Date: 2012-12-10
To: A brief musing on packs and carrying cameras
Miles today: 0.0

As a camera geek, I check the popular equipment rumor and news sites. Today on PhotoRumors I saw a new camera pack, which is doing its funding and first product run through kickstarter. What I found really exciting with this pack is that it a rare bag that seems to work really well for cameras and for other stuff, at the same time! The feature which has the bottom part of the pack rotate around to the front for access is genius. It's a large pack that can hold plenty, but still lets you easily get at your camera. Brilliant.My first backpacking trip with a DSLR involved having it in a little shoulder bag stowed at the top of my pack. Having a camera hanging around my neck for a long walk was uncomfortable, but I also took very few photos. I had to decide a photo was worth stopping and dropping my pack. You better believe there were many shots I missed solely because I had just packed up my camera moments before seeing a good shot!After that trip I acquired a BlackRapid Sport camera strap. This is one of the straps that holds the camera at your side, with the camera hanging loose on the strap so it can be pulled to the eye at a moment's notice. This strap is wonderful for short and long walks. For short walks, it gives my shoulder bag new life I had stopped using that bag for walking, as it put weight on only one shoulder. With the shoulder camera strap, I can have my camera on one side, the shoulder bag on the other, a much more balanced load, and my camera and several lenses at my fingertips! For long walks with a backpack, the strap turns out to be wonderful worn under the pack's straps. My camera is still easily accessible, and the strap is so comfortable that the shoulder using the strap is more comfortable than it would have been without it.I often keep another lens accessible in a lens bag attached to my pack's hip strap. As a hobbyist (aspiring professional) photographer, I appreciate quality optics too much for my own back's good. When hiking with a DSLR on my person, I typically leave a telephoto zoom lens on the camera and a wide angle lens easily accessible. My reasoning here is that opportunities requiring a telephoto lens (wildlife, hiker portraits, microlandscapes) are typically more fleeting than the shots I would use an ultrawide lens for (mostly landscapes). If I see a chipmunk peeking out of a log I don't want to be scrambling for a telephoto lens and risk missing the shot! The mountains, however, have been there for quite some time, and should provide me the requisite time to change lenses and put together a very deliberate landscape photo.Unfortunately this new camera pack, while it looks great for a day hike or even overnighting in good weather, is probably too small for my needs on a long backpacking trip. The upper compartment, the one best suited for all the stuff that isn't cameras, is slightly larger than the main compartment on my Lowepro Pro Trekker 300 AW. I didn't think that was enough space for serious backpacking, but I broke out that pack and checked anyways, just to make sure. It might work if I lashed my hammock and sleeping bag to the outside, but I don't think the added convenience of camera access is enough for me to do that. While I do plan on getting a new pack, I will stick with a more typical hiking pack and carry my camera and lenses as I do now.Peace,