BootsnAll Travel Community

Hey All,

What do you do with your camera while travelling? I have a Canon Rebel 2000, and right now I use the standard bag that came with the kit... just about every Canon SLR has the same bag (green and black, says Canon on it).

Now, when travelling I intend to use the daypack that is attached to my Eagle Creek Transcontinental bag.

How do people here travel with their SLRs? What sort of bag do you use? I was thinking of getting a toploading camera bag (it's shaped like a triangle) from Lowepro, but that doesn't give me room for my 70-210mm lens.

Of course, do I even need a 70-210mm lens? It's pretty light, and the quality of the lens isn't bad... and I like to have the options to zoom in (my Canon just has the 28-90 kit lens) further... any advice?

Hey,

I had that same camera bag, too.

I used to travel with my entire kit stuffed into a green Tamrac bag -- body, 4 lenses, a billion filters, flash, etc. However, I soon figured out that nothing screams "tourist" and "steal me now" more than a big camera bag.

Now I use a black Domke bag and just carry one camera body (Elan IIe w/ grip) and one lens (28-135 IS). The best part about the Domke bag is that it doesn't scream camera bag. In fact, when I travel I cover up the 2 small Domke logos with black electrical tape.

My advice is to keep it simple and light. Get a bag that makes it easy to discreetly whip out your camera, take a photo and put it back in, all while you're running from rampaging bulls or sitting on the roof of a train.

As mentioned, I only carry around my 28-135 lens now. I used to carry around the bigger 75-300mm IS lens, but I hardly used it so off to ebay it went. Your 28-90 lens should be sufficient for 99% of the photos you want to take, unless of course you plan on only shooting birds in the amazon jungle.

anyway, hope that helps. I can't say enough good things about my Domke bag...

I have a Tamrac Velocity 7 - it fits only the body + lens, and maybe an extra lens (I only have one lens, so I wouldnt know 4 sure). But like the Domke, or maybe even better than it (I just went online now looking at the Domke), the Velocity doesn't look at all like a camera bag - it looks more like one of those messenger shoulder bags.

I think this topic has been touched before but here are my thoughts on the matter:
I just bought myself the Lowepro MicroTrekker 200 bag a few months ago. In it I can easily pack 2 camera bodies, a 24mm lens, 50mm lens, a 28-200mm "all purpose" zoom, 3 cokin "P" filters and holder, an SB-24 flash unit and enough film to cover at least a month's worth of photos. I love this bag because it's still smaller than a lot of other "pro" level bags so that it can easily fit into your travelling backpack when moving from destination to destination and you can carry on the bag with a few other clothes and toilettries without raising any airline staff eyebrows. If this bag sounds too big, then even better is the MicroTrekker 100 (about 30% smaller than the 200) and will easily hold one camera body and 2-3 lens including your zoom.
Both these bags have good strap designs so that the weight gets distributed very evenly across your torso (although people who have a large frame are very likely to find these straps unusable sicne they are a little short).
In my opinion, the top loading triangular bag is great for taking either adventure photographs (like say when you're hanging on a rope off the edge of cliff or something) or when you want to take "candid" street shots where speed is the key.

I am in agreement with iamadonut about the 200mm range. It is completely useless for travel photography. The 28-90 will be your best bet for any situation that you encounter on the road. Also the microtrekker bag that I was describing actually looks like a regular backpack if you don't load it up to it's maximum capacity so it doesn't scream "Tourist" as much.

I only travel with a body and one lens, and I have found that my lowepro waist-bag has been very convenient. It can only hold the camera and lens, but it is quite compact and has enough padding to protect the camera. I like the waist-bag idea because I can carry it all day without tiring my shoulders or back. If I had a shoulder bag I would be tempted to put it down (and forget it, or get it nabbed), and it is also easier for someone to "bump" into you in a crowd and run off with it. With this bag I can keep it on me all the time. If I want to sit I swing it around to my stomach and let it rest between my legs. I can fall asleep in a bus without the worry that someone is going to make off with it. I can also carry my big backpack with the camera bag on my front side.

Model: Off-trail 1. Note that it has a couple of detachable sidebags to put extra lenses (small) or accessories, but that makes it look bigger and clumsy. There are other waist ("beltpack") models that may be more suited to you.

cheers,

Oliver