I have been on the hunt for a decent (i.e. problem solving) bag for a long time, especially since my video offer has grown.
Bag is a loose statement as the solution could have come from any direction, but the ideal is something long enough to take my bigger light stands, the recently arrived AD-01 tripod (37” long, 5” deep closed down), my video rigs made to go, some stills gear, lighting, sound, power etc.
Yep, all the stuff.
My current solution is a series of compromises. I put up to five cases and bags onto a trolley, which cannot go up stairs, needs packing well with support straps, is problematic when negotiating rough ground, curb edges and takes some packing and unpacking, struggles with long things and is not weather proof.
The biggest issue with it is that I tend to compromise my gear, leaving some things behind, taking too much (whole mic kits in their safe hard case, not just the bits I need) and some smaller items are still problematic, which includes things being forgotten, lost, or messy on arrival.
I am sick and tired of doing jobs and thinking “I have a solution to that problem…..at home”, or worse, discovering that I had it with me, but with inconsistent packing and processes, I clean forgot.
A one bag/trolley/teleportation device is what I need that has things in the same place, always packed, no surprises, immune to brain fades or other excuses and one that I can comfortably handle.
I found the bag a while ago the CAMS* 3.0 from 5.11 gear, but at $500au, I felt it was a little expensive.
Expensive?
It is about the same price as a Billingham or ONA shoulder bag and only twice the price of most Domke bags, so by photographic standards, it is “ball park”, but this thing is military grade. To put it another way, it is about half the price of all the other things I am currently using inefficiently now, some of which I bought after discovering the CAMS bag, so my bad**.
What do you get?
A bag in two parts, the lower part capable of taking a 40” long, 5” deep Tripod, or light stand and several of each (like my yearly video gig at the school that requires 5 tripods). The upper section is 15-16” wide (not 20 as the official site says-possibly including the outside pockets), 8” tall (not 10) and 40” long as advertised.
It has two solid dividers, but can take any of my camera bags, the insert from my Domke 217 Roller length ways across it (the whole case even side ways), the insert from my 5.11.Range Ready bag, several small hard cases and more.
The choice of colours was Black or “Kangaroo” brown and I surprised myself going for the brown, a bit sick of black bags.
The bag is semi-rigid, the lower section reinforced (it is for guns and stuff), the upper section has a collapsible fibre glass frame to allow it to even stand up and it has military grade wheels, sliders, corner guards etc. It is rated at 60kg +, so easily my gears weight.
The outer pockets can take my small hard cases (my little lights, LAV mics, OSMO kit) or even large backdrop cloths.
So, what will fit in it.
In the lower section;
Smallrig AD-01 Tripod, Manfrotto 190 Tripod (better fit for the teleprompter we use), two Manfrotto Nano stands, 2 super light weight Neewer stands, a reflector panel (or two) and a bag of various connectors. It will even take my 72” brolly on a slight angle or the Smallrig lantern.
It will not fit my C-Stand bar or my 120cm slider, but they can strap onto the outside and it can take the C-stands foot and Manfrotto backdrop magnetic holder.
The top section;
It can take the Domke 217 insert with 2-3 Video cameras in full rigs and filters, a camera bag of stills gear (Domke F2/F810/F804), my small hard cases with Zoom kit, Shotgun mic kit, some lighting (various options, but at least the 60B Smallrig up to the 220RGB and power cable) and modifiers (soft box, small brolly).
So, sound, lighting and video covered in the main compartment.
The full length side pocket can take brollies or other flat stuff, a mono pod, maybe even another set of tripod legs.
The small outside pockets will take the small hard cases I use for the OSMO kit, my small lights, LAV mics and the two larger outside pockets can hold anything else I might need for the job, like rigging gear, filters, power packs, mat boxes, tools etc.
If I need to move fast, the already packed 5.11 Range Ready (video cameras), 5.11 Patrol (sound) and Domke 810 (stills) with a light or two can simply be dropped into the larger bag.
If I need anything else, I can still accomodate a back pack, strap long things to it and it is secure enough (padlock zips and bike lock it to a stage etc), to make a quick second trip, I could even stand it up on my existing trolley and add more cases.
My four big jobs last year were the StPats Team images (2 days, lots of lights etc), and the Scotch Junior School performance (5 cams) and the photo camp (all my stuff), which are easily covered, but it is the little-big jobs I do regularly, the ones where two video cams, some stills, maybe a little rigging, lighting and some sound options, a decent tripod with a backup and some stands could come into play, that up until now I have tended to under pack for, that will be easier and generally better.
I talked recently about my 3 cam, 3 light, 3 mic kit, that to be honest needs to be my minimum carry for most jobs.
*Carry All My Stuff mk3.
**As I always advise others, if you know where you want to end up, just go there, skip the distractions and time wasters in the way.