Hi everyone,

I’ve manged to get the total weight of my camera gear down to about 1 Kg. Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mk II + Fotodiox grip, battery and memory card fitted (550 g)  M.Zuiko 9-18 mm (approx 155 g), M.Zuiko 25 mm 1.8 (approx 136g) and Panasonic Lumix 12-60 mm (approx 210 g) and including my new thinkTANK Turnstyle 10 v2 sling bag (400 g) and few essential, such as spare batteries, memory cards, lens wipes and my thinkTANK Emergency camera rain cover, approx 1.5 Kg!.

I own or have seen faster and debatably sharper lenses but I’ve not seen sharper, faster and lighter lenses and certainly not a price point that I can afford or justify. The 12-60 mm is also weather-sealed to compliment my camera’s weather sealing. I chose the Fotodiox grip in preference to Olympus’  own grip as it doesn’t need to be detached and re-attached every time to change the camera’s battery.

My kit, chosen for it’s weight, size and focal length coverage to suit my photographic interests, which as I guess most of you already know are travel/landscapes.

The bag seems like it’ll be perfect for my day-to-day requirements. Heaven knows I’ve tried all types of bag, shoulder bags, backpacks etc. and they all hurt. Could this be the one?!. The strap is nicely shaped and well padded.

Main compartment, easy access to my gear. I’ve added a HeroClip to the top loop to easily hang it up or suspend it from a tripod hook. I really like the idea of swinging the bag round and my gear is right there where I want it.

Rear compartment will hold an 8 inch tablet but is ideal for stashing my thinkTANK emergency camera rain cover which could also hang from the HeroClip to dry out when required.

Main compartment for my camera and my choice of lenses. There’s also a horizontal stacking divider provided but I’m not currently using it.

Another inside compartment, maybe for some paperwork, travel documents or suchlike.

Front compartment comprising of three pockets for my  filters, lens wipes, memory cards etc. and a larger front section in which you can just see my NEEWER battery case which is holds four Olympus BLN-1 batteries perfectly and securely.

End compartment housing the bag’s rain cover, shown with the waist strap ends tucked in. I think that the addition of the waist strap to the V2 is a very useful feature to stop the bag swinging around on the move.

Ultimately I don’t know how this bag will work out but I hope that my shoulders, back and neck will thank me for it. :).

Kind regards

Leigh

PS. A while back I started using Cordweaver camera straps. like the red one shown in this post.

Hi everyone,

I guess there’s no perfect solution when it comes to rain covers. I’ve had this rain cover for a while now. It’s the best solution that I’ve found in terms of size, manufacturing quality and portability. It comes with its own storage pouch with a loop and I’ve attached a carabiner  so that it can hang from a d-ring on my camera bag if required. When the cover is wet it is nice to have a self-contained pouch to stuff it back in to and keep it separate from other gear.

Fitting is pretty straightforward, slip the camera in and attach to the camera’s hot shoe and then tighten the cinch strap around the lens hood. Even though I bought their small sized rain cover to suit my micro four thirds gear I find that the strap is still a bit big for most lens hoods but it does the job. Fitted here to my Olympus OM-D E-M5 mk2 with Lumix 12-60 mm lens.

There’s good room inside to get both hands in to operate the camera controls/tripod adjustments and the large transparent top/back panel affords a good view of the LCD screen etc..  There’s also a draw cord at the base of the cover.

All-in-all it has proved useful on a number of occasions, it weighs next to nothing and is a worthwhile addition to my camera bag.

Kind regards

Leigh

What’s in my bag?

Hi everyone,

My quest,  (read obsession),  to find a “perfect” camera bag recently moved a step closer. 🙂 . Whilst visiting Chester I came across a very nice lightweight, well-padded camera bag by Vanguard designed specifically for Micro Four Thirds kit. If you’re into full-frame DSLR kit and large lenses then “this isn’t the bag you’re looking for”    but, if like me, you prefer to travel as light and compact as possible then read on. 

Manufacturer’s specifications:

VEO GO34M KG SHOULDER CAMERA BAG – KHAKI-GREEN

Front: Adjustable webbing shoulder strap, shoulder pad and carrying “grab” handle and two “D” Rings for attaching accessories. It has one of the most comfortable shoulder pads that I’ve come across. The bag is also available in black but I really like the styling of the khaki-green version.

Front pocket with two compartments. Rear compartment will take a 9.7 inch tablet, I know, I’ve tried it with my Samsung Galaxy SM-T560 tablet  and the front compartment has two small (pen sized) and two larger pockets to take other accessories. Personally, a very small thing but I’d have liked to have seen three of the larger pockets as I think they’d ultimately be more useful.

I really like the top entry to the camera compartment  allowing access to the gear without having to remove the bag from one’s shoulder and the compartment can also be accessed by a zipper which runs around the bag. The bag comes with three velcro dividers but I’m currently using two as I like to carry a camera with a lens attached. OM-D E-M1 Mk 1 with 12-40 mm zoom attached plus 17 mm and 25 mm prime lenses. If you’re interested in them I did a post on Cordweaver neck and wrist straps.

Rear of the bag with zip compartment housing the supplied rain cover and a strap with centre fixing velco to hang from roller luggage.  There’s also some space in this compartment close to one’s body, for a passport, wallet, documentation etc.

Rain cover fitted, I like it that it goes right under the bag, enabling the bag to be put down on a wet surface. Another nicely thought out feature is that the rain cover is attached to the bag by a strap which can be detached or left to dangle from the bag to dry out when required.

The bag has a full-width compartment which can house a compact tripod (check the spec. on their website) or maybe a long lens. I’m using it for a rainproof jacket, my small TG-5 backup camera and spare camera batteries etc..

Although designed specifically to house a tripod I’d like to have seen the same access on both end of the bag as, when stuffed with other gear, it’d be easier to get to the contents without having to unpack stuff.

In conclusion, a very well designed and versatile camera bag that ticks a lot of my boxes.

Kind regards

Caution: make sure you get their VEO 2 GO range and NOT their VEO 2 range else it will not fit the bag.

PS. I’m not a fan of tripods as they don’t normally suit my style of photography. They’re additional weight to carry around all day, one more thing to be hung from one’s shoulder or strapped to the camera bag and they take time to setup and pack away,  despite the above I’m considering getting one of these: Vanguard VEO 2 GO 204AB ALUMINUM TRIPOD WITH BALL HEAD – RATED AT 6.6LBS/3KG . This will inconspicuously go in to the bottom compartment of the bag and weight only 2 lbs.

I suspect that I’ll end up carrying it around and using it very occasionally but it comes in at a very tempting price (at the time of writing at Amazon for £64 UK), seems very well designed with many good features including fast setup and it might come in handy on the odd occasion.

It also seems to me to be more than a bit bizarre to go to lengths to choose a bag which doesn’t scream “camera gear inside” and then either carry or strap a camera tripod to it, another feature of the bag that I really like as next to nobody is going to know that I’m carrying a tripod and thus camera gear.

Tripod with center column inverted and at its shortest length in the transportation orientation and one (of three) twist-lock leg sections extended showing hook for adding weight for extra stabilisation.

Now you see it…

and now you don’t…

Me?, carry a tripod?, what tripod?!

Hi everyone,

I’ve standardised on these great camera neck and wrist straps by a company called “Cordweaver” – https://www.cordweaver.co.uk/ . The straps are very light and strong and are available in a choice of two colours, red and black and various lengths, the leather ends are hand-sewn with strong polyester waxed thread. Connection to the camera is via the fitted 16mm diameter split rings and the wrist straps are made out of Type III 550lb Paracord with 7 internal strands.

Great service, very quick dispatch and very high quality merchandise. I used one on my EM-1 and one on my TG-5 for my recent trip to Porto and it was great, so good I’ve since bought another three,  🙂 very comfortable to wear and strong and it would be very hard to cut through should someone try and grab the camera.

Additional: The wrist straps come in two types, with Peak Design style connectors (as fitted to my EPL-5 on the top left) and, without, (as fitted to my TG-5). It is also supplied with a spare Peak Design connector, a nice touch.

Lastly, I really like how flexible they are and tuck in nicely in my camera bags unlike some of the stiffer and more bulky neck straps I’ve used. The wrist straps act like slip knots at either end so they tighten at both the camera end and the wrist end should the camera slip from your grip, the addition of a rubber grommet is another nice feature.

Kind regards

Leigh