Cargo Camera Bag

I purchased the full size camera bag in waxed / chocolate brown. This is hands down the nicest camera bag , the most stylish , functional / practical bag. So it’s a fashion statement and functional too. High quality and highly recommend . This is the 5th item I have purchased from here . No place has more stylish quality bags. FYI I have a Nikon Z8 with an 85mm lens and NIKKOR 14-24 wide angle lens’s that I carry with me . Fits all of it . Again the nicest , most stylish and quality products !

i got my first DSLR because i'm leaving the continent for the first time (preceded by a drive from the west coast to the east coast of the US) and i knew immediately that i wanted the compact cargo camera bag. once the materials i wanted were available, i ordered it and it immediately proved itself the perfect place for all of my kit! it fits the body and both lenses great, has plenty of space for the extra SD cards and battery, and it fits in with my other waterfield bag! it's so great and i'm so excited to have it by my side for almost a month.

Really nice bag excellent materials and build quality. I have a Sony A7IV with 24-70 2.8 and Sony 70-200 F4 mark 2 and spare batteries filters etc. all fits well. This the perfect travel bag.

I love Waterfield Designs - I have purchased 18 of their products since June 2010. This, my 19th purchase, was also one of the most expensive. More on that later...

Pluses

- Innovative flip design makes changing lenses a breeze
- Elasticated strap
- Grab handle
- Well built

Minuses

- Not the most-elegant looking bag: has the aesthetics of a brick
- Inflexible divider/wasted space
- Difficult to open one handed
- Noisy zip!
- Questionable durability: how long with that zip last?
- Price

Introduction

I bought this "Compact" Cargo Camera Bag (US $389) to replace my much-loved Billingham Hadley Small camera bag (price: US $230), which was getting a little too painful to carry over my shoulder.

I've been giving it an intensive test drive, pounding the streets and galleries of Boston whilst photographing autumn colours, landmarks, sculptures and some fine art. I've enjoyed using the bag - but there are some issues, which I hope the team can address in a "Mark 2" version. In the meantime, I hope that my feedback will be useful for prospective customers.

Background

- I currently shoot with a Canon EOS 5D - a full-frame DSLR.
- I only ever use prime lenses - these are all Canon "L" series lenses: a bit heavy and clunky.
- With my Billingham bag, my typical walk-around kit is the trio: 24mm f/1.4, 50mm f/1.2 and 100mm f/2.8 Macro.

I'm able to fit all these in the Billingham bag, which has removable velcro dividers including a little adjustable flap which lets me position a smaller lens under the camera grip. That makes 3 prime lenses, one camera body. So how does the Waterfield "Cargo Camera Bag" (Compact) Compare?

1. Will it hold my stuff?

In making the divider fixed, there isn't enough flexibility: I need more width on one side of the divider (for the camera body + extra lens) than on the other side (single prime lens). The divider _can_ be popped sideways - but just not enough to be useful (I need another centimetre or so). As a result, I'm reduced to carrying only two out of my "Holy Trio" of prime lenses plus wasted space.

And before anyone points out, I freely accept that Waterfield describe this (Compact) bag as being suitable only for two lenses, not three - it's just that an identically-sized bag, the Billingham Hadley Small, does let me carry three lenses, with no wasted space. (No, I don't fancy the "Full Sized" bag; I generally find with Waterfield that their Compact designs are about right, whereas their Full Sized variants are too big. But that's just me.)

*** Suggestion: Either provide a more-flexible adjustment, or revert to Velcro. ***

2. Ease of Access

I _do_ like the way this bag facilitates changing lenses! No longer do I have to awkwardly crouch down, knees aching, whilst cradling a precious lens in my lap. Unfortunately, the "flip" design comes with a downside: the zip. The whole design hinges on a zip (a potentially expensive failure point), which is awkward to use one handed and very noisy to open (try using this bag in a museum gallery...). I mean, if avoiding velcro for a one-off divider insertion is such a big deal, why opt for a noisy zip that has to be used all the time?!

By contrast, the Billingham bag uses a flap which, whilst it _does_ make access to the camera compartment more difficult, also allow rapid access to the camera compartment - something that can be easily done just by feel.

*** Suggestion: Magnetic Closure ***

This design is crying out for a magnetic "snap shut" closure - perhaps with an additional locking mechanism for extra security. The idea would be that, on arriving at a shoot, one would unlatch the bag - which would then remain closed until one pulls apart the magnetically-fastened sides to remove the camera, and then have the bag snap shut afterwards.

3. Comfort

Perhaps my main reason for purchasing this bag was to have a comfortable "suspension" strap. This works, up to a point - but sadly, this "Compact" size has a smaller-diameter strap that just doesn't provide the comfort and support of the larger strap (e.g., as supplied with the Mac Studio case and, presumably, with the "Full Size" camera case). I also found that when adjusting the strap length, the fixings would invariably slip, resulting in the strap lengthening over time.

*** Suggestion: provide the wider strap with both Compact and Full sized bags. ***

4. The Price

It's a unique, well-built camera bag that has many virtues. Unfortunately, it's also very expensive. Generally, this isn't an issue for Waterfield products: they easily justify their cost. But when compared with similar not-made-in-China bags from companies such as Billingham (which should cost more, as they're made in the UK) the price is harder to justify: this bag is almost twice the cost of a comparable Billingham bag ($389 vs $230). So is it worth it?

If the issues I've raised were to be addressed, I'd give an unequivocable "Yes"; until then...

I love your items, they’re amazingly made with fantastic materials. I was excited to see a small camera bag. As I expected, premium, wonderful materials. However, the 3 section insert with fixed sections does not offer the required flexibility. I use a longer lens which does not fit on camera in any of the sections. Typically I would remove one or both center dividers to accomodate my camera with lens. This is not possible in your bag. So my only recourse is to remove the insert completely, at which point my camera easily fits, but I lose the benefit of the protective padding.

I would have liked to see much more flexibility in arranging the internal dividers.

Ron