I have written in recent weeks about a day I spent hanging out with my friend The Overrated Photographer (Or ORP as I have come to think of him). It was a great day as we snuck into an abandoned mill in inner suburbia Melbourne and took lots of shots of various things. The factory buildings and grounds themselves were fantastic to capture and you can check out my blog about that content right here. Then, as the ORP rides a new shiny BMW motorbike, I took lots of shots of his new shiny motorbike.  And you can take a look at that content right here. One of the other things that the ORP and I took shots of was our bags. Yes, that is just how nerdy we are. We photographed our bags.

For anyone that is a photographer there is a never ending pursuit for perfection. Not in the photos we take. But in the bag we carry our gear in. Sounds silly I know but stay with me. There are thousands and thousands of camera bags to choose from and they cover a very broad range of needs.  From those that carry a small camera with nothing more to those that like to carry EVERY SINGLE PIECE of photographic equipment they have at the same time. Side note: The ORP is a little like that. He carries a lot of stuff.  But then he has a big Shimoda camera backpack. That’s the one we photographed at the mill. He also has a nice ONA Prince Street leather bag in the same style as my ONA bag. You can take a look at my bag here.  Anyway, back to the pursuit of perfection. I have found near impossible to find the perfect camera bag fit for every occasion. I have tried out quite a few in my time and have always sought something better. And when shooting with the Fujifilm system I use, size is important.

It has taken a lot of bag manufacturers a long time to design bags with mirrorless cameras in mind. Some amazing back packs are designed but with DSLR bodies and big lenses in mind – so mirrorless gear just rolls around – not ideal. Personally I have tried a lot of camera back packs but the comfort has always bugged me.  So I have used messenger style bags for the most part. Like my ONA Prince Street bag. It is a gorgeous looking bag that will probably outlive me but it is not quite perfect. I wouldn’t trust it to keep my gear dry in a downpour. So the search continues. In some ways I wish I had skills to make a bag of my own. But that would be too great an undertaking. Surely? I think we have a sewing machine somewhere…..

The other bag that we photographed at the mill was my new EDC One bag by Savage Industries.  For those of you that remember the show Mythbusters and the co-host Adam Savage – well he designed this bag and has a partnership with a bag maker to produce a range of limited edition bags. The bags are made from recycled sail and kite-sail material. This is my current every day carry (EDC) bag for non photography purposes. Although I do carry my Fujifilm X70 with me at all times in this bag. It is a good size and allowed me to add one or two Crumpler camera inserts inside it. On this day, I was trying this out with two inserts loaded with my Fujifilm X-T2, Fujifilm XF23mmF2, XF35mmF2 and the XF50mmF2. And of course my Fujifilm X70. I wouldn’t use this bag as a camera bag generally as it is too big and the camera cubes slide around too much. Adam Savage has hinted that at some point he will make inserts for the bags as they are lined on the inside floor with velcro.  But just wanted to give it a shot on this day.

As I have mentioned in my other posts it was a fun day and one where we both captured lots of good content. For me it was another look at doing product shots with a live model too. Be sure to check out the ORP’s site here as he has lots of cool review and the like. There is also a review about his Shimoda bag if you are interested in that. Happy shooting.