Your "go bag"

SilverMK3

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Dec 15, 2002
Messages
1,346
What do you usually carry with you on a photo shoot? List your other camera accessories too, not just lenses and spare bodies, I want to know about the DIY light stands, reflectors and tripods you carry with you on a shoot.

I just recently outgrew my Lowepro Slingshot 100 AW camera bag, sold it on Craigslist, and ordered a new-in-box KATA 3N1-20 from eBay.

Being new to the whole photography thing, I've been storing all my gear in my camera bag and taking everything with me every time...

Here's what I carry:
- Canon T1i Body
- Canon BG-E5 Battery Grip
-- 2x 1500mAh battery magazine
-- 6x AA Alkaline battery magazine
- Canon 18-55mm kit lens w/ hood
- Canon 55-250mm f/4-5.6 w/ hood
- Canon 50mm f/1.8 w/ hood
- Canon Speedlite 430EX II flash
- Blazzeo wireless flash transmitter
- Hoya 58mm CPL
- Hoya 58mm R72 Infrared
- Hoya 52mm UV
- 52-58mm step-up ring
- Gorillapod SLR
- Nexxtech aluminum tripod / bag
- Cables (usb & AV)
- spare SD Card
- lens cleaner & microcloth
- Kata 3N1-20 bag

I didn't have room for my Speedlite 380ex, battery charger, fullsize tripod, or lens hoods in my Lowepro bag, so I'm hoping it'll fit in the KATA bag. Maybe even my netbook too.
 
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I have been using the Lowepro Slingshot 200 and loving it for my gear.

Here's what I have in the bag:

Canon Rebel XTi
Canon 15-55IS Lens with hood
Canon 17-85IS Lens with hood
Canon 50mm F1.2 lens
Canon 75-300mm Lense
Canon 580EXII Flash
Canon Verticle grip
AA Battery charger and 12AA batteries
Lense cleaning kit
Various filters
Mini-Tripod (6" high)
CF cards
USB cables

The bag is not stuffed, but comfortably full. I do have to shuffle lenses around if I want to change the lense on the body when I am storing it, but other than that it is the perfect bag for me. (I tried the 3 in 1 bag and decided that I hated the straps. They were just uncomfortabe for me)
 
General, everyday shooting:
Digital(D40)
D40 and glass
18-55
55-200
Body and rear lens caps
Spare SD card

Film(N90)
N90
55-200 almost all the time(yes DX and vignettes from 70-100mm, but it works quite well on it and the focal length range is ideal)
18-55, if I have room(much less useful, and vignettes at a wider range)
Spare roll or two of film if I have some
Body and rear lens caps
Spare AA batteries
Shooting data sheet and pen (I've been slacking on this lately)

Nightime/sunrise/sunset, visits to the beach/ocean(long exposures), or shooting film <100 speed:
+tripod

Shooting in the rain:
+plastic bag and rubber bands

Trips to somewhere:
All of above,
+SD card reader
+charger(if trip is more than 2 days)
 
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Skymaster, I was seriously considering the Slingshot 200 AW, as I really like my 100 AW aside from it being too small. I went with the KATA because I figured I'd be adding more weight with a bigger bag and 2 shoulders might be handy once in a while.

Pylon, wow that's a lot of gear. What kind of bag do you use? Any pics of your plastic bag / rain setup?
 
Silver Mk3, for general shooting, I actually don't carry that much, and use an insulated blue shoulder bag intended for lunch as my everyday bag.(deters theft well, everyone thinks I carry food in there, and also waterproof and well padded, not to mention cheap). I usually bring either the film or the digital, and only bring both when going on a trip somewhere.

When I need to carry more stuff, I use a Targus backpack to carry most of the things and carry the tripod with my hand.

As for the ghetto rain setup, I'll post a pic soon.
 
I also use a Slingshot 200, after outgrowing my 100

Rebel XT
Battery Grip
Gorillapod SLR
28-135mm w/ hood
50mm
85mm
70-200mm w/ hood
10-22mm w/ hood
430ex
oc-e3 flash cable
lens pen
stofen omni-bounce
old spare microdrive
70-200mm CPL
28-135mm CPL
10-22mm GND setup (adapter ring, holder, filter)
reverse mount ring (85mm & 50mm) for macro

holy crap, there is a lot of stuff jammed in there now that i've listed it!

i hope my soon-to-be 7D fits :D
 
Since people are interested, here's my N90 ghetto weatherproofed.
(the rope is my strap)





The N90 is a bit easier to weatherproof than the D40 since the circular viewfinder makes it much easier to wrap a very small rubber band around it to keep water from getting in there, while the square D40 viewfinder is a pain to do so. However, I can't open the back and change film in this set-up.

The hood on the lens does a very good job of keeping droplets out of the front element.
 
My load varies depending on the time of year.

I just repacked into "winter mode" with the smaller Lowepro ProMag2. It contains:
Nikon D3
Nikkor 28-70 f2.8 with hood
Nikkor 17-35 f2.8
Nikkor 70-200 f2.8
Nikkor 60mm f2.8 macro
SB900
RRS B87B flash bracket and RRS MPR-CL rail
22" gold/silver reflector
22" diffuser
77mm circular polarizer
77mm 2 stop ND
spare battery
remote release
I also pack my GT3530 with RRS BH55 in a padded bag


In summer, I pack a larger bag ; the Lowepro Stealth Reporter. In it I carry all the above plus a D2X body and a set of ND grad filters with a Cokin holder and the hoods for the 17-35 & 70-200


Finally, for my "serious" photography when I go hiking, I use a Lowpro Mini Trekker. Into it I can fit:
RRS TP243 groundpod with RRS BH40 ballhead
Nikkor 80-400 f3.5-5.6
Tamron 90mm f2.8
Nikkor 12-24 f4
Kenko auto extension tube set
Wimberly plamp
Four or five packages of Energizer lithium AAs
Right angle view finder
RRS B87B flash bracket and RRS MPR-CL rail
22" gold/silver reflector
77mm circular polarizer
62mm circular polarizer
77mm 2 stop ND
Spare battery
Remote release
Strapped to the outside of the pack are the Gitzo tripod and a diffusion umbrella.
I carry a D2X w/ Nikkor 200mm f4 and RRS B85B flash bracket with SB900, Gitzo 5540 monopod w/ RRS MH-01 head and a cheapo aluminum monopod with two SB800s mounted to it
 
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^^^Still in complete shock and awe... How many people do you have to get to haul all of this around again. ;)

When I'm going out for a shoot, I usually try to carry my entire rig, but a lot of the time lately I have been wanting to travel a lot lighter because of either the security at the location where I'm shooting, or just because I'm no good at hiking. :p

Traveling light for me means one large lens on camera, and one or two extra thrown in my cargo pockets:
D90
Nikkor 70-300mm f3.5-5.6 VR, or Tamron 90mm F3
Nikkor 24mm f2.8 AF, or Nikkor 10.5mm f2.8 AF fisheye
And if shooting low light, 50mm f1.4 AFS

Camera Bag: (the bag itself is a Naneu Pro Tango, I think...)
D90
Nikkor 10.5mm f2.8 fisheye
Nikkor 24mm f2.8 AF
Nikkor 50mm f1.4 AF-S
Tamron 90mm f3 macro
Nikkor 70-300mm f3.5-5.6? VR
UV and IR Filters
Batteries, Remote Triggers, and Cables etc.

Lighting Bag (just got a big roll-around golf-bag-type case to haul lighting gear around in)
SB900
SB600
Radio Units and Wiring
6.5' Light Stand
12' Boom Light Stand
2 Convertible Shoot-Through/Reflect Umbrellas
 
isn't this sort of a Digi Cam Poll: What Digital Camera do you use? thread we have above this one?

anyway,

traveling light:
D80 + 24-70, and 14-24 in the ThinkTank pouch (speed belt FTW!)

Camera Bag (Expedition 5):
same as above plus:
AF 50 /1.4
sb800
rrs B87B flash bracket
cables, batteries, spare memory cards, flash gels
gitzo gt2531 + markins m10
 
^^^Still in complete shock and awe... How many people do you have to get to haul all of this around again. ;)

Just one. He goes by the name "Tundra" ;)

When I'm going out for a shoot, I usually try to carry my entire rig, but a lot of the time lately I have been wanting to travel a lot lighter because of either the security at the location where I'm shooting, or just because I'm no good at hiking. :p

I do pack a heavier bag sometimes (Tamrac CyberPak 8) so I can bring extra gear and the 200-400 along but it takes a lot out of me hauling that thing for hours so I don't do it very often unless I know it will be needed.
 
My Slingshot 200AW carries the following:

Canon EOS 40D
Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM w/ lens hood
Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 MK II
B+W 77mm MRC Filter
2 x 16GB Compact Flash cards
Lens cleaning brush
2 x Canon batteries
Microfiber cloth

In the process of getting a new tripod...
 
I guess my go bag would be

5D Mark II
24-105L f/4 IS
35L 1.4
580EXII
430EX
A few Pocket Wizards (mostly my mini1 and flex 5)
2 8gb extreme 4 Sandisk
1 emergency 16gb transcend
and of course extra batteries for my flash and camera

and depending on the shoot
AB1600 + vagabond + beauty dish + Manfrotto lightstand with builtin boom

or when doing landscapes

Carbon fiber Gitzo tripod with manfrotto ballhead.


But this is just a hobby, I guess if I was going to get serious I would have more :)
 
I'm building a go bag, but not sure what for. I need a bag that will hold a 50D+17-55+300F4+580EXII and some extras. Im thinking 6mil or 7mil. I have a Tamrac Adventure 9, but it holds my 50D Body, 40D+70-200 F4L IS Attached, 17-55 Detached, 50 1.8, 580EXII, 430EX and accessories, but I carry the 300 in it's own bag. PIA in my opinion. So I am looking to take the 50D out and give the Adventure 9 to my wife with just the 40D+70-200 and 430EX and the 50mm. Just need to find something comfortable.
 
Canon T1i
18-55
55-200
50 1.8
2 batteries + 2 chargers
430 sunpak with flash box
25gb of SD
Lens Pen + MicroFiber etc etc

(still an amateur)
 
Canon 20D, 40D, and D60
Tamron 17-50 f/2.8, Tamron 28-105
2x Alien Bees 400
2x Alien Bees 800
10x20 backdrop
4x light stands
1x boom style light pole (used for hair light)
2x Laptops
Shinko 8x10 Dye Sub Printer
Plenty of power cords/strips

our onsite setup using only 3 lights and a small backdrop,
onsite4.jpg


As far as just a GP shooting setup in a bag,
Canon 40D
Tamron 17-50 f/2.8
Filters (cir polarizer and a couple others)
batteries
dual battery charger
580EX
cf cards
tripod if needed
 
Just built my "Go Bag"

Crumpler 5-Million Dollar Home
Canon 50D
Canon 17-55 f2.8 IS
Canon 580 EXII
Extra 4GB CF Card Sandisk Extreme III
Extra BP-511A Battery

Mini-Review at my blog
 
usually i carry my lowepro slingshot 200 with:
Nikon d70
18-55 kit lens
sigma 10-20
tamron 70-200
2x extra batteries
2x extra CF cards
Nikon Fm2n
28 2.8
35 2.5
usually 5 or 6 extra rolls of film
Sometimes 200 2.2

Ive mostly just been grabbing the fm2 and a few rolls of film recently though. Until i get a few flashes and some remote triggers ill prolly stick to film for the forseeable future.
 
Here's my setup for my trip to Thailand/Cambodia that I'm leaving for tomorrow morning! (Excluding the Powershot SD870IS I took the shot with):



<see first post for gear list>
 
Here's my film setup for shooting tomorrow:
2052494660104889669S600x600Q85.jpg


Stuff:
Nikon N90 w/55-200 VR mounted
18-55 lens(not in above pic)
Ilford HP5 B&W film(1 36-exp roll)
Notepad and pen(old school EXIF logging)
Sharpie(for making notes on film canisters)
Packets of desiccant
Film reciprocity data sheet(that little folded sheet)
Blue lunch cooler, which serves as a camera bag.

Value of everything in above pic other than the blanket:
Around $180
 
My Lowepro Slingshot 100:

-Canon 50D (with BG2N mounted)
-Canon 50mm 1.8
-Canon charger
-Canon batteries (2x in BG2N, 1x in a pocket)
-Sigma 18-200mm OS 3.5-6.3 (it's a great walkaround--not the fastest, and not the sharpest especially around 80mm, but still irreplaceable)
-Sigma 10-20mm 4-5.6 (absolutely amazing for the value)
-Assorted extras (USB cable, Lens hoods, 72mm polarizer for the 18-200)

flickr: www.flickr.com/levitening
personal website: www.joshualongeneckerphotography.com
 
bump for more opinions on bags and less on posting what kind of lenses you own...
 
Does anyone know if the Kata Kata DPS 3n1-30 bag is allowed as carry on on the plane?

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=12179413

As a duffel bag I mean, I already have another carry on bag that is on wheels.

I'm sure it would be. My 3n1-20 is not much smaller than the 3n1-30 and I've had no problems whatsoever. Also, the 3N1 series has the strap on the back that lets it slide onto the handle of your rolling luggage.
 
Since people are interested, here's my N90 ghetto weatherproofed.
(the rope is my strap)





The N90 is a bit easier to weatherproof than the D40 since the circular viewfinder makes it much easier to wrap a very small rubber band around it to keep water from getting in there, while the square D40 viewfinder is a pain to do so. However, I can't open the back and change film in this set-up.

The hood on the lens does a very good job of keeping droplets out of the front element.

Haha.. that is an awesome ghetto setup.... but so glad my Pentax K10D is weatherproof from the factory. I would think the Nikon cameras would be as well, but maybe not.
 
Haha.. that is an awesome ghetto setup.... but so glad my Pentax K10D is weatherproof from the factory. I would think the Nikon cameras would be as well, but maybe not.

Thanks.

For Nikon film SLRs the F100 and the F series(F4, F5, etc.) are fully weatherproofed. My N90 isn't, though it's a lot more resistant than my Nikon D40. Still either way I wouldn't risk shooting in the rain without a bag even if it was fully weatherproofed, since most lenses are not and in general there's a fair gap between the lens and the mount that could easily let water in.
 
My school bag:
Nikon D300 or D200
Nikkor 24-70mm F2.8
Nikkor 60mm F2.8 macro
2x 4GB Sandisk Extreme III's
3x Nikon batteries
Nikon SB-800
2x sets of Sanyo enloop AA's
Slik Pro 400DX

My wildlife bag
Nikon D300
Nikon D200
Nikkor 24-70mm F2.8
Nikkor 60mm F2.8 macro
Sigma 50-500mm
Kenko extention tube set
2x 4GB Sandisk Extreme III's
1Gb CF card
3x Nikon batteries
Nikon SB-800
Nikon SB-600
Flash extender
2x sets of Sanyo enloop AA's
Slik Pro 400DX
B+W circular polarizer with step down rings.
Laptop
 
I've got:

LowePro Classified 140 AW bag
Nikon D90 body
Nikkor 18-105 VR w/ UV filter
SanDisk 4GB 30MB/s SD
Microfiber cloth
AV cable
USB cable

I just got my camera and went out and tried a few bags and fell in love with this one, it's perfect, super accesible, good amount of storage for a guy with just a kit like me, and has a ton of other amenities I wasn't expecting, like the weather-proof bag that pulls around the back of the bag.

I don't have any extra batteries or extra SD cards or even extra lenses yet, but I've got my eye on a few things and I'm really happy with my gear so far. My girlfriend has the 50mm 1.8 Nikkor lens which she lets me borrow and we're thinking of going half/half toward the Nikkor 105mm 2.8 Micro lens.

On my christmas list is a tri/mono pod set and a polarizing filter and an extra battery and an 8GB 30MB/s card, these videos and RAWs really eat up the space pretty quickly, also a real external card reader to get the full transfer speed.
 
bump for more opinions on bags and less on posting what kind of lenses you own...

The LowePro slingshot series is amazing--it fits nicely on the back, but when you need it it slides around to in front of you where you can quickly access your camera and lenses. It even has a built in rain cover and a cloth cover to protect your screen. Lowepro has such attention to detail--they're the Mac of photography bags!
 
The LowePro slingshot series is amazing--it fits nicely on the back, but when you need it it slides around to in front of you where you can quickly access your camera and lenses. It even has a built in rain cover and a cloth cover to protect your screen. Lowepro has such attention to detail--they're the Mac of photography bags!

You had me agreeing with you right up until the last part. Really? Mac? U just ruined it for me. :(
If Apple made a camera bag, it would be white leather, have 1 zipper, no dividers, and have a $100 optional strap. Basically a big man-purse.

Anyway. Having started with the Lowepro Slingshot 100 AW and upgrading to the Kata 3N1-20 because I thought it was a good idea to carry all my gear all the time, I have to say I'm considering picking up a Slingshot 100 again.

Maybe it was just the > 100 degree heat in Cambodia, but it got really heavy after a while!
 
My parents gave me a really nice LowePro bag (I forget what model) for Christmas - I can attest that it is top-notch quality.

Not sure how much use it will get, though, as it's nowhere near big enough to haul most of my gear around in; and the style of it isn't something I'd want to be seen carrying around (preppy back-packing look isn't my thing - and, oh look! It converts into a giant fanny pack... meh). :p I may use it to haul around lighting gear eventually - not sure yet.

I still prefer my naneu pro tango bag for the majority of my gear. Looks cool, simple carry attachments, and has plenty of room for basic dslr setup.
 
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