New shoulder bag

Photog

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It is definitely time for me to invest in a new bag, since my current one is barely better than a plastic shopping bag. I've got a very specific idea of what I want and looked around quite a lot, but not found what I'm looking for.

I'm going travelling soon, and so need a shoulder bag, preferably with a zip and velcro flap to prevent theft. I'll probably only be taking my 450D and 18-250 Tamron because I want to avoid taking too much expensive equipment.

So I'll need quite a small bag, quite flat, that would have a compartment for my camera with lens mounted, and maybe a bit of space for other items like wallet etc.

All the bags I've seen either don't have a proper compartment for a camera and lens, or have way too many compartments for equipment. All suggestions would be much appreciated!
 
Check out some of the smaller models from Domke. They tend to be really intelligently thought out bags without stupid extra frills.
 
In all honesty, if you're just carrying the one body and lens, you're probably better off just packing it in bubble wrap in your carry-on suitcase and then carrying it around on your neck once you're out and about - cheaper, still effective, and you'll shoot more because you don't have to fetch the camera out of your bag and you're carrying less stuff. Even for P&S's, I don't see why people get what amounts to a protective case for it - just slip the darn thing in your pocket, that's why it's so small...

I bought my camera bag from a Ritz Camera retail store, just went in, picked the largest bag they had that wasn't a backpack but still shoulder mounted, made sure the padding was OK because all I need it to do is survive some bumps and scrapes (not a tornado), and that was it. Think it only cost me $40 too, and none of my glass has broken yet.
 
Thanks a lot for your suggestions guys, I've looked into Domke and the F-5XB doesn't look too bad. I wouldn't really want to carry it round my neck because I'm travelling into areas where muggings are common, so want to stay as inconspicuous as possible.
 
I use an army medic bag that I got from the surplus store. It's small, but big enough to fit my camera plus a lens or two, a few rolls of film/filters/etc. It's got a big compartment, plus a few smaller ones inside. I can fit my 70-200 if I keep the camera around my neck. The one I have is water resistant too. It doesn't really have padding, but it's easy to stick some from my bigger bags in there if I need to. I don't really feel like I need it though.

If you want a "real" camera bag, I second the domke suggestion. They don't really look like your typical camera bags. Maybe the f5 or f802 models
 
Lowepro, Tamrac, Kata, Think Tank, Crumpler all make good camera bags, some for a lot less $ than Domke.
 
Having handled and used bags by several different brands, the only shoulder bag that I've been really happy with is the Domke that I use now. It's my view that you're better off buying right once than switching around several times and burning money.

Either way, in order to buy a camera bag, you'd really be well advised to find a place that sells them in person. A bag can sound great online and be totally awful because of some small thing.
 
Take a look at the Crumpler 6 million dollar bag. It sounds like it fits your needs.

[ame=http://www.amazon.com/Crumpler-MILLION-DOLLAR-Shoulder-Oatmeal/dp/B000W8ZDWA]Amazon.com: Crumpler 6 MILLION DOLLAR HOME Shoulder Photo Bag (Dark Brown/Oatmeal/Light Olive): Camera & Photo[/ame]
 

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