Travel Gear: Camera bags built to travel the world

Jonathan Tait    ash, Travel Gear     Camera bags, digital cameras, gear review, travel equipment, travel gear, travel photography

Everyone travels with a camera: there’s few other travel items that can be considered ‘must have’s’. But unless you’ve bought travel gear and camera bags designed to withstand wind, rain, sand, snow – and the inevitable beverage spillage – you’ll always be taking a chance when travelling carrying expensive equipment.

Choosing camera bags is largely dependent on two factors: Size of camera and duration of stay. You could be a pro photographer who’s travelling for just 2 days, or a gap-year adventurer off to travel the world packing just a compact camera; any combination of size/duration will demand a fresh solution – the most difficult combo is if you are a gap-year traveller who’s also a semi-pro wanting to carry all your photography gear. In which case, you may need a sherpa!

Here’s a review of what’s out there to suit travel snappers, pappers and adventure travellers.

Cameras take on many shapes and forms, and this will certainly influence your choice of camera bags. If you are using a compact, then it’s pretty easy to come across a small weatherproof case. If, however, you have an SLR and various lenses, spare batteries, a tripod and so on, then there is a lot more to consider, and a lot more options.

Here’s some of the best on the market:

Lowepro

For anything from a compact to the most advanced SLR setup, Lowepro will probably have a bag for you.

The most important consideration is how much kit you are taking. If photography is your main reason for going abroad then obviously you’ll want to cover all eventualities. The Lowepro shoulder bags are great for packing away all your gear and putting into your main rucksack. It adds an extra layer of protection and you can pull it out quickly. The adjustable velcro interiors allow you to set  bags up for your needs, meaning that you can keep the lens you use the most permanently attached to the camera body.

We’ve used a slingshot 102 AW and previously one of the earlier reporter range and found both were excellent, with Lowepro deserving of its reputation. They are also great camera bags to have if you are based in one spot and want accessibility, as they can sit open on the ground and you can easily lift everything out.

Tamrac Tally: hip and handy

Tamrac

Tamrac have a similar range to Lowepro, and make great snug-fit bags that will easily accommodate an SLR with a kit lens – and more if you need. Now, companies such as Tamrac are starting to wise up to the fact that camera bags look like camera bags. When you already draw enough attention for being a foreigner, keeping your most expensive asset hidden is a good idea. The Tamrac Tally 58 Photo Hip Bag is fairly inconspicuous, easliy carried around your waist and designed to open away from the body – great for the traveller who just can’t face leaving their SLR at home when there’s so much to photograph on longer journeys.

F-stop

F-stop bags are only betrayed by their name, otherwise you can get away with using their bespoke range in everyday life, and just adjust the insides for your camera gear. For adapatability we’d look at the Navin (see pic), which can fit, it seems , anywhere – including on your chest. F-stop’s Mountain Series looks to be designed in ‘systems’, so there’s an infinite number of variations you could create. The most versatile collection of camera bags we’ve seen so far. Impressed.

Camera Care Systems (CCS)

Blue and heavily padded. You can’t miss the now-famous Wharthog SLR range (also available in black!) Forget about all the pouches and pockets; this is a simple, ultra-hardwearing case for an SLR and its fitted lens. A great idea is to double bag using one of these. By this, we mean pack your SLR into one of these when within one of the larger camera bags. This way, not only does it get double protection, but also it’s really easy to just take the SLR, leaving the rest of the gear – you don’t always want to be carrying the full weight of all your photography equipment, but you’ll still want to keep your precious Canon covered.

Easy peeler: the Crumpler Banana Hammock

Crumpler

Funky. In a word. Best known for its cycle chic courier/messenger bags, Crumpler has a couple of bags worth looking into for camera carriers. Smart design, equally smart names: Cupcake, Jimmy Bo, Banana Hammock ( thought this was a cocktail) and Company Gigolo ( thought this was a secret…)

BIllingham

Traditional, but now fashionable in a country-chic tweed kind of way. Bombproof and as sported by BBC reporters roving the empire circa 1960. Still revered for their quality and now with newer, smaller models such as the f/Stop and 07 ranges. Expensive, and probably for good reason. Not for the adventure sports fanatic, but elegant travel gear nonetheless.

There are also new waterproof camera bags better suited to the more challenging adventure sports that allow you to swim with your camera and ford raging torrents etc. We’d always look at drybags as the ultimate protection from rain – whether as liners for all your travel gear, or as individual cases to protect camera equipment.

And will we test some? Yes we will!

About the author

Jon Tait wrote 6 articles on this blog.

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