What is In Your Bag? – Part 8

Damon Webster is publishing a series of videos where Kristian Dowling explaining what he is carrying in his bag. He is a Nikon shooter and also tells about the lenses he uses in part 2 and 3. In part 4 he tells about the cameras he uses.

Part 1
 
Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

What Is In Your Bag? – Part 7

Moose Peterson explains how he packs his bag in this video. He has a lot of setups, depending on the task at hand. You can read about it here. I like these explanations because I am always amazed how much stuff the photographer can fit in in his/her bag.

Gura Gear Kiboko

Gura Gear Kiboko lightweight camera bag from guragear on Vimeo.
Photographer Andy Biggs designed his own camera bag. In the video above he explains all the features.

What Is In Your Bag? – Part 6

Joe Mcnally explains here what he is carrying in his bag.

What Is In Your Bag? – Part 5

David Hobby of strobist.blogspot.com fame tells us how he is packing his stuff when he travels.

What Is In Your Bag? – Part 4

Trey Ratcliff from www.stuckincustoms.com, well known for his HDR photos all around the world, tells what he is carrying with him on his travels.

What Is In Your Bag? – Part 3

Paparazzi photographer Henry Flores shows how to move unseen through the street following celebrities. A unique piece of gear he uses is a pepper spray! He uses the Canon 17-55 f2.8 IS lens on a Canon 40D body.

What Is In Your Bag? – Part 2

Sports and lifestyle photographer Chase Jarvis explains what and how he packs his photography gear. I like his quote on the TSA rules which state what kind of carry on you can bring on board an airplane (6:38 minutes into the video).
From the TSA web site on http://www.tsa.gov/travelers/airtravel/assistant/editorial_1248.shtm (as of 15 February 2010)

Photographic Equipment

You may carry one (1) bag of photographic equipment in addition to one (1) carry-on and one (1) personal item through the screening checkpoint.  The additional bag must conform to your air carrier's carry-on restrictions for size and weight.  Please confirm your air carrier's restrictions prior to arriving at the airport.
Air carriers may or may not allow the additional carry-on item on their aircraft. Please check with your air carrier prior to arriving at the airport.
Our screening equipment will not affect digital cameras and electronic image storage cards.

What Is In Your Bag?

Wedding photographer David Ziser explains what is in his bag. A valuable tip from him is that everything must have its place in the bag.

My little Aquapac Case Review

Louk35 asked me what my experiences are with the Aquapac case I used to take underwater pictures. So I decided to write my experiences here.

All underwater pictures are on the French Polynesia trip were taken with the Panasonic DMC-TZ7 and the Aquapac 'camera case with hard lens'.

I live in Holland and ordered mine directly from www.aquapac.net.

Picture quality is good because this case has a hard plastic front. I chose this one because the lens of the Panasonic extends when you zoom in. This bag has enough room to accomodate that. The Aquapac web site has a size guide to help you choose which bag to use for your equipment.

Accessing camera controls is easy. You have to crumple the bag a bit to have some free space to wiggle the controls or push buttons.

I had no problems with leaking. When you get the bag they advise to do a 'dry run' - put some tissues in the bag, close it and hold it under water. Then check for wet tissues. My bag passed the test with no problems.

To prevent condensation in the bag you have to put a desiccant sachet in the bag with the camera.

Condensation might occur because of temperature differences between the water and the air inside the case. I saw no condensation when I used the case, and the inside of the bag and the desiccant sachet stayed dry. I ordered some extra ones at www.aquapac.net when I ordered the Aquapac case.

Hints and tips:

• Before taking a picture, wipe the front of the tube dry. Otherwise you will get some strange pictures because there are water drops in front of the lens.
• Make sure the lens is properly centered in the tube of the case. Otherwise the edge of the tube might pop up on your pictures.
  
• Don't dive too deep with the bag. The water pressure will put pressure on the camera. The bag does nothing to prevent this. I only dod some snorkeling, so this is no issue for me.
  
• Don't open the bag while on/near the water. The risk of getting water inside the camera is too great.
• Make sure the seal is fully closed and that there is no sand in the seal. All the plastic bits inside the seals must be properly layed out. No folds or snags of any kind must be present.
  
• When taking pictures under water turn up the brightness of the display. I had trouble looking at the display before I did that.
• The Panasonic DMC-TZ7 has a special 'under water' setting. This reduces the blue and saturates the other colours. It is a plus if your camera supports such a setting. Use the  'under water' setting if available!
• The case is also handy when you want to take pictures in the rain, in a desert, on the beach, next to the swimming pool etc. 

I am very happy with the Aquapac case, and I will certainly use it on more occasions/holidays.

Louk35: Please tell me what your experiences are with the bag. Show us some pictures and good luck!