Is 1 enough? Is 3 too many?

We’re talking bags, folks.
Camera bags.
Gear listing, laid out, thought about, comfort factored, camera bags.

The event I was packing for was SXSW with a mix of panel shooting, music, and event coverage.
2 Year ago I ended up shooting a BBQ /Book Signing for Guy Kawasaki!
Day/night, interior, exterior; you can pretty well run the gamut of photo situations over a 10 day run.

Watcha gonna bring ?

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The base bag, ThinkTank Airport International does most of the heavy lifting:
Nikon D800,
24mm-70mm, 2.8
70mm-200mm, 2.8
20mm 2.8
Nikon SB-900 speedlight with Pocket Wizards and Light Modifier (Fotodiox Mini Soft Box, or Rogue FlashBender)
GoPro Hero3
Rechargeable batteries
Looxcie HD Streaming Camera w/mount
Card Wallets
Extra cameras (Lytro and Samsung WI-Fi Compact)
Hard drives
X-Rite color chart
Lavalier mic
Digital audio recorder
LitePanel Micro LED light
USB Card reader
I can always add a tablet to the front pouch to be grabbed before placing in overhead.

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In the zip cover:
spare mic., rec/transmitter
Cables
Business cards
small tools
GoPro remote
USB Thumb Drives
Lens cleaners

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In the back pouch (see why we love this bag?) some phone charging cables, phone/tablet charging battery block, cinnamon gum, business cards, earbuds.

A lot right?
Then we pack the ThinkTank Urban Disguise 50:
Nikon D700 with our “crop duster” lens- 28-300, 3.5-5.6
13″ MacBook Pro
power cord for laptop
mesh bag with flash bracket(s), SB-29 flash cable(s)
Bag of Bongo Ties (elastic bands with wood stoppers)
DSLR Gorillapod
S’well, non-sweating, thermos (hot or cold).

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And the 2 bags stack together, with a neat flap of material that the Airport International slips into.
Brilliant.

Into the suitcase goes the tripod/monopod, chargers for all ( now organized on a CoCoon board by Grid-it) Mesh bag with extra cables, mini power strips with USB inputs, and the actual working bag:

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The ThinkTank City Walker 20.

This pup folds pretty darn flat, and is lightweight saving weight in the checked luggage, and weight on my back.
Above , it’s packed with Nikon D800, 70-200, 24-70, 20mm 2.8, Nikon SB900 speedlight, Fotodiox softbox, card wallets, extra batteries, power bars, assignment sheets, small gorillapod, and the lovely S’well thermos that doesn’t sweat. Key point there.

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And always in my pants pocket? Canon S100. 2.0 lens, shoots RAW, ISO to 6400. Sweet.

Oh yeah: as you are packing your checked bag, you may be tempted to load in a lot of the heavy pieces.
Take a Balanzza Digital Luggage Scale – for $25. I’ve used mine for years, and it save embarrassment, and money at the gate. When it says 49.5 lbs, it has been just that.

There you have it. A working array of bags and gear for changeable events.

Whenever I go on one of these trips, extra gear for review comes along, so when you see a write up here, it’s because the gear has been put to use.

One question you may have is “why carry the sound gear?”.

If I know there will be specific interviews going on, the Canon XF100 comes along, plus a shotgun mic, ThinkTank Modular belt or the Media Bag, a Manfrotto video head, and perhaps a different monopod.

With gear in the bag, I can cobble together what is needed to get the job done in a pinch.

What’s in your bag?

NB: The CityWalker 20 has become my bag of choice in NYC walkabouts.
Fits the 13″ MacBook Pro, Body and cropduster lens, or I can go small, like a Sony NEX with a coupla of lenses.
It’s now always with me, even if I’m not on a shoot.
In NYC, backpacks aren’t quite the thing.
As someone said to me, “School’s Out”.

Cheers
damon webster

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