Dave-dugdale-camera-bags-224x171If you travel with camera gear a lot, you know the importance of being able properly store that gear safely. Traditional backpacks are not designed to safely hold cameras and lenses because they're missing specialized compartments to keep the gear from hitting each other. As Dave Dugdale shows in the video review below, the camera bag you choose may have more to do with you than it does with the design of the bag.


These are the three bags in the review:

  1. Tenba Shootout Backpack, Small
  2. Case Logic SLRC-206
  3. Lowepro Pro Runner 300 AW

Any time you're working within a budget (and even sometimes when you're not), there will always be compromises between the features you need and the features that actually exist in the bags that are out there. As Dave says, bags can be a very personal choice, and it doesn't always come down to how well the bag actually performs, but how it feels when you're wearing it or whether it does everything you need it to do.

As I've been been broke my entire filmmaking career, I've always used the best performing bag I could find at the lowest price that also resisted me the least. Mostly I prefer traditional camera bags that I can sling over my shoulder versus backpacks, but this can get very unwieldy if you've got some big lenses in your bag. As a lot of my shooting is with manual Nikkors, weight hasn't usually been an issue and I can take everything I need in one small bag. If you're going to get a bag, it's probably a good idea to go to a store and try them out if you can, because you could spend an awfully long time buying and returning them at home.

[via Learning DSLR Video]

Disclosure: Tenba is a No Film School advertiser.