• The Derbyshire Caver, No. 158

    The latest issue is finally complete and printed

    Subscribers should have received their issue in the post - please let us know if you haven't. For everyone else, the online version is now available for free download:

    Click here for download link

Camera gear bag

R

rom82

Member
I've been long needing a decent cave bag for holding all my camera gear and looking to see what others use. Basically I currently carry my photo gear in a Pelicase 1200, a daren drum and then there's also the tripod, plus I need a little extra space for other gear. Everything is waterproofed so the bag is really just to keep it together for pitches and squeezes.

Can anyone out there give me a rough idea of what size bag might be useful? Is fifty liters OTT? 33L too small? It's not just an issue of volume as my peli fits into some bags quite well but is very difficult to get it through the opening once it's been used a good bit and developed it's own shape. What do others use??

Cheers!
 
pwhole

pwhole

Well-known member
I use a Beast Uncle, which just holds a Peli Case 1300, a compact tripod and two handheld LED lamps. It's really tough, and a handy 'fatter' shape than the average bag. I love it.
 
Antwan

Antwan

Member
I have a warmbac 140m bag -tbo5 http://www.warmbac.com/listing_tacklebags.php

I have nicknamed it the pig in reference to the big wall climbing bags, fir a peli 1200, Darren drum 3 assorted tripods (full size to mini) with enough spare room to fit something helmet sized in easily

Padded straps make it luxurious to carry and after a full submersion with my kit in it drains in about 10 seconds.

Its is big though, but if you care your gear like me in a peli and a darren drum you will need a big'un

I know some of the more well known photographers manage a camera and three flash guns just in the peli. I'm too scared and spread my eggs over two baskets
 
damo8604

damo8604

New member
I have the same as Antwan, I could have fitted the pelicase into a smaller bag however I thought it might be a bit of a nightmare to get in and out so opted for the larger TB05, it is big - but not unmanageable and as Antwan says, it easily takes a tripod without it sticking out of the top, pelicase and daren drum and still leave enough room for mars bars, first aid kit, water etc 
 
R

rom82

Member
That's brilliant, thanks guys. I was thinking forth five litres was probably necessary without being overkill and that seems to match what you are using. Just realised as well that my peli is a 1300 not 1200 so all the more reason for going big. I worry about the tight squeezes but doing some of them with two smaller bags is just too much!

I fit my camera, triggers and two biggish flashes into my peli (planning to get a small 3rd one in as well) and use the peli for bulbs and bulb guns. It's too much stuff possibly but I need it all  :LOL:
 
B

blackholesun

New member
I used to take my gear in two 6L darren drums, inside a ~30L/100m bag.

Now I take it in a single explorer case - 1 camera, 3 flashes, 3 remotes and a piece of cloth. I find this far faster to use as I don't have to take things out the bag, unscrew muddy, sticky lids etc.

I don't mean to be rude, but I'm still getting over the idea of regularly carrying 3 flashes and bulb guns. Where are these caves that need that much light? (Assuming you cave in the UK). And if you have all this light available, why the tripod?

 
Alex

Alex

Well-known member
I am very compact, owing to the caves I normally frequent. I used to take a darren drum but it became such a pain I stopped taking photos. If like me you take photos with light painting rather than flashes, then this setup is perfect. All I take it is a small otter box measuring 15x 10x 6x (cm), which contains a digi Lumix camera (shock/water proof) with long exposure capability. A small tripod that I bought from Amazon for about 3 quid and sometimes a cloth. I am about to try putting my camera in a sock as this helps with condensation.

I have a rude nora for lighting if I want to back light a shot, I simply take my helmet off and put it behind me.
 
R

rom82

Member
blackholesun, when I go on a trip I take a pelicase with a camera and 2 flashes (I have not got the 3rd yet but when I do it will certainly make a flashgun redundant if I am also using bulbs, or make bulbguns redundant for certain very small caves) and this is my basic setup that doesn't require a tripod as the flashes are slaved.

The tripod is an inconvenience but it necessary for bulbs as they are not synched. The bulbs, bulbgun and tripod are extras that I often leave behind either at the car or at a point in the cave. This might sound strange but the reason is because I haven't been doing any cave photography trips or visiting well known caves (or caves that I am familiar with) rather over the last few months I have been visiting caves in my area which are only now being rediscovered (I live in Ireland) for the first time in decades. In fact many are 'new' so there is no knowledge as to what size caves I am visiting.

Also, the amount of light you bring into a cave doesn't just reflect the cave size. More light equals lower ISO, smaller aperature , greater depth of field and generally more control over the scene.Despite the bulbs requiring additonal set up time (mainly for setting up the tripod and showing people how to use them) they are very compact, each bulbgun is smaller than a small flashgun and their lighting qualities are far superior to electronic flashes: brighter, softer, more evenly dispersed, better colour balance etc. and to me they justify the extra bulk. There is no times wasted as with elctronic flashes in placing and angling them and reshooting and reangling over and over.
 
R

rom82

Member
Bograt, ammo cans are still available and cheap too. I used mine for months and was kinda pround of having one instead of a peli. However once I got offered a very cheap 2nd hand peli and tried it out it was instantly decided to ditch the ammo box, which was starting to let in a little water anyway.

Alex, I have tried lightpainting out as well and it works extremely well and the minimal gear is a big plus. I actually use this method a lot for aboveground photography. I would *personally* not take any camera other than an SLR/DSLR underground as I can't stand compacts and think their usefulness is limited. The reason I don't light paint is simply because it takes too long and my companions would get too annoyed at me :) There's no many local caves that are suitable for visitng alone
 
bograt

bograt

Active member
Surprised you had problems with leakage on an ammo can, I used one for years with no problems.
Carried the Pentax SLR, a couple of lenses, half a dozen assorted flash guns and a bit of towel, no probs, small lightweight  tripod strapped to the lid, modern webcam tripods would be even better.
Used to use slave flashes triggered by other flashes, found that electronic guns would trigger the slave but bulbs would not, came to the conclusion that the light from a bulb was spread over a longer time and did not 'peak' in the same way as electronic, this also explains the 'softer' effect of bulbs.
 
R

rom82

Member
Bograt, my ammo box was quite old and took a few too many dents on one side. Ten minutes repair work on it and a clean and oiling of the o ring would have fixed it. But generally they are excellent, just heavy!

Flashbulbs usually take about 1/20th of a second to peak so they're much slower than electronic flashes. I think the slow burning time combined with the massive reflector (even a five inch reflector is huge compared to the reflector of an elec. flash) is what ensures even and soft lighting. They are fantastic for cave photography and also for above ground, it's a shame they're much neglected. I believe it is possible to synch flashbulbs aand have been told by other that they have done it sucesfully. I'm not too bothered about it as I find opening the shutter for long enough for all people to fire works quite well!
 
DannyW

DannyW

New member
I use an Overboard SLR dry bag with a cheep ebay foam liner, attaches to my harness or I just chuck it in my main bag which is a 35-40lt Access Gear caving bag which holds my flashes and tripod along with everything else. Not a scratch on the camera so far and it stays dry.
 
Duncan S

Duncan S

New member
I've started using a Petzl Transport 45.
http://www.petzl.com/en/Professional/Packs-and-accessories/TRANSPORT-45L?l=US#.VO4BdC4lpUM
It is a solidly constructed sack that takes my Peli 1300, a Darren Barrel and two LED floodlights without being a tight fit. The Peli is easy to pull out from the bottom and the Darren Barrel snugly fits sideways.
The back-padding is excellent and nothing digs into my back when I'm carrying it.
The straps don't seem to slide off my shoulders either; unlike the smaller Warmbac I've been using with the Darren Barrel and a single LED floodlight.
A nice touch is the hood extends upwards allowing extra stuff like a helmet to be carried on the walk-in.

The only drawback is that it is a sealed watertight bag; fine under waterfalls, but has to be tipped upside down to drain after being underwater - a minor inconvenience.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top