Hi,

I thought I’d post a few of my favourite tips.

1. I usually find space for one or two of those cheap slide-lock clear freezer bags, These have two uses the first of which is to put wet items such as rain covers in when they go back in my bag. It doesn’t make sense to put wet items back in an otherwise dry bag. With the rain covers inside one can roll the bag so as to squeeze out air inside the bag and compress the space it takes before closing it up. The second use is, when out in the very cold and coming into a warm environment where water condenses on one’s gear. Put the camera and lens in the bag and close it up whilst still in the cold and then the water will condense on the outside of the freezer bag when you come back into the warm and not on one’s camera. Additionally I pop one of those small silica gel sachets inside the bag before closing it up. Size wise this is suited to smaller cameras and lenses which works for me as I don’t use large cameras and/or very long lenses.
2. I always number my batteries so as to tell them apart using my Dymo label gun and I also put an arrow symbol on them which makes getting the battery the right way round very obvious when changing batteries in a hurry.
3. Use cheap centre pinch lens caps rather that the costly to replace camera manufacturer’s ones. Another nice thing is that, with a bit of searching around one can find different coloured ones which stand out better if you drop one of them.
4. Apart from the well know rubber band or filter wrench methods of removing a stuck filter I prefer using a different method. I cut squares from a hard fronted neoprene-backed mouse mat to fit the largest of my filter sizes. One then simply presses the neoprene side flat against the front of the filter and uses an even force whilst unscrewing the filter. This has never let me down. In a pinch one can use the rubber sole of training shoes etc. preferably not after trudging through a muddy field, along a dusty track or sandy beach etc.!!. 🙂

A fifth bonus tip 🙂 sometimes on longer journeys where available I use the USB sockets in public transport buses and trains to charge/top up my mobile phone or camera batteries using one of my USB camera battery chargers, well why not it’s free!. These sockets are vey often located at about ankle height. As I don’t want to put my phone or battery charger on the floor I make sure that I have a 2 Mtr long USB charging cable with me then I can put the device on the seat next to me or a tray table etc.. 🙂 Although I’m pretty standardised on USB type C connectors on my devices one can also get small push on adapters that convert from micro USB to type C and vice-versa to suit whatever type of USB cable your using and thus you have the best of both worlds and, if you have devices with both types of connection, one fewer cable.

I’m always keen to learn new ideas so if anyone has any that they’d like to pass on please let me know in the comments.

Kind regards

Leigh

Hi everyone,

I’ve now taken my new camera bag and my gear on three local trips to test it out for weight, compactness and convenience. I’m impressed, it fits my needs extremely well. Over the years I’ve owned so many camera bags that I’ve long since lost count. Along with my choice of camera gear my experiences have also informed my choice of camera bag, what works, what doesn’t and why. What I’ve constantly been looking for in a bag is low weight and size, good quality manufacture and ease of access to my gear. This is where having a good number of compartments comes into play but they have to be readily accessible. Some stuff I need quick and ready access to eg. a spare camera battery and rain covers for both the bag and my camera need to be accessible without having to open the main compartment especially in heavy rain and that’s where the top compartment on this bag is really useful to store such items.

Then there’s the main compartment, obviously it has to be large enough to hold my choice of camera gear but having two additional small velcro-fastening pockets on the underside of the “lid” is handy for smaller items such as filters (approx. 58/62mm size or smaller or thereabouts) , lens wipes, microfibre cloth and lens brush. Lastly the back zip-up compartment although shallow is also handy for more smaller items. This compartment is pretty stealthy and I guess you could put a small wallet, purse or loose money/cards in it as it’s not very obvious as it sits close to one’s body. Personally I don’t do this, nor do I habitually put my mobile phone in my camera bag. If there’s one thing worse than your camera gear getting snatched it’s also loosing your wallet and phone especially when travelling. A good idiom when travelling that I’ve always adhered to would be “never put all your eggs in the same basket” 🙂 . Likewise never readily believe anyone saying “there’s no problem with mosquitos here”, eaten alive by vicious, insatiable Tiger Mosquitos in Rome, or “it never rains here at this time of year”, soaked to the skin in Corfu Town in peak season, as the saying goes, “one lives as one learns” or, to put it another way, isn’t hindsight a wonderful thing. 🙂

For more info on the bag see this post: https://leighkempphotoblog.co.uk/2024/04/04/papas-got-a-brand-new-bag/

Kind regards

Leigh

Hi everyone,

As my Olympus BLN-1 batteries are ageing I thought I’d treat myself to a couple of these. As Olympus want £53 UK each I thought I’d try these instead. If one buys them from Duracell Direct online one pays £22.99 each but as they have a buy one and get a second at half price offer I ended up paying £34.49 inc. V.A.T for two with free 3-day courier delivery. Got to be worth a try out, they have a slightly less capacity than the Olympus one’s, 1140 mAh vs 1220 mAh but, at this price it’s worth it and it’s at least a brand name that one’s heard of and they should know a thing or two about battery manufacture by now methinks 🙂 . I’ll post again when I’ve given them a thorough test and they come with a two year warranty. I’m sure that they do them for other makes and models of camera.

Kind regards, Leigh

Update: I just charged them both up in one of my dual USB camera battery chargers with no problems.