It's been a journey...
Unfortunately, I seem to have the most awkwardly sized camera setup ever. For some background, I have two cameras, and my initial journey to find the "perfect" camera bag started almost 3 years ago. My first serious camera was a Canon Rebel T6 that I got as a Black Friday/Christmas present in 2017 (I technically got it early at Thanksgiving). The kit came with the camera base, an EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS II zoom lens, EF 75-300mm f/4.0-5.6 III telescopic zoom lens, and a camera bag. If you are familiar with cameras, you may also question this lens setup, but it is what was in the kit. I've gone through several camera setups, which I'll detail below, along with my camera bag setups.
After receiving my camera, most of my photography adventures were local club activities at my school, so generally, I was fine with the normal zoom lens, and I used the bag as my camera bag and purse. This worked well, but these were only 1-2 hour excursions. My first real test of toting my camera was when I went on the ship. Before this, my dad bought me a holster-type camera strap, which worked perfectly for a full day of picture-taking at the Houston Space Center. I didn't use the camera bag on the ship very much since I was always close to my berth. Where my system started to fall apart when I went ashore in Asia. Since I did not have many options, I could only carry my camera loose inside my backpack. I am not entirely crazy; I did have a rubber protective case for the camera body and a neoprene lens case. Unfortunately, I had a small crack on the display screen from hitting something else in my bag. I also did not carry my camera if I was going out at night since I was worried about carrying around a bulky backpack that could easily be opened without my noticing. Also, I could only carry my 18-55mm lens in the bag, which was fine. I found the only time I wanted to use the telephoto lens was on the ship anyway.
For the next year or so, I mostly used the camera bag that came in the kit and only used one lens. However, before I went to Europe my dad bought me a camera backpack. It had two shoulder straps and one chest strap. It also had two side pockets for a tripod and water bottle. The bottom part was a dedicated camera bag area that could be opened from the side and the front. This camera bag worked well for the plane, especially since I could put my plane essentials in the top compartment of the bag. Unfortunately, once I was over there, I discovered I wasn't a fan of using my telephoto lens. Due to the gap in focal length between my two lenses I found that the telephoto lens was too large of a jump when I wanted to zoom in more than my normal lens allowed. I also discovered that the next time I go to Europe, I'd want a wide-angle lens (and I did). Since I found that I only used my normal lens, I also didn't like using such a large camera bag. Also, the strap on the side that holds the tripod in got caught on the plane ride home and ripped. Luckily, while I was in Europe, I bought a nice leather backpack at the farmer's market in Rotterdam and used it as my day bag. Since I'd learned my lesson from my last trip, I used an umbrella and sunglasses to help elevate my camera. This made it super easy to reach my camera since it was right on top, and it elevated the lens, so if I dropped my bag, the force would be on the camera grip rather than the lens. It actually worked super well, and with the neoprene lens protector, it is pretty safe. Honestly, for one-lens use, it is a great setup.
Later, I got a wide-angle lens and borrowed a telephoto lens that starts at the same focal length where my normal zoom lens ends. Eventually, I did move to a mirrorless camera and completely rehauled my camera setup. There will be a different post related to this, but this will be a pretty long post if I continue with this narration style. So I will group the next camera bag iterations based on the lens setup I used and why they did or didn't work.
Canon Rebel T6 + EF-S 18-55 mm lens
- Canon camera bag
- pros
- works well with one-lens set up and two-lens setup
- has padding
- is flexible and can slightly expand if packing other items in
- has some available space for other slim items (wallet, portable charger, etc)
- cons
- does not fit a phone with divider in place
- divider can be moved to the side, but cannot be taken out of the bag
- Black leather backpack
- pros
- plenty of space for other items that I might need during the day => makes a good day bag for traveling or full-day events
- cons
- not padded; need to use other objects to create padding/protective system
- need to take out camera to get to items below it
Canon Rebel T6 + EF-S 18-55 mm lens + EF-S 10-18mm lens
- Canon camera bag
- see above
- Peak Design 3L sling
- cons
- bag was too small to fit this setup; it fit but not comfortably
- camera setup could only fit sideways, not upright which will be easiest to access
- Peak Design 5L/6L sling
- pros
- bag fits full setup with small open space for other items (wallet, keys)
- front and back pockets offer space for phone storage
- bag can even fit additional lens (EF-S 55-250mm), but it was very tight
- cons
- bag is very large (when in sling mode, it spanned the entirety of my waist)
- tablet pocket fits iPad mini, though I assume access will be tight/difficult
Canon Rebel T6 + EF-S 18-55 mm lens + EF-S 10-18mm lens + EF-S 55-250mm
- Canon camera bag
- pros
- small profile
- padded shoulder strap
- additional slim items can be added (wallet, charger)
- cons
- wide-angle lens has to be stacked to fit
- stacked lenses affect camera accessibility
- configuration also changes depending on what lens is attached
- Lowepro Slingshot Edge 250 AW Camera Sling Bag
- pros
- holds all three lenses and accessories comfortably within the camera compartment
- additional compartment allows for storage of other items (phone, wallet, sunglasses, journal, jacket, etc)
- can be used as an all-day pack
- external water bottle compartment
- multiple attachment points for a tripod
- cons
- camera compartment is debatably too large (I found myself carrying additional unnecessary accessories to fill in all of the compartments)
- sling style does not distribute weight as well as a backpack; given the heavy camera equipment, the weight is a lot for one shoulder
- single strap is not exchangeable between either side; if it could be reversed, then the weight might not be as rough, but this option was not possible
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