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Like many
photographers, I am always on a quest to find the perfect equipment bag.
Over time I’ve learned two things. The first one is that there is no one
perfect bag. The second is that if there were, it would probably be made by
Lowepro.
 I
use Lowepro bags exclusively these days. I used to have a Tamrac 613 Super
Pro 13. It held a lot of equipment, had a multitude of pockets, and was
nicely padded. But the thing was just too unwieldy because it’s a BIG
shoulder bag and there was just no comfortable way to carry it. Eventually,
I sold it on Ebay.
 That’s
when I bought my first Lowepro bag, a Pro Trekker. Being a backpack style,
it is much more comfortable to carry heavy loads. And it will take up to a
600mm lens and still qualify as carry on luggage. It’s well padded and
rugged, and swallows a ton of equipment. The straps are nicely padded like
you would find on the best conventional hiking backpacks. If you need to
move a LOT of gear, this will do it nicely. I carry a Nikon F5, 500mm,
35-70mm, 17-35mm, 80-200, flash, Quantum pack, miscellaneous accessories,
cleaning kit, and all relevant cables with no problem. The downside is that
it’s big and heavy. Balance can become tricky on difficult terrain. Being
a backpack you can’t shoot from it. You have to take the bag off and set it
down to have access to your equipment. Interior pockets are relatively
few. If you don’t need all your gear, it’s too much bag.
 For
short outings when all I want is my F5 and two smaller lenses OR the 80-200
2.8, I use a Lowepro Topload Zoom Pro AW. You can fit a few small things in
the exterior pockets, like film, but not a flash. It’s like having a big
ready case for a big camera and medium big lens.
 If
I want to travel lighter than the Pro Trekker, but carry more than the
Topload Zoom Pro AW, there is the Stealth AW backpack. The nice thing about
this bag is that it has a padded compartment for even a large laptop
computer, making it terrific for journalists and digital shooters. It’s
very discrete and doesn’t look like a camera bag at all, so it doesn’t
scream, “Steal me!” In addition to the computer, it can take one or two pro
sized bodies, flash, and three lenses. But you have to store the body no
lens mounted, and again, being a backpack, you can’t shoot from it. It has
lots of pockets for stashing other stuff, even clothing so it can also be a
light overnight bag.
 If
I need a bit more equipment and want a bag I can shoot from, I grab the
Reporter 400 AW. Now this IS a bag you can shoot from, being a
conventionally styled shoulder bag with convenient top access. It isn’t TOO
big, and I can get one body, three lenses, and a flash into it, plus film
and accessories. This is the bag I take if I need to be mobile and don’t
anticipate needing the big glass. It’s well padded and stable, and I feel
comfortable having it on the passenger seat of my truck.
The point
here, is that you should think of bags like golf clubs. You could play with
just one club, but it’s awkward and more difficult. If you have a few bags,
you can carry exactly what you need on that day. No more, no less. You
wouldn’t expect to get by with one lens, why would you think you could with
one bag?
UPDATE: A lot has happened since I wrote this article in 2003.
An update can be found here.
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