My go anywhere ever-ready bag

Jules has made reference, several times, to a lightweight 'grab and go' setup.

Just for discussion I thought I would show what my 'ready for anything, grab in a hurry' bag has in it. It's not exactly lightweight but it does sit in the office, loaded and ready to go. I tend to bung this in the car if we're going on a walk anywhere.

Bag: Lowepro Flipside Sport 20L AW
Camera: Pentax k5iis + D-BG4 Grip
Lenses: DA 12-24, DA* 16-50 and DA* 60-250 (sometimes I will change this for the 50-135 depending upon need). Once it arrives there will be just enough room for the Pentax 1.4 TC as well
Flash: 1 of Pentax FGZ 540 + 2 Cactus V5 transceivers, 1 tripod coldshoe attachment and 1 flash base.
Filters: Lee holder, Hitech ND 100s 0.3, 0.6, 0.9 and big stopper, Hitech 150 soft and hard edge ND grads 0.3, 0.6 &0.9. Hitech 105mm circular polariser + 67mm & 77mm adapter rings. These are in their own Lowepro holder and can fit on the outside if I need more space.
Light Meter: Sekonic L-308S Flashmate
Cheap Chinese cable remote & timer



Tripod: Velbon UT-43D or, if needed, Giottos MTL 8360B Carbon Fibre with Manfrotto 324RC2 Joystick Head
Colour correction & white balance cards
Monopod: Manfrotto MMC3-01 Compact
4 spare Ansmann Digital NiMh 2850mAh
4 spare Ansmann 4 x AAA NiMh 1100mAh
2 spare 16Gb SanDisk 16GB Ultra 30MB/Sec SDHC + 1 kept in camera grip
2 spare Pentax DLi190 batteries
1 folding 8" x 12" folding softbox (Lumiquest LTp copy)
Bladder: CamelBak Antidote 1.5l + Osprey Magnetic Bite Valve
Gloves: Sealskinz shooting gloves
1 Thermal buff neck/head warmer



As I said this isn't a lightweight setup but the bag is surprisingly comfortable and I don't feel too bogged down when I'm carrying it. In addition the design allows you to access most of your gear without taking it off or putting it on the ground, which I think is excellent.

My only change planned is to create 2 short leads that will attached the camera to the shoulder 'D' rings rather than hanging around my neck.

All in all I think I'm almost ready for anything with this setup.

Now then, what's in your bag?

Wow - that's a lot of stuff for a grab and go.

Mine's body with Tamron 17/50 2.8 attached.Plus Pentax 55/300 and macro tubes in the bag. There may be a spare card, battery other small junk hanging around in there as well if I haven't cleared it out recently

1 K-01 plus F28
2 K3 plus 18-135
3 K-01 plus 18-55
4 K500 plus Tamron 17-50
grab n go

PS I do have a compact but not allowed o mention it...nor the bridge either...

Mine's a Ricoh CX5 in a small padded pouch.

For every eventuality in situations where photography is unlikely or where DSLRs cannot be taken, I take either the Ricoh GR or Pentax MX-1, usually the latter.

If photography is likely but DSLRs are no-go then the Pentax Q plus lenses is ready packed.

Otherwise, it's the Billingham Hadley Pro packed with K-5 plus lenses as required. Minimum kit is 18-135mm, 43mm Limited and 55-300mm. The cards, batteries, Paracetamol and other oddments remain packed always.

The objective is to have the minimum encumbrance that gets the job done.

I must admit the Q7 is looking very tempting at the moment as an always available, (large) pocket option. I stil want a K3 as my main, with the K5iis as backup but I can see a 'Q' somewhere on the horizon....





......just don't tell the wife

I often arrive at the destination thinking, oh I wish I'd brought the living room table because that is where my... whatever is

I've taken to using a Lowepro Slingshot bag as my actual camera gear bag, for everything. I don't have a lot and what I do all fits into here quite nicely. It's very well padded and can be thrown into the car etc if we're heading anywhere of note.

Honestly though, I've taken to using my iPhone for my portable content. That type of content is most likely to go straight to facebook/email etc directly from the device. I expect the compact industry is severely suffering right now due to this convenience and genuine small form factor.

What I do find though is that there is very little 'wiggle room' in the pictures produced by these types of 'cameras'. I find there is very little dynamic range ability, with the shadows containing no usable detail, and highlights being severely blown.

RE: The Flipside Sport 20AW, I wanted the orange one but they were out of stock. My heavyweight bag that un, with a K3/Siggy 8-16/Pentax DA*16-50/Pentax DA* 50-135/Pentax DA* 300MM (+1.4X convertor coming soon) with the Velbon Ultra REXI-L Tripod, which if no one has tried just get it!
Going lighter I use the Photo Sport 200AW with just the K3 and the 16-50/50-135, with the pod and manage to squeeze the same in the Passport Sling, minus the pod...

Calmly waiting for a K60 and a lighter short zoom...

[IMG]http://i740.photobucket.com/albums/xx49/df8/IMG_6780_zps8b0b6af4.jpg~original[/IMG]
K-5, Tamron 17-50mm, DA55-300( or Kiron 105 macro), DA50 f1.8, DA35 f2.4
Extra battery, cards, remote, reader, close up filter, spare caps for body and lens end, cloths.

Lowepro Omni Sport, getting on a bit. Shoulder bag or belt bag, with a fast access zip for the camera.

Fits inside this tatty Peli 1400, if needed for Kayak trip or protection where it can't go as hand luggage. It will take an additional dry bag inside the Peli.
[IMG]http://i740.photobucket.com/albums/xx49/df8/IMG_6781_zpsc76c94e6.jpg~original[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i740.photobucket.com/albums/xx49/df8/IMG_6782_zps1cf3c173.jpg~original[/IMG]

(ahem, the lightweight kit is a Canon s95, or my phone)

I have only one bag, so that makes it my "everything" bag.

It's a "Lowepro Nature Trekker All Weather II".

In it:

Pentax K3 with grip
Pentax K7 with grip
Pentax DA 12-24
Pentax DA 14 2.8
Pentax DA*16-50 (on K3)
Pentax DA*50-135 (on K7)
Pentax FA LTD 31
Pentax FA LTD 43
Pentax FA LTD 77
Sigma DG 70-300 APO
2X Sigma EF530 DG Super
Various cables, charger, filters and SDHC cards.

All in all, rather heavy, but it's pretty good once it's on my back.

Think Tank Mirrorless Mover 30 Bag
Pentax MX-1
Pentax Q10
Pentax 01 Standard lens
Pentax 03 Fisheye lens
Ricoh GR1v loaded with Ilford Delta

This is all i need when traveling for work or pleasure, can't get much lighter.

My go anywhere bag is Lowepro Dashpoint 30 with Pentax MX-1, it goes everywhere with me

I feel inadequate ...