Camera bags, why are they so damn ugly?

Yes, why is it so? Of course it's a matter of taste and all of that, but still, most of them are hideous. 

I am currently on the look out for a new shoulder bag. And while I have the awesomeness that is the Wotancraft Scout in my possession, it is a bag that unfortunately is best suited for a camera with 2 lenses (one attached) or an X100T (or similar) and some other stuff and not for a bigger load of gear for a serious portrait session for example with the X-T2 w/ battery grip and lenses. I believe it is the best and coolest looking camera shoulder bag ever though, since it definitely doesn't look like one.

And I have a couple of amazing backpacks from F-stop (hands down the best brand when it comes to backpacks), but it's not always that a backpack is the best alternative either. For some serious walking/hiking/adventuring of course, but not for everything. 

So then it comes down to shoulder/messenger bags. Unfortunately most of them are hideous. Or too small. Or both. I mean, there are many great manufacturers like Domke, Billingham and LowePro for example, but their bags are so damn awful looking and they scream "camera bag". Think Tank is another awesome brand with mostly awful looking bags except for their Retrospective line which does not scream "camera bag". I would go for another Wotancraft bag, I mean YES, they are very expensive, but they are hand made and of extremely good quality, and you get what you pay for, but at the same time I don't think they have the right bag for what I'm looking for. It would be the Ranger but it goes for a whopping €629 and I still think it might be a bit small actually. Then there are ONA bags, all hipster photographer's favourite (as it seems to me). They are a bit on the expensive side (not like Wotancraft though) and they have a couple of bags that seem pretty good, but again, too small. 

So I think this might actually come down to the mentioned Think Tank and their Retrospective 30. It actually looks pretty cool and not like a camera bag and it seem to have quite a lot of space in it and it gets a lot of very good reviews. So even if I do want to get the Wotancraft Ranger, I might not be totally satisfied because of its size. And if I'd pay that much for a bag, I'd like to be satisfied. 

I'll get back on the subject.

Wotancraft Scout review pt. 2

So here's part 2 of my review of the Wotancraft Scout bag. Part 1 is here.

I wanted to get back on this bag, since I've used it for a couple of months now and it's been a companion on some travels and a couple of model shoots. And still, I find this bag being of top notch quality.  Is it big enough, yes, most of the time. Can I carry all my Fuji gear in it now after adding the Fujinon XF 90mm f/2 R LM WR? Well no. Do I want to carry all gear on one should for a long time? Again, no. 

A shoulder bag is best to keep pretty light if you don't want to fuck your neck and shoulder up. And with adding the new mentioned Fujinon lens, I can only have my Fujifilm X100T with me, IF the 90mm is mounted on my Fujifilm X-T1. If I'd take out the X100T, I could probably fit my other 3 Fujinon lenses in its place, but would probably have to take them out to find and get the right one. 

Would that be a huge problem? Probably not, but still a bit fiddly and inconvenient, especially in the middle of the city for example. 

But this is not the way I've thought about using this bag either. Last weekend I went to Copenhagen for some street photography, with only the X100T and The X-T1 with the 90mm attached since I wanted to try out that combination. And it worked pretty good, with the 35 and 135mm (full frame equivalent) setup and it might actually be my walking around setup for my upcoming trip to London. So I won't be walking around with all lenses, I will chose gear for the task. If I'm doing architecture (and I will), the XF 14mm f/2.8 will come with me instead of the X100T and so on.

And if I'm doing either long exposures or night shots (and I will), well, I will probably chose my F-stop Guru instead, so I have a place for my Rick tripod from 3LeggedThing (shown in the first two photos taken with my iPhone 6). I carried the tripod by hand this time and it was not attached to the Scout bag, I just left it in these shots. 

But the bag, well it just looks better and better. The canvas is getting a better and better worn look which is awesome and it just doesn't look like the typical camera bag nearly everybody else is using. 

And everything feels sturdy and great on it. The too locking flaps on the front is softening up a little after some use, not too much, just a little bit and it feels very secure while closed, thanks to both the flaps and the sturdy zipper for the inner lid. The snappy buttons for the lids of the two  pockets are also feeling really nice and really secure. An inner compartment holds my iPad Air2, but I usually don't bring it, but it works fine. 

The shoulder strap works well, even though it's not super wide or very thickly padded, it still feels really nice. 

Oh, as you can see, I've got the battery grip attached to the X-T1, that doesn't work too well. I can fit the camera, with the 90mm lens on, but the battery grip makes it too snug for my likings. It fits very well with the regular extra grip that I usually have fitted (the grip on the X-T1 is too small, and I don't even have big hands). 

So, I just wanted to add some stuff about the Wotancraft Scout now when I've used it a little. I might get back on the subject. Or not. But to come to a conclusion, well I am extremely pleased with this bag. Sure it is rather pricey, it really is, but as usually you get what you pay for and that's exactly what you get here, in an awesome looking high quality bag. 

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Sorry, that's me again...

Sunday walk

Took my new Wotancraft Scout for a walk in my home town this Sunday afternoon. Maybe -2 °C and no wind so pretty nice winter weather today.

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Wotancraft Scout review pt. 1

So I’ve received my Scout from Wotancraft. It was shipped with FedEx on the 30th of December and I received it today on January 5th, so that went really fast considering the new year holidays. 

It came in a nice outer canvas carry bag and it’s got a red tag/keyholder (looking like the tag you pull on a parachute) saying “Remove Before Adventure”, which I probably will leave on the bag. It also comes with a very nice lens pouch, in which I will store some lens at home.

So my first impression is, WOW!

This bag looks fucking awesome! The leather details on it looks (and feels) great together with the kind of worn vintage army green colour of the waxed canvas. The bag definitely breathes quality. Sure, it was expensive, but you get what you pay for, as it usually is. 

I’ve put the dividers in (it comes with 4, I’ve used 2) the padded (and retractable) insert and my Fujifilm X-T1 and X100T cameras, my Fujinon XF 14mm f/2.8 R, XF 35mm f/1.4 R and XF 56mm f/1.2 R lenses (with the last one mounted on the X-T1 at the moment). Sure it’s a bit snug but they all fit. I have to say that I will probably not walk around all day with two cameras and three lenses (even if it’s lightweight Fuji gear) on one shoulder anyways, since you don’t need that much for street photography. 

It’s got two outer pockets where I have stuffed 6 extra batteries (3 for each camera) in one and in the other I have my shutter release, the small flash for the X-T1, lens cloth and a Hoya Pro ND1000 filter and there’s still room for a little bit more. There is also a compartment for something like an iPad or maybe an 11" MacBook Air.

I will not use this bag as the only bag while travelling, but as a complement to my F-stop Guru (or Loka) backpack, for use while doing street photography. When it comes to bringing a tripod and more stuff, I will use a backpack since I don’t feel like murdering my neck and shoulder while carrying too much on one side.

Oh, and the shoulder strap is also nice, it’s got a nice leather detail on the outside of the padded bit and on the inside there’s some grippy type of rubber to prevent it slipping off the shoulder. 

I’m really looking forward to start using the Scout and I will add things to this, or write a second part since it can hardly be called a review before it’s been even really used. 

Part 2 of this review can be found here.

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Wotancraft pt. 2

So I managed to order myself a (now sold out) Scout from Wotancraft. I have no idea when it will be delivered, but I'm looking forward to it and I'll be doing a review of it when I've used it for a while.