How to Choose a Camera Bag

The most important criterion is that the camera bag is easy to carry, so the camera does not get in the way as you go about life, but is still there for the unexpected shot. There are a wide variety of camera bags on the market, this in response to the extensive range of cameras available, and an even wider range of different photographic purposes. A good camera bag is for much more than carrying the camera, there is a host of important accessories and essential bits of equipment to carry around as well.

Define the essential pieces of equipment to form the basis of your starting set up or walking around camera gear. Walking around is photographer’s term for this minimum set up that is convenient and light enough to carry while you walk around but is versatile enough to get some sort of reasonable shot of most situations.

Even the simplest Point & shoot camera may need memory cards, spare batteries or a battery charger. Of course sometimes if you have more sophisticated camera gear the amount of equipment required varies and for you may need more than just a walking around set up, so you need a larger camera bag. The answer is to buy two or more bags rather than try to compromise on one to fill a number of roles. You might end up with bag that does none of them very well and is really a waste of money.

As well as convenience, the bag serves to protect the exposed LCD screens and the camera body from scratches. Those easy to operate control knobs that stick up are also more vulnerable to accidental knocks, so a bit of cushioning is important even for a compact pocket size camera. There are small bags with a loop to attach the bag to a belt so the bag not only protects the camera it is a very convenient way to carry a camera.