What's Actually In the Bag?

by John O'Keefe-Odom

AgXphoto.info

I saw my umpteenth photo of an "exemplary" pro photographer's camera bag today, and I thought that I'd go ahead and let you know what I actually carry on a day to day basis.  

With a quick walk-though of the list, I think you'll see that super-expensive, cutting edge equipment is not required for day-to-day photography.

The List, Up Front:

Pentax 645 120mm camera

Pentax 645 80-160mm zoom

Pentax 645 35mm lens

Pentax 645 Adapter K

Pentax K1000 35mm camera

Minolta Spotmeter F

Vivitar 285HV

PC Cords (6' coiled and Vivitar short cord)

Lee 4" Gel filters with holder

Plastic bag with spare rolls of film

Gray card

4 AA NiCad batteries

Spare body caps, rear lens caps, lens caps

Soft brush and soft cloth for cleaning

UV and polarizers fitted to lenses; one CC 85B on hand for use with EDUPE, a tungsten based Ektachrome slide film.

Camera bodies fitted with quick release plates for use with my tripod.

Cable release.

The Bag:  common daypack.

Miscellany:  scissors, changing bag, masking tape, bandages, compass.

Hand carried, frequently, one Manfrotto tripod with ball/pan head.

From there, I may add or subtract items as needed.  If you look carefully at the list, you might notice that what I carry is a fraction of the dollar value of a lot of the photobags on display here and there.  Some of the bags sold today might exceed the dollar value of my camera bodies.  I like the pictures I make with this equipment nonetheless.