The problem with being a photographer (well one of them anyways) is transporting your gear safely and efficiently. Unfortunately no one method of doing this will fit into every shoot and travel scenario. I am off to NYC tomorrow for an engagement session and a day of cold weather tourism. I decided I wanted to travel light (this is not an easy process for me), so on the advice of a friend I picked up a Thinktank Retrospective 30 specifically for this trip. My main requirement was a bag where I could easily slip a gripped DSLR with a lens attached in and out of it, as well as carrying an additional 2 or 3 lenses. Thinktank isn’t the cheapest brand out there, but they do a really good job of making tough nondescript products. My one complaint with this bag thus far is I would like the side compartments on the inside to have a dividing pad between them (the two slots on either side of the main slot with the #1 in it). I’ve used it a couple of times, but this trip will really be the test.
Thinktank Photo’s Retrospective 30 bag.
These are the following items I have packed in it for the flight:
1. Think Tank Retrospective 30 (obvious)
2. Canon 5dMKIII w/50L attached & grip
3. Canon 5dMKIII
4. 135L
5. 45mm Tilt Shift
6. 24L
7. Retrospective 30 weather cover & micro fiber cloth in case it rains
8. (4) Lärabars (apple)
9. mini tripod
10. Vello cable shutter release
11. headphones in pouch
12. Kleenex brand tissues (no snot on cameras)
13. Fuji air blower
14. stylish aviator sunglasses
15. lens cleaning cloth
16. (2) extra batteries
17. Blistex lip balm
18. myCharge Amp 2000 battery for iPhone
19. extra cards (1 16GB each of SD & CF, 32s loaded in cameras)
20. charging cable, iPhone cable
21. dual USB charger
22. big wad of cash
It’s rather heavy. Since my engagement shoot won’t last the entire day I will likely drop off the spare camera body and 135L off after it, and probably not bring either of them on my tourist day (and I’ll ditch the grip then too). So this isn’t the official review, but the packing review. All of this stuff fits with no issues, and I could probably squeeze in more items if I really wanted to.
