Which camera bag do you use & why?

[bendphoto]

I am curious which camera bag you use & why you chose it.

What are the most important features to you?
Are there any features you wish your bag included?

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Cheers,
Jennifer

[mtngal]

I hope you aren't expecting us to list ONE bag - I have a number of them and they get used for different things.

One thing that any camera bag should have is good padding and the ability to put padding between items (i.e., between unmounted lenses and the camera).

Features? Enough room to carry everything I want to carry. At least one pocket for little stuff.

I have lots of different bags - some I use often while others I use rarely now. I prefer something that has easy access so like fanny, shoulder, messenger, sling and Kata's 3N1 system bags. I'm not interested in a true backpack as access isn't convenient.

I prefer Lowepro's slingshot's rain cover because you can wear the bag and just slip the cover over it. Kata's 3N1 separate rain cover isn't as convenient, but since I don't use the rain cover all that much, it's not a big deal for me and I own both bags.

There's a whole lot of other things that one needs to consider - are you going to carry a tripod? Long, heavy lenses? Hiking long miles with very little? Traveling by air? Walking around a city? The bag I have that gets used the most is the one I would NOT recommend to someone with a point and shoot camera as it's huge. On the other hand, my second most used bag would be totally inappropriate for a birder but fine for someone with an ultazoom.