So far in my life I have always taken candid shots of people, very few posed as that has not been what I wanted. Now that I have retired, I want to do something new - to me at least. Documenting people's lives can go deeper and I want to create a more full project, concentrating on the work people do. Not just still images but also moving and with sound. I have my first project in mind; documenting the local church bell ringers.
I realised I would need more equipment with me, I normally travel as light as possible. That meant finding a bag to suit my wants and needs. Not easy as I am fussy as hell. About everything. Drives some people nuts. My search began and I dug into the online reviews of all sorts of bags.
It's not easy to know what is needed from an item without using it for some time. I find that the useful thing about reading the reviews of others is to understand what you do not want and that makes it easier to look for what you do want.
Why do I want from my camera bag?
It should not look like a camera bag. I don't want to look like Mr. Photographer but prefer to drop into the background.
The main opening should be wide and not squeezed at the ends like a mouth. Otherwise the zip scrapes things as they go in and out. I could use one hand to keep the 'mounth' open but I may need both hands to change lenses.
The bag needs to hold everything I need but no more. I want to carry the minimum and also want the bag as small as possible.
The bag contents should be easily accessible when over my shoulder and not flop around on a table or the floor.
Compartments are important to separate things but I do not want a lot of padded cells as they make the bag too big.
There should be enough external padding to protect the camera and sound equipment but I'm not going to be throwing the bag around.
The bag should look good (for my taste of course). For me, I want form and function in equal measures and they should both be high.
Blog 3: Alpaka Vertex bag review.
Photographic Project Bag.
Alpaka sell the bag in navy blue and a couple of blacks. I prefer the colour of the bag in the darkish sage green. Bear in mind I took the photos below with an iPhone so the colours may not look correct for you.
The slight bulge seen in the mid extreme left below is from my Zoom H2n field recorder which you will see inside, further down.
The Alpaka Vertex bag stuffed full with equipment.
All zips are very robust and look about as waterproof as a closure can be - I'm not going to test them. The bag material is also robust and should last years even with a lot of use. I did find it to be a little too stiff for me so I folded the bag back and forth, up and down, left and right. Turned it over and did the same again. Then sat on it repeatedly, turning it each time to get it to relax and be a bit more usable. Basically aging it somewhat. It's now softer and easier to open and close. Plus both magnets now hold the front flap down as they should - some reviews complained about one side not working and that's what I found too. But they now both work fine as it was just very stiff material from being so new.
I don't really know what this D-ring is for, positioned at the bag's bottom rear. I cannot see it being useful for carrying say a tripod as there is only the one ring and it's in the middle. Having something swing around on the bottom of the bag would really annoy me. Maybe it is so the bag can be attached to a waist belt to stop it swinging around? I am going to cut it off, leaving the sown-in material tube that holds it. That way I can always add one of those little carabiners through the same place if I need to.
Unlike other reviewers I love the handle. It's size, shape, firmness and position makes using it secure and comfortable. Plus it takes up minimal space. I'm not that keen on shoulder staps so I have a good option when I don't need to carry that way.
The new venture of more prolonged documentary is new to me so I don't really know what to take but I've given it my best guess and this is it below. Top left lens is a Leica Elmarit-TL 18mm f2.8 pancake. Middle left is a Sigma 45mm f2.8 Contemporary. Bottom left is a Nikkor 85mm f1.4 and to its right is a K&F Concept lens adapter to convert from Nikkon F mount to Alliance L mount. You can also see my Zoom H2n field recorder and the rest is obvious.
Once everything is in, the smaller and foldable compartment almost disappears completely but that's no surprise. The lenses, the Nikkor in particular, are not small and take up all of the space in front of the compartments further towards the back. The two elasticated sections in black are not available to me. The next space further back (with a slight mouth on the right side) is where the makeup dusting brush has been put - this space snaps open and shut with magnets. Very nicely done. The next space in is where the lens tissue has been put which is just visiable in the photo. In that space is a zipped compartment and inside that are three sown-in spaces one of which I have used for the spare SD card. The space furthest at the back contains my photography note book (a Moleskin 132mm wide, 210mm high and 11mm deep). The sown-in Aplaka loop that says "Keep moving forward" is being used as my pen holder. By the way, the pen is a OHTO GS01 Horizon Needle Point Ballpoint Pen 0.7mm which I bought from awesomepens.co.uk. As of writing this, it cost only £6.99 and well worth it I think as it's all aluminium body and end pieces and fabulous to write with. Neither OHTO or awesomepens know about this review so my opinion is not biased through finance or any other way.
The only thing not inside is the Elmarit 18mm but I can easily fit it on top of the other lenses. There is a fair bit of space above the three lenses where the 'roof' of the back slopes upwards to close. I could even get something else to the left of the Leica, just above the Nikkor.
This photo shows the SD card inside its compartment. Not easy to get to without taking out the lenses but possible. It's not something I would need to do often so this is fine for me.
The front compartment, accessible from inside and outside the bag, is useful for storing my glasses, a small tripod and a dust blower. The tripod I'll use for the Zoom when sound recording - Reread: I don't know why I said this, I don't think it needs a tripod for my project.
The inner front compartment attached to the front flap.
This little plastic box has been photographed so you can see how useful it is for storing the Sigma fp L spare battery. The black tape is only to put over the battery terminals just in case I need to. If a battery's terminals are shorted across its energy is release very quickly. Essentially it becomes a bomb and having had a career in electronics I know how dangerous they are. Always cover battery terminals if there is any danger of them being shorted across by things like keys or coins.
Quies ear protector box protecting my spare battery.
The only thing about the bag I was not happy with was the way the shoulder strap was packaged inside when delivered. It was folded, not rolled up, before insertion. That has created an indelible crease in the padded section. I cannot see this fold mark disappearing any time soon. Rolled up would have been better. Not a problem, but irksome.
A review is only really valid after something has been used for a good long period and I haven't used this Alpaka bag at all yet. But I've used a lot of camera bags and this one looks totally right for me to use on a photographic project. The look is good, the feel is great, it can take all I think I'm going to need and no more and it is robust and waterproof. There will be times when I will need to vary what goes inside but I can see that generally speaking, only the type of lens will change. Since I have nothing as gargantuan as the Nikkor 85mm 1.4, I doubt a change of lens will be a problem space wise. If anything, there will be more space. I will of course have another lens on the camera which I will always carry around my neck, never in the camera bag.
I love the way the main compartment opens, revealing all the content with ease. It also feels good around the body when changeing lenses - I have tested that. If anything gets dropped, it should fall into the open bag which will be no more than a few inches away. The compartment spacing, their sizes, the versatility of the bag - all superb. Plus communication and delivery from Alpaka was faultless.
For anyone needing a small camera bag that is useful for street walks with a couple of lenses, an iPhone and maybe even a snack, this over the shoulder bag would more than adequately do the job. And do it with style.
I wholeheatedly recommend this Alpaka Vertex as a camera holdall.
