New camera bag

[jakbar]

I was looking for a new camera bag, and I really like Tamrac's new Expedition series of bags. Trouble is, that I can't figure which size would be right for me. It appears that the Expedition 5 and the Expedition 7 are the two most appropriate choices, but I am finding it difficult to figure out which one to go with. Anyone here have either of those bags? I'd be interested to hear any feedback you can give me. Thanks.

Expedition 5: http://www.tamrac.com/5575.htm

Expedition 7: http://www.tamrac.com/5577.htm

Josh

[cancidas]

josh, if you remember what my former bag loks like and you're interested in that then give me a call.

[T-Bird76]

The five is what I want for Christmas this year. It looks like a fantastic bag and is certainly big enough for two L lenses and another lens plus all the extras. The seven looks a bit to big to me, by the dimensions on the five you can stick it under the seat when traveling by plane. The seven is to big and would have to go in the overhead.

[jakbar]

Sticking it under the seat is a great advantage. I hadn't even thought of that. I'm thinking, though, that perhaps I should go down to B&H and try both of them on for size...literally. My only concern is that I might outgrow the 5 too fast once I get the D200 and another lens or two. Otherwise, the size of the 5 is really nice.

[mikephotos]

Josh,

The 5577 looks good. I'd highly suggest test driving them at B&H first. I spent several hours (spread out over a few visits) doing it myself before I picked up my new bag (my old bag was the Lowepro MiniTrekker)

I ended up with the Tenba DB-15C. The laptop pocket is what sold me. It was great having the ability to carry the laptop with me on the plane and during shoots without having a second laptop bag. Plus the front pocket was large enough to hold my external 80GB USB harddrive. It's big and probably won't fit under the seat fully loaded (mine is stuffed) but I usually travel on night flights to maximize my daylight shooting times so it's not a big deal for me.

Even if you don't have a laptop the special pocket is great to store magazines and/or 8x12's to give to contacts/friends while out shooting.

The interior storage is plenty. It fits my F5 with 28-70/f2.8 attached, D70 with 18-70 kit lens attached, 80-200/f2.8, 1.4x converter, flash, other accessories and even leaves a full spot open for 50-60 rolls of film with ease. The side access (both sides) is also a bonus when you don't want to open the top.

http://www.tenbagear.com/products/2000_01_pb15c.asp

Mike