Wildlife Photography across the Water: Long Lens Series - Part 5

Friday, 13 March 2009

Long Lens Series - Part 5 - Specialist Bags

Dave covered how he used some bags from the Lowe Pro range to carry his gear around including his large lenses. I too did the same until just under two years ago, when I found a limited source of a specialist bag that was designed for a single purpose. A big frustration I had was that to assemble the camera body,the lens and the hood takes quite a while. Well long enough to see an image in front of you and for it or the light to disappear.

I wanted a solution where my gear was fully assembled, I could pull it out of the bag and it was ready to go immediately.

Well it did exist but only in made to order runs of at least ten, which meant that you had to find at least ten mates, all with a 500 lens that had the same need as you did. Well I was lucky then and I know from conversations and emails since then that there have been a lot of people wanting he same.

Well help is on hand here from Tripods, Heads and Gimbals here in the UK. Check out the bag section and you will see quite a range of bags for both the 500 and 600 primes. I do like the new pouch on the back, it certainly looks to be an improvement over my earlier version.

So after nearly two years of use what is the verdict?

It has done everything I wanted it to do. It has protected the body and lens against water and sand and all sorts of other dirt.

With a series of pockets round the sides, that are a big enough to get the 70-200 f2.8, 300f4, or flask, tin of Guinness, flash head and beam extender, plus 1.4 and 2x converters, it can be loaded up so it becomes too heavy to carry.

A good touch is the neck collar that you fit between the body and lens around the mount. THis gives good support on this joint.

I have carried this bag for a long time on my bag and have found it to be very comfortable, even more so than ny Lowe Pro Photo Trekker.

So if you have a 500 or 600 prime, this is a great bag to use

Martin

1 comment:

Graham14 March 2009 at 16:15
I have one of these as well and can vouch for it being a very good bag. I used to have Tamrac Expedition 8, which took all my kit - broken down though. Very comfortable bag.
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Bio's

David Courtenay, a self taught wildlife and nature photographer, has been capturing images for over 30 years. He has had a passion for wildlife since early childhood and remembers being glued to the television whenever Survival, Wildlife on One and other natural history documentaries were shown. In the 2006 he swapped his established career for the life of a wildlife photographer, such a move demands a measure of uncompromising passion and commitment.

David has travelled extensively throughout Europe as well as spending more than 7 months in India working with local guides and trackers in search of Bengal Tiger, Asian One horned Rhino and Asian Elephant. He has also photographed Wildlife in Australia, Malaysia, Thailand, Sumatra, Africa, Canada and America. Working closely with Conservation companies he tries to raise funds to help Wildlife that has been put on the endangered list by poaching and habitation loss

Martin Dyer has had a passion for avian wildlife since childhood, particularly raptors. Photography was also another keen interest and it was with the specific availability and control of the whole process that digital offers that Martin was then able to combine the two in 2003. Based in the UK, Martin is a regular visitor to Scotland, specifically the Isle of Mull to watch the Eagles resident there. Other trips to Europe and around the UK are usually part of Martin’s agenda in a typical year.

However, as a firm believer on making the most of the local patch, Martin has spent a lot of time and hard work creating a wildlife garden which is reaping the rewards with many new species and varieties of wildlife. A keen member of a number of wildlife photographic groups, Martin is keen to expand his portfolio into other areas of wildlife, and has already established a wide portfolio of images of fungi.