Messenger bag

Brendan Mulachy

Brendan Mulachy

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Im toying with the idea of a messenger bag for walking around, i want to fit 2 boddies and lens ( 70-200 and either my sigma 50mm 1.4 or maybe a medium or wide angled lens on), maybe a flash and z couppe of filters too, i normally use a sling style bage and ive got a couple of different sizes but i want something thatt says less camera bag and ideally looks a bit battered, again to not draw attention to myselfid consider second hand
 
I once bought a cheap and deliberately nasty messenger bag from Amazon for less than £10 and a three section camera insert from the same source for about £8. Prices have more or less doubled since then.

It worked ok until my needs changed.
 
2 bodies with lenses attached and a 3rd lens?

That's quite a big bag, are you should you don't want a backpack with a side opening so just swing round?
 
Raymond Lin said:
2 bodies with lenses attached and a 3rd lens?

That's quite a big bag, are you should you don't want a backpack with a side opening so just swing round?
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thats what i have at the moment but it screams photobag i wanted something a bit more discreet, i wanted 2 bodies with lens attatched 1 long and 1 shorter to save me the hassle of swapping lenses
 
Billingham bags dont look so obviously camera bag, but they are expensive. Have you tried a local luggage shop or the market? These places have all sorts of cheap bags. Airline shoulder bags were popular at one time, but I dont know if they are still made.
 
I rocked one of these with a padded insert for about 6-7 years -


I took it everywhere, everyday. For boring days at work to huge adventures in crazy weather up in the mountains. Eventually I wore a hole through it where my hip rubbed on it.

I replaced it like for like a few years ago, new one is still going strong.

They come and go under various nonsensical Chinese names, sometimes varying in size. Mine can fit my X-T3 (with L-Bracket), Tamron 17-70mm, 70-300mm, and a medium sized prime easily, with side pockets for batteries and filters.

Best £20 I ever spent.
 
Brendan Mulachy said:
i wanted 2 bodies with lens attatched 1 long and 1 shorter to save me the hassle of swapping lenses
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I have an outfit just like that: two A65s, one with a 16~300 and the other with a 10~20.

They live in a Lowepro Event Messenger 150, which I've been using for several years and is just the right size, as well as being suitably discrete. You can pick up used 150s for £25 - £35 pounds on ebay. There's a review of this bag here: https://www.thephoblographer.com/2012/05/06/review-lowepro-event-messenger-150/

...and here's mine with the main contents...

Lowepro messenger bag with Sony A65s FZ82 P1010363.jpg
 
We have some ThinkTank Retrospective 30 V2 messenger style bags, as I dislike backpack types bags intensely.

They hold 3 bodies with lenses attached, With enough room for a couple of flashguns, batteries numerous other bits and bobs. Best messenger style bag I have used that can carry a good amount of kit.

They aren't the cheapest bags around but have found them much better than equivalent sized Billingham bags which we also have and are cheaper than those..
 
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I find Billingham to be overpriced and at least to anyone with an interest in camera, and I assume any thief who knows about camera, would know what a Billingham bag looks like. Their style is quite distinct and easily recognisable and the bag looks to be worth quite a bit on its own.
 
It's on the large side but I use a Vanguard VEO38 when carrying a lot of gear. Two bodies + large lenses and space for additional lenses or kit in the lower compartment. Also has an internal sleeve that will take a XPS 15 laptop or smaller. It's a bit lacking on storage for odds and ends with just one large pocket in the lid and a zip compartment for the rain cover and a small shallow zip compartment for memory cards and small stuff. I like the lower compartment as I can flex how I keep stuff on the top compartment for quick access but still have additional kit in the lower section.

I use it for carry-on - I can typically get the weight to just on 7kg including laptop for two APS-C bodies and three or four moderate size lenses.
 
f/2.8 said:
We have some ThinkTank Retrospective 30 V2 messenger style bags, as I dislike backpack types bags intensely.

They hold 3 bodies with lenses attached, With enough room for a couple of flashguns, batteries numerous other bits and bobs. Best messenger style bag I have used that can carry a good amount of kit.

They aren't the cheapest bags around but have found them much better than equivalent sized Billingham bags which we also have and are cheaper than those..
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I like the Retrospective range and currently have a 5 although something like a 10 might suit the OP
My main complaint is how much they weigh before being loaded up.
Billingham are good and waterproof without any additional covers which to be honest are a right pain.
Got a couple of these, one is Black, old and battered which would hopefully not stand out anywhere
 
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Brendan Mulachy said:
looks the right size but just lacks outside straps for a tripod unfortunately
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It does have side pockets that are topped by a fixed piece of webbing giving a total depth of 23 cm. Not really sufficient for a full sized tripod, but perhaps could take a gorilla pod (can't check as I don't have one).

Now I have to ask..... surely any bag with a tripod attached says camera bag.
 
4tea2 said:
It does have side pockets that are topped by a fixed piece of webbing giving a total depth of 23 cm. Not really sufficient for a full sized tripod, but perhaps could take a gorilla pod (can't check as I don't have one).

Now I have to ask..... surely any bag with a tripod attached says camera bag.
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Those side pockets can just about take a glasses case.
I use the webbing to attach a Lowepro bottle holder
 
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