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Best bag for weddings/events

Rawfa

Active member
Hi guys,

What´s the consensus regarding bags for weddings/events? I mean, rugged with fast and easy access to everything inside...

My guear is:

- 2 A7 bodies (one has yet to be bought)
- 10 batteries
- 2 LA-EA4 adapters (one has yet to be bought)
- 1 28-75mm f2.8 (constant)
- 1 70-210 f4 (constant)
- 1 Pentax 35mm f2.0 + adapter
- 1 Canon FD 50mm f1.4 + adapter
- 1 Canon FD 85mm f1.8 + adapter
- 1 flash
- 1 case full of sd cards
- Cleaning gear

Hum...I don´t think I´m forgeting anything...
 

Guy Mancuso

Administrator, Instructor
Think tank, think tank and Think Tank. I don't buy anything else . Actually if you want a shoulder the Retro 30 would fit all of that gear. I also use a street walker backpack as well. If I need laptop than its the Navigator and I have about 5 more for various loads. Retro 10, 2 Turn styles and I'm forgetting one but I do like the Think Tank bags a lot.
 

Rawfa

Active member
Guy, great minds DO think alike. Your post poped up while I was visiting the Think Tank website. The Retrospective series sound like a great option and they look super cool!
 

fotografz

Well-known member
After decades of shooting weddings and events … mostly weddings …

Think Tank. Or Delsey … (Delsey has the advantage of a light yellow interior that allows you to see what is what in a dark reception venue). Both are very tough and proven.

I have the Think Tank Retrospective 30, 2 Retrospective Lens bags, 3 Airport Airstream rollers, 1 Airport Security roller.

Most used wedding bag is the Airport AirStream Roller by a huge margin. I WILL NOT ever do a wedding again with a shoulder bag. Ever.

The new Think Tank Airport Derby looks interesting. But it looks a wee bit to big.

I also take a lens bag in case we go off into a wilder area … then I put a couple of key lenses in it and go mobile.

What is critically missing from your kit? A second flash (trust me on this). 2 sets of batteries for the flashes.

I also carry a Monopod, Radio transceivers, proper tools to tighten any camera plates, pain meds, mints, a small sewing kit and some paper toweling.

- Marc
 

Rawfa

Active member
I've just checked the Airport Airstream roller and it's a massive beast. I would need an assistant to carry that while I shoot the wedding :(

I understand your reluctance to use a shoulder bag for a wedding and it's A LOT of gear and it must destroy your back, but what is the alternative if you don't have an assistant to carry your Airport Airstream roller?
 

fotografz

Well-known member
Hardly a "massive beast" it easily fits under an airline seat … thus the name.

You don't "carry" anything … you roll it. That is the point. 8 to 10 hours with a shoulder bag is exhausting. Pictures suffer when you get tired.

My assistants have their own burdens … their own roller (if a second shooter) and lighting gear for me.

I found the number one destroyer of gear over time and a LOT of weddings shoots is overpacking a bag.

I do use a shoulder bag for the A7R + 24-70/4 and two M lenses + adapter for light travel.

I think that they make an even smaller roller … but you have a lot of stuff, so I'd make sure it'll all fit.

- Marc
 

Rawfa

Active member
Even though I can see the benefit on your back, having to roll that thing around while shooting a wedding sounds very time consuming and it will keep one of your hands busy many times. I cannot imagine shooting the wedding dance floor with this thing. Do you leave it locked somewhere and then go back to grab different lenses and such as you need them?

BTW, do you have any experience with those Black Rapid double straps? They look so very practical when shooting with 2 cameras. I was thinking of shooting with the 2 A7 hanging from the Black Rapid and then carrying the rest of my equipment on a backpack.
 

Guy Mancuso

Administrator, Instructor
Look at the navigator also as I roll it and the top zipper has the camera but if you lay it down it opens the full interior and you can work off of that. Like Marc I try to avoid shoulder bags and like Marc we have done this for years and ultimately screwed up our backs from it. I know I have . All I can say here is think long term of being a Pro . It certainly takes it toll on your body. I agree on those backups too. Nothing makes me more nervous than not enough batteries or flash units which most weddings are very dependent on both. You don't want to hear my whole speech about being a wedding photographer. I can't even go on a wedding forum without losing my cool in about a minute when I read what people bring to these things. Its ****ing appalling to me to call yourself a wedding shooter and you show up with nothing in your bag that's really a backup to your primary gear. Here is where I have a ton of respect for guys like Marc that show up prepared for grizzle bears and won't fail coming home with the goods.
 

Guy Mancuso

Administrator, Instructor
I actually need to hire a wedding shooter come February for my daughter. Poor guy is going to have to deal with me and he ain't going to like that one bit. LOL

I'll make sure he has backup. ME
 

fotografz

Well-known member
Even though I can see the benefit on your back, having to roll that thing around while shooting a wedding sounds very time consuming and it will keep one of your hands busy many times. I cannot imagine shooting the wedding dance floor with this thing. Do you leave it locked somewhere and then go back to grab different lenses and such as you need them?

BTW, do you have any experience with those Black Rapid double straps? They look so very practical when shooting with 2 cameras. I was thinking of shooting with the 2 A7 hanging from the Black Rapid and then carrying the rest of my equipment on a backpack.
Well, to each their own. I've been doing this for a very long time, and you do develop a rhythm that fits your style of shooting over time … so it is hard to advise as to specifics.

At most weddings there is a lot of transporting gear from one place to another, and as often as not it is a very hectic pace … I prefer hustling about with a roller as opposed to a big hump on my back like Quasimodo :rolleyes:

What experience tends to do is allow anticipation of needs.

I select just what I need from the main bag and add that to my small, fast access lens bag if necessary … so I'm not out on the dance floor with everything I brought with me in a big shoulder bag, back pack, or a roller, just what I need for the dance shots.

I'm often down on the floor shooting a Hora or climbing up on something for a fresh angle, and doing that with everything I brought with me is not practical, or even possible many times.

I don't work out of the main bag, I work from it … and just keep it in eye site the same as I would with a shoulder bag or back pack.

You'll figure it out … eventually.

- Marc
 

Ben Rubinstein

Active member
I used a roller bag to transport equipment, it didn't usually get much further than the car or hall. I then loaded the gear onto me using pouches. I don't want any kind of bag in the way when I'm shooting or running from location to location.
 

Jorgen Udvang

Subscriber Member
+1 to Think Tank. An Airport Addicted has been my trusted friend for years. It rooms anything I would ever consider taking anywhere, and that includes studio strobes. Still, it fits in the overhead bins of all wide-body airplanes. It's also unbreakable and it protects the gear in an excellent way. That particular model is a bit too big for mirrorless, but it's still my home base at events. As for weddings, I don't do those. Smoking is healthier ;)
 

Rawfa

Active member
Additionally to the rolling bag I was wondering how people move around with their gear during the wedding. I mean, you take your rolling bag with everything in it, you leave it somewhere and take what you need…but you´re still talking about 2 cameras with lenses (I´ve got one of those black rapid double straps, which works great for the 2 bodies), but still you need quick access to batteries, sd cards, cleaning material, one or two extra lenses, etc. I was thinking about something like the think tank modular component set v2.0.

Any thoughts?
 

fotografz

Well-known member
I actually need to hire a wedding shooter come February for my daughter. Poor guy is going to have to deal with me and he ain't going to like that one bit. LOL

I'll make sure he has backup. ME
Meh, shooting for photographers is a piece of cake … they actually appreciate the effort you put into it.

It is the irrational, overly indulged, self entitled Bridezillias with no sense of time management who planned their own wedding and put together schedules and shot lists that would require a tele-transporter to beam you from one location to another … and have you shooting 40 formal shots in less than a half hour … and expects you to show up then gather a group and instantly know who uncle Jimmy and 30 other family members are without ever meeting any of them. The ones that encourage friends to shoot the formal set-ups while you are shooting, so half the subjects aren't looking at your camera at any given time.:ROTFL:

Been there done that. Give me another photographer's wedding over that every time.

- Marc
 

fotografz

Well-known member
Additionally to the rolling bag I was wondering how people move around with their gear during the wedding. I mean, you take your rolling bag with everything in it, you leave it somewhere and take what you need…but you´re still talking about 2 cameras with lenses (I´ve got one of those black rapid double straps, which works great for the 2 bodies), but still you need quick access to batteries, sd cards, cleaning material, one or two extra lenses, etc. I was thinking about something like the think tank modular component set v2.0.

Any thoughts?
Experience leads to anticipation and pre-planning, which in turn leads to NOT needing to carry everything plus the "kitchen sink" on your body.:)

If you need quick access (meaning it is with you all the time) to cards, batteries, lots of other lenses, then you are in a reactionary mode … and I can assure you that you cannot react fast enough if the need suddenly arises that fast. Doesn't matter if it is on your hip, or in the trunk of the car, you'll miss the shots.

Anticipation … knowing something is going to happen before it actually does … is the secret … and that cannot be taught, only learned.

Pre-planning allows you to change cards, camera batteries, flash batteries … whether the cards are full or the batteries depleted … at a time that isn't critical. Changing them when in a fast-paced shooting situation is what leads to mistakes, and mistakes at a wedding are fatal since there are no "do overs".

BTW, shooting weddings with film was a great teacher … imagine every 36 exposures rewinding and reloading while at a dead run … having two cameras on or near you was essential then, but you STILL only had 72 shots and STILL had to change film at key times … even more often with MF, which is why we carried 2 or 3 pre-loaded film backs with us back then.

Meanwhile, load yourself up like a mule, and be sure your medical insurance is paid up for those arthritic joints and slipped disc's you'll get to enjoy later on:ROTFL:

- Marc
 

Rawfa

Active member
Marc, that was a great post and you're absolutely right. There is a great saying in Brazil that goes like "It's better to sin by excess"...meaning, it's better to take stuff you may end up not using than taking less stuff and find your self needing something you don't have. But I'm sure time will help me trim some of the fat.

Getting back to the original topic a little bit, has anyone ever used the Ape ACPRO 4000 backpack? I've read some very good reviews...it's very large and full of compartments, it's a backpack but it has a removable trolley...the only thing I could not find was that "cable lock" that other bags have (you know, similar to those cables you use to lock laptops and such). The added bonus is that it's way cheaper than the competition.

Here are some videos:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hEY1hYMF71w

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wS9pY8vJTfs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_vK2Gq0PZw
 

fotografz

Well-known member
Rawfa, those bags seem to "complicated" for shooting weddings … too many zippers and levels to get to the gear quickly. In my experience, the more levels and the more zippers, the faster the bag self-destructs. I have a room full of bags with something busted on them … they're now relegated to storing lighting accessories and such that I only use a couple times a year.

Weddings are tough on bags, probably because they are accessed more frequently than with most other types of shooting … 8 to 10 hours with a zillion changes and swap-outs, every weekend, for months on end.

Prior to getting the Think Tank rollers and lens bags, I used Kata bags and still have and use them. In many ways the Kata bags are even better than my Think Tank bags. For one thing they are significantly lighter in weight, without giving up any protection. Kata was originally made by the company that makes body armor for the Israel Army. I also prefer the interiors of the Kata bags which are less abrasive than other bags, and they are yellow so you can more easily see the gear in a dark reception hall.

Unfortunately, Kata cheapened it's products, and Manfrotto recently acquired them, and will be offering key Kata Products in future.

The older steel blue material Katas like I have might be the best bags ever made … years of use and they look and work like new. Think Tank and the older Katas are one of the few bags I'd buy used.

- Marc
 

Rawfa

Active member
Marc, I have the 1n3 20 kata backpack and I love it! I did check kata bags to see what I could find and even though they do have rolling bags, their's don't have backpack straps that you can tuck away when not in use. I find them essential because in many situations I will not be able to roll the bag and it will destroy anyone's back having to carry a rolling bag with one hand by the single hand grip or even with a single should grip. So, having a backpack straps is a must in my choice.
 
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