Photo Backpacks and the Lowepro Stealth AWII

About time for another full bag write up. Only problem is, one of my favourite bags, the Lowepro Stealth AW II (yeah, crazy name) is no longer in production. Read on though, as it's still relevant and there are excellent alternatives. A quick trawl around shows they're still available second hand too; here and here. They were costly when new, so these are bargains.

A while back I had a wedding to shoot. I was travelling by boat to the island (yes, very glamorous and lots of fun) so my kit needed to be easily carryable. I was heading there and back in a day so didn't need my laptop with me. As I take you through my thoughts on what I used to carry my kit, bear in mind that this would work just as well for any number of portrait assignments or similar. Here's what I took, my beloved Stealth AWII:

Now they no longer make these but your options for an alternative to a Stealth AWII are the Thinktank Airport Addicted, TT Airport Acceleration or a Lightware Digital Backpack. The TT Airport Addicted looks a little larger than the AWII but is actually a similar size to the fully loaded AWII pack. The Lightware Digital Backpacks are very similar to the AWII, just with a different internal layout. The Lightware looks a lot less like a photo pack than the Thinktank gear.

Another big difference you should consider is that the TT Airport Addicted isn't crushable while the Lightware 'pack is. Now that might not sound like a good thing, but I don't mean crushable as in "it'll-break-your-gear" crushable, but more "take-stuff-out-and-it-looks-smaller" crushable. This sort of thing can be very useful when trying to check your bag in as carry-on. It's fairly well known that the TT Addicted rarely gets through as international carry-on, despite the dimensions actually being within the rules. That's why ThinkTank developed the Airport Acceleration, which is a viable option although a tad smaller than the AWII and Lightware pack.

I've not handled a Lightware, but all you need to know about them is here (just click on "Everything Else near the bottom of the screen, then "Lightware Backpack" for an incredibly comprehensive write-up).

Anyway, here's the bag open:

So from left to right, I've got my bits'n'bobs, or odds'n'sods as they could also be called; namely my filters, cleaning cloths, self-timer cord, etc. Then come two camera bodies, in this case a trusty old Canon 20D and a Mark II N. Next, after the fold, is a Thinktank Cable Management 50 with my Strobist-style portable lighting kit. Lieing on that is my TT Modulus belt. On the far right are three TT components with a 28-70 f2.8, a 70-200 f2.8 and a 16-35 f2.8, - the trusty photojournalist 'triumvirate'. This way with a very quick unpack, I can have lights set up and a belt kit on my waist, ready to be a mobile wedding shooter.

Of course there's another set of pockets on the Lowepro into which went a mini Chimera softbox (an ENORMOUSLY useful piece of kit, complete with egg-crate grid), a mini Sony tripod which makes a great cheap, lightweight lightstand that folds down to nothing, and last but not least, an EWA Marine UAX-P bag. I'd figured before I left that I might have an opportunity to get the newlyweds frolicking in the surf, but it didn't happen. Had I had the opportunity but not the kit, well that would have really annoyed me. I always think it's best to over-pack than under; I'm sure there's a Sod's Law clause that states "the photographer will most need the piece of equipment they left behind."

The lack of laptop meant, of course, a lack of the enormous amount of cables that they incur. And a job lasting an afternoon meant I could leave behind all the chargers. This freed up the usual job of the Thinktank Cable Management 50 to be used to house my lighting kit. I'm a big fan of modular anything; modular tools like the Chimera and modular bags like the CM50 and Waterfield bags. There's nothing worse than having to pull a load of small kit out of a bag to get to what you need. It's a recipe to lose stuff, if you need another reason. So this is what it looked like:

As you can see below, it fitted a great little location setup of two flashes (or strobes for those of you Stateside), a set of Pocket Wizards, my gel envelope, two snoots (Honl snoots here I come...), my battery pack booster and assorted add-ons like double sided velcro tape that's great for getting flashes into tight spots and keeping them there.

So there you have it. I'm a big fan of the theory that there's not one uber-bag for all occasions. The only solution is to have a range of bags for each type of assignment.

Rolling laptop bag suggestion

Some really insightful comments have begun to flow into this blog (along with a few welcome compliments) but one has inspired me to create a post to answer. A lady with a back problem asked for my advice on a rolling laptop bag, as she couldn't practically use a shoulder bag or backpack.

My first stop would be the ThinkTank Airstream. Although I haven't used it, I have had a close look at the ThinkTank rollers and they are of stupendous quality (I plan to get one). Their quality of course may count against them as they are priced to match their top-notch build quality. If you're an occasional user on a budget, I recently noticed plenty of generic laptop-sized rollers in a luggage shop. But I would hope that as a reader of this blog, you'd appreciate the value of spending top dollar on a bag that will last for years, if not decades. The ThinkTank kit definitely falls in that category as it's built solidly to last and protect your gear. If you're not carrying camera gear you could of course leave the dividers at home and roll through your flights safe in the knowledge that the rest of your stuff is well protected.

The only other reason I can think of that might lead you to choose another is a question of orientation; the Airstream fits a laptop vertically and other rollers are available that fit them horizontally. Not really much difference as far as I can tell, but you may feel differently.

Tokyo bag-mania and two ThinkTank links

So it's been a while, but this time I have a good excuse. I've been away for three of the last four weeks travelling. Where, I hear you ask. Hong Kong and Japan, both on business. What sort of business, I hear you ask (since so few photographers these days get to enjoy such a multi-national career). Well that will be revealed in due course.

But since you don't come here to read about photography or my travels, I'll get onto talking about bags. My cabin luggage of choice was my Peli 1510 for my HK trip and my Timbuk2 Laptop messenger for Japan. As expected, the check-in girl took one look at the Peli 1510 and insisted I weigh it. I've never understood those in the blogosphere that insist this has never happened to them, so here's some practical advice for you, since carry-on luggage allowance is 7kgs and a Peli 1510 weighs nearly 6kgs when empty. Remove all the heaviest items from the case; batteries, laptop and big lenses before weighing. The batteries and biggest lens or two can go in your pockets and the laptop can either go loose or in whichever sleeve you're using. You'll notice that even the stingiest airlines let you take one piece of cabin baggage and a personal item. This personal item is crucial to bending the rules; it's a handbag or laptop or coat but if you read closely can be all three. So with my pockets bulging with two Canon Mark II N batteries and my laptop left out, the Peli 1510 weighed just over 8kgs, near enough that it was allowed through. Had that not been good enough, I'd have taken my camera out, slung it over my shoulder and worn it as another valid personal item. It certainly was a great piece of luggage to have in an airport; easy to roll around and unobtrusive in black.

Japan was the mother of luggage trips though, had my credit card had anything left after I was recently forced to replace my old iBook. My Timbuk2 LM was superb; comfy around the airports and importantly, looking slimline and innocent enough to never get weighed. I fitted a fair bit into it too; my shiny new MacBook, Waterfield case of cables, chargers and whatnot, my Animal passport wallet, my new Sigma DP1, iPod video, and all the other things I like to have when I fly (ear plugs and an eyemask to name two of the cheapest). And thankfully, given the ridiculous security theatre we now have to put up with, the Timbuk2 makes getting my laptop out for the XRays easy.

But the biggest thing I'll remember on the 'manbag' topic while in Japan was both how many guys carry bags there (yes, I felt right at home) but that the manbag sections of shops in Tokyo were larger than entire luggage shops in other countries. Don't believe me ? This is one aisle of photo bags in Yodabashi Camera and there were at least four more this big. As I said before, I distracted myself by taking photos as my credit card screamed to be let out of my pocket.

Every conceivable bag I'd ever heard of and quite a few I hadn't. If you're in Tokyo, the easiest way to find it if you don't speak Japanese is to head to Akihabara then say "Yodabashi" clearly while shrugging your shoulders; everyone knows where it is and if you smile they'll point you in the right direction.

This is the non-photographic bag section in Loft, which is near the Shibuya crossing in the same building as Muji (apologies for the un-corrected white balance).

I came across two fascinating articles last week, both raving about Thinktank belt systems. Check out these links; here and here. The second is extremely useful for travelling working photographers but the first more fits with the kind of work I do, where I don't need my kit as immediately, but still need it easily accessible. Happy reading !

I'll leave you with a non bag-related tangent for the photo-geeks amongst you; the amazing camera displays in Yodabashi Camera in Tokyo. The screens you can see are hooked up to the cameras so you can pick them up, fire away on a million bazillion frames a second and see the results of your handiwork immediately on the screen. Very very cool and a great persuader if you're looking to buy. Fortunately for my credit card bill, I am all stocked up with cameras at the moment.