CAMCORDER BAGS

Big bag, small compact bag, bag that doesn’t look like a camera bag, rain resistant bag, flat luggage style bag, upright bag, purse-style bag are all considerations when choosing a bag for your cameras.  Do you not only conduct surveillance but also take photos of accident scenes or accident vehicles with a larger DSLR camera as this may steer you into a larger bag?  Do you travel and conduct investigations in other states or countries and want one carry-on bag for your equipment, clothing and laptop?

I have always preferred luggage style bags such as the Lowepro Omni Sport which also turns into a fanny-bag and comes with a waterproof Pelican Case.  It’s a bit of a tight squeeze for most of my equipment and unfortunately looks like a gun bag as most fanny bags do.

I have often thought about the attaché non-camera looking bags that are very popular with photographers who found them getting mugged for their equipment when they used bags with the large letters CANON written on them.  Unfortunately most of these bags are top access and deep, which I will not use, as there is no time to be fishing around inside of a bag looking for something.   But I like this concept.

I wear shorts or pants with cargo pockets.  When it comes time to go on-foot, a lot of surveillance techs grab the camera, extra batteries, extra tapes and other items from their large bag and throw them into a gun-like fanny pack…..and then get stopped by security.
I like to take items from my bag and throw them into my pockets and go, so I only need one “everything bag”.

My requirements for the “everything bag” are:

Small enough for airport carry-on.

Large enough for not only my camera equipment but for chargers, power
inverter, extra shirt, baseball cap and sunglasses.

Narrow enough to fit on the floor behind my passenger seat with the passenger
seat all the way back (more hidden and secure during the follow and out of reach of the airconditioning duct that can fog up lenses)

Light enough to carry for hours if needed.

Have multiple moveable dividers (or be able to purchase more, which is more
likely as our equipment tends to be very small and I like to have everything in
its own pocket or pouch.

Have room for my paperwork without having to fold it a bunch of times.

Smooth one-hand zippers as I do not want to twist into my back seat with both
hands to zip or unzip.

Does not look like a camera bag.

For much of my equipment and car set up I go cheap but with my camera and my camera bag, I get what I need and the “Street Walker” from Think Tank fits the bill.  It is their smallest backpack and it’s loaded with pockets and compartments.  I have two other Think Tank bags for my photography/cinematography equipment and they are definitely the Rolls Royce of bags in my opinion.  I like Kata as well for their lightness but not their bright yellow interior.  Lowepro has some nice stuff too but since everyone knows what Lowepro is, you will have to cut off the logo.

The Street Walker is much smaller than the carry-on requirements.  It comes with its own rain cover and unlike other backpacks, is narrow which is important if you are trying to fit it behind the passenger seat. (the video on the Thin Tank site is a larger pack)
The bag is long enough for you to carry a compact tripod such as the Sunpak 620 or the Tamarac ZipShot (ball head only). Check out the Zipshot video by CLICKING HERE

Lets face it, a backpack fits in with what most sweaty surveillance PIs are wearing.  The business attaché bags fit more in with the suit and tie guys and lord help us, we don’t want become one of them.  With a small backpack you’ll look more like a student or some other type of non-conformist.

Another version called Street Walker Harddrive is larger and has room for a 15 inch laptop.  With the tiny SD card camcorders and accessories I hardly see the need for anything larger than the regular Street Walker and I now use my cell phone to access files and do research on-line.
The Street Walker Pro is very deep (perfect for those who also also have a full size DSLR with a battery grip)
The Glass Taxi is too unique looking.

If this bag is too large for your liking or you are an infrequent surveillance person then you may want to consider the purse-like camera bags from Billingham.  This camera line is for those who put style ahead of money when choosing a large camera bag or an evening purse looking bag.

Domke is a little more reasonable and they have several small purse-like camera bags but you’ll have to do something about the “Domke” logo on the front of the bag.

The Lowepro Sling bags are interesting but are a little unique and only a portion of the bag opens up per zipper.  They have a huge line of bags at B&H Photo. Here is a monstor size backpack from Lowepro that will hold a 17" laptop.

With whatever bag you choose you absolutely should get Think Tanks “Pixel Pocket Rocket” or the “Pee Wee Pixel Pocket Rocket”.  Even though they say CF cards you can slide SD cards in their container into the CF spaces.  They both have clear window pockets which is what you need in order to read the label on your SD card.  The most important feature is what I call the dummy string.  The Pocket Rocket is attached to something in the interior of your camera bag via a ribbon.  Trust me when I say this…..Do not put your SD cards in your pockets, in your consol or without the dummy string inside of your bag.  The dummy string may save you from having to re-do cases as it will help to prevent you from loosing your SD cards.  Open your camera bag, access your SD card and close the bag without walking around your house with your SD wallet…..very dangerous.