Monday I received a package in the mail. It was expected. After all, I ordered it!
Several weeks ago Sadira and I took a ride up to Sedona. Sadira needed a case for her camera, and locally there weren’t many great bags available. I’d checked Manzanita Outdoors, and the selection at the time was super slim (they must have had a run on camera bags.
Honestly I’m happy to say that our Sedona trip worked out great. Rollies Camera had quite the selection. They also had something I’d never seen before. Crumpler bags. Sadira ended up with a “4 Million Dollar Home.” A cute little bag that will fit a digital SLR with a lens on it, one spare lens, and extra junk that you choose to load. The pack got me thinking…….
The thinking continued to the point I finally ended up ordering a Crumpler bag. I wanted to carry a little more, so I got the 6 Million Dollar Home. I’ve already put gear in it too. My Canon 30D with my 28-135mm lens on it, my 18-85mm Canon Lens, my 50mm Compact Macro Lens, and my 580 EX Speedlight. Oh, also my off camera flash cable, my shutter release cable, several CF cards, and my battery charger. I’ve still got some extra room, and I can lash a lens case to the outside of the pack.
Did I mention how compact the pack is, even with the room in it? Probably not.
Gotta say, I’d heard about Crumpler last year, but I didn’t investigate them too closely. After seeing the products in person I knew their cases would be something I would like. Now that I’ve got one, I can tell you for a fact their cases are super! I’ll let you know how it works over time. I’ve had Lowe Pro packs for years, and they’re still doing well. I’m hoping Crumpler will offer the same durability…..time will tell.
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May 7th, 2008 at 8:17 am
Congrats!
I bought DaNece the 5 million dollar bag, but she ended up not liking it very much and is returning it. I look forward to a review in a few months of how it holds up.
May 7th, 2008 at 9:01 am
I’m digging it so far. Sorry to hear DaNace didn’t like her 5 million. I thought that one was a little small for what I was intending to use it for. Hence the 6 million. Wondering about the 7 million, but I think I’m covered.
Ah, Sycamore on Sunday??? What do you think?
May 7th, 2008 at 9:06 am
She didn’t like (and I agree) the ridiculous velcro that holds the main compartment closed. Imagine trying to open that when you want the picture of that wild animal sitting 20 feet away..
That, and the lack of little accessory pockets killed the deal for her.
Sunday…. what time are you thinking? We were planning to hit the lava tubes bright and early sunday morning (DaNece has never been).
May 7th, 2008 at 12:02 pm
I am an accessories goddess…and I love it when I find the perfect thing…
Tom…where are you guys going that there are wild animals? I have a theory that humans on the whole aren’t that quiet, so they probably already hear you as you’re “sneaking” up on them…which is a good thing with bears and whatnot. Tell her to just put a piece of fabric over the sticky part of the velcro…that will probably solve the loud problem as the fabric will stick to it and then you can just use the buckle. You can also hang accessories off the side of the bag if you need to.
Seriously, how much gear is everyone carrying?! I feel kind of goofy with my tiny bag, but it’s really the perfect size for the weekend grab and go…and I mostly plan out where I’m going during the day so that I don’t need to take everything camera that I own with me…is that wrong? I mean, lets face it, I just got the 10D so I don’t have a ton of extras…and um…well…Rich can carry all those in his big bag right?
May 7th, 2008 at 9:05 pm
Uh….Tom. What doesn’t have Velcro now? My Lowe Pro’s have Velcro, my Canon bag has Velcro…..hell, several of my hiking boots have Velcro. It’s out there. Aliens provided us with the tech you know…..
My 6 million has accessory areas as well. My Lowes do too….so does my Canon bag (the whole top is covered in Velcro). I promise ya, the animals hear you before the Velcro. LOL!
When I’m ready to shoot I keep my camera in my Zing case. I can peel it off in a second. But, when I’m carrying gear I want a small camera pouch. The Crumpler fits the bill compared to many other packs I’ve owned. It’s slimmer, yet still fits the same stuff. Lowe backpacks are on your back (zippers, velcro, security codes and alarms), my Canon pack is huge and doesn’t sling well. Ah well, keep searching.
Sunday……heading out at 8:30 from Prescott.
May 8th, 2008 at 8:40 am
The velcro was the start of the problem (and yes the animals do hear you coming, but every now and then they want to check you out. A loud piece of velcro generally prevents that from happening). She was actually planning out how to get something over the velcro so that it would be rendered ineffective.
She was really hoping that there would be more pockets for things like cell phones and a field notebook (a pocket on the back of the bag for a notebook really should have been there in my opinion), not the type of thing that you really want to hang off of your camera bag. Especially with some of the places I drag her through, anything hanging off would get abused pretty badly.
In addition the bag wasn’t a perfect fit for her gear. Her camera w/ attached lens + additional lens + hoods and filters just didn’t fit in the bag in a manner that she was happy with (and the silly dividers that had a habit of folding over didn’t help).
Oh well. For now she will continue to cart stuff around in her Canon Gadget Bag, and use her lowepro for hiking until she finds the perfect fit for her.
Sadira - you’ve seen my camera case. Just big enough for the G9, spare battery, spare memory card, and card reader. I’m a pretty minimalist kind of guy. That mixed with the fact that my case only cost me $20 made it perfect in my mind.
As for Sunday - I think that sounds good. So plan on meeting out in Chino (Circle K?) around 8:45ish? I’m guessing we are taking the Perkinsville route? Just give me a shout if plans change.