I am Reiji Ohe, working as a professional photographer based in Shiogama City, Miyagi Prefecture (Northern part of Japan). I usually work for taking commercial photos, and also, I’ve been taking photos of natural landscapes, the animals living there, etc.
After the earthquake hit here on March 11, 2011, I have been involved in my lifetime project to record and convey the Tohoku landscapes in the original state, the progress of reconstruction of the devastated areas, and so on.
For my works, I recently use Canon 5D Mark III for the camera body and EF24-105L IS U lens as my main gears. I sometimes use Mamiya 645TL when I take pictures with roll films. I usually use the lenses from wide-angle to standard as well as macro, and I also carry telephoto lenses when working in forests or mountainous areas.
I really enjoy using backpack-type camera bags as I work more frequently in the field than in a studio. Carrying not so many gears and not traveling so far as usual, I sometimes use a shoulder-type bag which allows me to pick up the camera and lenses more quickly. However, when I need to travel long distances, I prefer to use the backpack-type bag, as I feel uncomfortable with the shoulder bag because the bag cannot keep the good balance for long-hour photo session and that imposes physical strains on me.
This time, Carrying Manfrotto’s Professional BackPack 30, I took pictures of townscapes in the mountainous areas as well as the surrounding natural environment in Miyagi, northern part of Japan. I tried to take photos at many locations there, but as the main location, I chose the ruins of the town’s amusement park, which shut down over a decade ago.
Camera, lenses, other gears taking with me are as follows:
- 5D Mark III
- 24-105mm zoom lens
- Standard fixed focal lens
- Wide-angle lens
- Macro lens
- 70-200mm telephoto lens
- Flash-gun
- Clip-on LED
- Tripod(Manfrotto 055CXPRO4 + 3Way head)
- Microphone for synchronous recording
- iPad
Along with my photo gears, I usually carry devices such as the microphone for synchronous recording so that I can capture the sounds and atmosphere of the place where I’m taking photos, and later use them as a reference for my exhibitions. I always carry my iPad with me which I can connect to the camera so that the clients for my commercial photos can see the images on the screen. I also create one of my works, “Forest wall” series with iPad by using the app. (Please see 2 works from the series)
Let’s get back to the Manfrotto Backpack.
First of all, I was very surprised with how comfortably the bag fit in my back.
It has good padded back which made the bag close to my back, and it is designed to perfectly fit to the one who carry.
I felt quite comfortable to wear the bag, which, you may know, contained a lot of my gears – usually makes me tired. But this time, I felt as if the bag became the part of my body. It fitted my back so well that it never moved vertically or horizontally while walking.
The bag has lots of pockets on the flap and the outside of the bag, for storing small items. There are also specific spaces for storing a tablet device or laptop, so you can take the IT gadgets with you and use them to upload pictures etc., even if you are out or travelling. Only one thing I’d like to note when you use this bag is that; you need to lay the bag down and open the flap completely to take out camera or some gears from the bottom of the bag. So, you need to think how to store gears to pull out conveniently, like putting the item you don’t frequently use in the bottom area of the bag.
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Generally, I (and everyone) always have the issue on how to bring a tripod when using a backpack. A tripod is essential to focus properly under the circumstances like cloudy weather, or golden hour. However, there are few bags to which a large tripod can be securely attached. Even if some bags have function like holding a tripod, it will swing and move while traveling, which makes me uneasy. That’s why I always carry my tripod separately, in a dedicated bag on the shoulder. As for Manfrotto Pro Backpack, I didn’t experience any uncomfortable feelings like swinging tripod on the backpack. This is thanks to the design of the bottom of the bag.
The bag can hold a tripod with the holder on the rear side, and with the pocket hidden in the bottom. This pocket appears when you pull the red tripod mark, which is on the bottom of the rear of the bag. If you store the ends of the tripod legs to this pocket and tighten the holder, the tripod will not move even with some movement. So, you can carry the tripod comfortably with this bag. When you need to carry a tripod for a long time, this is especially useful as you don’t have to carry a tripod bag separately.
The bag has tripod marks, showing where the tripod can be held. The bag has the two marks, one on the bottom as I described, and the other is on the side pocket. This side pocket is perfect for a small tripod. A large tripod, like mine, is suitable for holding on the rear side of the bag.
I kept carrying the bag on my back about for three hours, most of the time while photographing, and I think this bag is the best one for both its functionality and design reasons among the backpacks I’ve used so far.
As you see, the best camera bag is the one which doesn’t make you tired during the shooting, and that, I’m sure, will contribute to the best images you’ll create.
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