 120-300 F2.8 OS (hopefully I can get them to send one to me first to evaluate). It looks like the best deal for the money right now for me. I definitely need longer glass and I cannot afford what I think will be an absurd amount of cash for the 200-400 that is coming out (my guess is that it will be double if Nikon's 200-400 is any indicator).

Now - for the dilemma...a bag. I am looking at the Think Tank bag series, but I am not sold on it. What I need is a camera bag that will hold:

Two SLRs (w grips)
300mm lens
28-70 lens
16-35 lens
70-200 lens
flash
filters
laptop

I think that I can get away with this as a travel bag. Any ideas as alternatives?

James

Are you looking to also use this bag to hike in anything over a short distance? Or is this more to have something to carry to a shoot location and keep things handy? Most backpack style camera bags have a laptop pocket. In fact I had a hard time finding one that didn't when I was trying to find the right bag for my needs.

Tony helped me when I was looking for a particular bag, and steered me towards two companies. I ended up going with THIS BAG . CkickElite has a ton of different setups with their bags, and especially for the pack I got, the ladder fit is a nice, easy way to get your pack fitted comfortably. The carry the more normal type bags at most photo stores, but for the more adventure/back country styles, I had a hard time finding one even in such an outdoorsy city.

When I travel, I pack everything in my bag, and then put the bag in a sturdy suitcase by itself, or take it as my carry on. I am too poor for a hard travel case. Worked great last summer in Australia

Thanks, Tyler. I checked out these cases and did not see one that would fit all of my gear. I am going to harass Tony and see which one he is using.

Anyone else? My new lens comes in about a week and I would like to ideally have a spanking new case with which to put it in. :P

James

Well, I recently got an Airport Security from ThinkTank and love it. I was reluctant to get it for just one trip, but it is now my "all the time" bag.

Based on what I fit in mine, I think all your gear would fit, but you may want to drop in and try one out.

I agree with Jim. The Think Tank doesn't seem to different in size than Click's Pro Elite bag, which has twice the storage space of my bag. I fit my camera body, a 100-300, a stout 150 macro, and another stout 18-70 (Sigma lenses are built like tanks, bulky and heavy) and even have room for one more medium sized lens or two small ones.

My local photo store let my take my gear in and try out a bunch of different ones so I knew the space would be correct, maybe yours does too.

Tony just turned me onto some other bags called FStop that look cool. I have also been examining these other bags.

Options:
 
349.99-50 rebate
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/73...L_Backpack.html
 
339.99 – heavy but will do the job.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/763124-REG/Vanguard_SKYBORNE_53_Skyborne_53_Daypack_Gray.html
 
299.99 – looks nice.Heavy.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/544651-REG/Tamrac_558801_5588_Expedition_8x_Backpack.html
 
Has everything…319.95
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/654885-REG/Tamrac_558901_5589_Expedition_9x_Backpack.html

Jim - the Think Tank - looks really nice (I THINK some of the guys on Steve Kossack's last workshop was using them too). Would you feel comfortable going on a 9 mile hike with it? Ie is it ergononic for hiking w a lot of gear?

James

Hey Everyone,

I picked my bag!!! I have gone with something called the Loka bag by FStop. It looks really cool - with different inserts available for the rig I want to take.

http://fstopgear.com/en/product/mountain/loka

James

Well - my new bag is here! It came in today. It is different from any bag I have seen on the market - and mostly I think it is awesome. Oddly enough, I wish their camera unit were slightly better integrated into th e bag (you would figure this would be a given) but otherwise, I really like it. I will put some photos together and put up a mini review later.

James

I see I'm a little late to return to the party, but no it's not a hiking bag.

BTW, I have the Tamrac bag you linked to. It was my every day bag until I got the think tank.