best shoulder bag

[jonnymac]

hi

whats the best shoulder bag to use for the following kit

nikon d60, eos 1ds, speedlite, 5 lenses, then other bits and bobs

saw the tamrac 580 i think but wondered does anyone has any other favourites

thanks in advance

[mtngal]

A shoulder bag for two dSLR cameras, 5 lenses, flash and variety of accessories? Personally, I wouldn't get a shoulder bag for that much stuff - I found two dSLR cameras and 3 lenses was beyond the amount of weight I could carry on one shoulder in a regular shoulder bag. I could handle that cross-shoulder in a regular shoulder bag up to a point, but the shoulder strap's padding wasn't quite enough.

With that much stuff I found a sling bag to work better. I chose the Lowepro Slingshot 200 first because it looked like it had the best designed cross-shoulder strap and it seemed easier to organize so you can reach all parts of the bag quickly (I re-arranged the interior dividers so that you can). It's not a bag that will fit everyone, but I found it comfortable to carry and the weight is partly carried by my back/hips and not all on one shoulder. Stopped the shoulder problems I started having before. But there is a limit to how much you can carry this way.

I recently bought a big lens that doesn't fit in the Slingshot. I still wanted the easy access of the sling bag and ended up buying a Kata 3N1-30 bag. It's huge, can easily hold my oversized long tele, other big, fast lenses (it can fit one dSLR camera, 8 lenses, flash, a variety of accessories and there's an optional tripod carrier that centers the weight of the tripod). It has side access like a sling bag, you can configure the straps as a sling bag, a backpack, or go cross shoulder with both straps. The un-used straps fit into the pack. I was concerned that the straps wouldn't be padded enough to comfortably hold that much weight for any length of time, but I've done a couple of half-day hikes without problems. And it still gives you the accessibility of a sling or shoulder bag (wear both shoulder straps cross-shoulder, then use the quick-release to undo one strap to access the bag sling-style).

[jonnymac]

thanks ill take a look at both