What do you carry your camera rig in?

[AlClarence]

I currently use a 30can esky soft cooler bag to drag my camera around in but with a big dome and strobes it's a tight fit... I was looking at the Cinebags Grouper but it's just so expensive for a bag.  Is there a common trick I'm missing?

[Chris Ross]

I use something similar on liveaboards for example, mine is collapsible one with a hard lid, purchased at K-Mart, it's big enough for my Nauticam m43 rig with a pair of strobes, the arms poke out, but that;s fine.  I've used it with a 4"and a 170mm dome.  Some negative and positove experience with the cinebags here:  https://wetpixel.com/forums/index.php?/topic/66566-cinebags-underwater-cb70-square-grouper/page/2/

[TimG]

I started the same route as you guys with a cooler. But after several rusted out zips and leaks, bit the bullet and bought the Cinebags Grouper. Yeah, expensive but money well spent. I’ve used it a couple of times even as my system carry-on bag on flights. As a bag to carry gear onto and store on a dive boat, it is excellent. 

[Dave_Hicks]

I also use a cheap sided cooler to carry my big D850/Nauticam rig. To deal with rips in a cheap bag, buy two! Mine have lasted over 5 years, so its working well.

[bghazzal]

I use this for a compact rig - bought it in Thailand a while back - unfortunately the quadripod legs / clamps have ripped holes in the inner lining:

 

https://www.walmart.ca/en/ip/Large-Insulated-Cooler-Cool-Shoulder-Bag-Outdoor-Camping-Picnic-Lunch-Handbag/1DBDGXEYL609


 

Edited December 27, 2023 by bghazzal

[Davide DB]

Here in Europe you can't find coolers as sturdy and affordable as American ones. The only ones I found got holes in them after a few months and the zipper became a stalactite.

I do exclusively local diving and for the RHIB I use a box with hard plastic handles. While unloading the RHIB I put the water hose in it and let it soak.

[atus]

What I do for travelling is to put the camera inside the housing with the macro lens and its port and I carry it with a lanyard hanging from my shoulder. The rest of the equipment, strobes, arms, batteries, dome, lenses, laptop...in a cabin suitcase with me all the time. Since  I do that I have a less problems in the airport filters and my cabin suitcase is much less heavy so I have less issues with the airline. 

[turandot]

On 12/27/2023 at 7:43 PM, atus said:

What I do for travelling is to put the camera inside the housing with the macro lens and its port and I carry it with a lanyard hanging from my shoulder. The rest of the equipment, strobes, arms, batteries, dome, lenses, laptop...in a cabin suitcase with me all the time. Since  I do that I have a less problems in the airport filters and my cabin suitcase is much less heavy so I have less issues with the airline. 

Very interesting solution to carry the camera+housing+port+macro lens on your shoulder.

[1fspeed]

I have a Cinebag Grouper XL. I love the pockets, padding and its ability to be a rinse tank but their quality and customer service is lacking.  

 

I use mine for local shore diving. Fresh water in Northern Minnesota, so it's lives a pretty easy life.  

 

About a year ago the top bungee anchors started to unravel. Then a pocket shock cord pulled out.  I reached out to Cinebags via email twice - gave them a couple weeks as they had an update in progress banner on the site.  No response, so I messaged them via Instagram, twice. No response. They did respond to my third email, sent me a return auth form to fill out, and suggested they'd send me one of their kit bags for my inconvenience. 

 

Sent it in for repair but several weeks went by and I didn't hear anything.  I emailed three times over the course of month, and my third message got a "I'll check on it" reply.  A couple weeks later the bag came back with the top bungee anchors repaired but the pocket shock cord still torn out.  And that "kit bag" they offered for my inconvenience... nowhere to be found

 

I like the bag but anticipate some off season sewing to keep it functional.

 

I'll spend my money elsewhere when I need another bag.

[TimG]

5 hours ago, 1fspeed said:

Sent it in for repair but several weeks went by and I didn't hear anything.  I emailed three times over the course of month, and my third message got a "I'll check on it" reply.  A couple weeks later the bag came back with the top bungee anchors repaired but the pocket shock cord still torn out.  And that "kit bag" they offered for my inconvenience... nowhere to be found

 

Wow, this is indeed disappointing given the costs of the bags. I've not had problems with mine so far (fingers crossed) but this is not encouraging.

[Buddha]

I'm thinking about using one of my wifes' purses. They are big enough and the amount of crap she can carry in it will blow your mind. lol

 

I have a Cinebags XL too. It's nice but I also have an AO cooler bag that is no frills and pretty heavy duty. We got it for shore diving Bonaire. Trying to walk in and out of some of the rocky beaches with large camera gear is too much of a risk. Did it one year and damaged some gear. Now one holds the cameras in the water while to other goes out, takes off their gear then comes back in with the padded bag and floats the camera to the shore. 

Edited January 18 by Buddha

[TimG]

Super idea for Bonaire. Yeah, high risk exit location indeed! Entry too.

 

And such a brave comment on Mrs B's purse! 😱

 

 

[MrChen]

I use a backpack designed for FPV drones. It has lots of padding, moveable dividers, and is deep enough for my DSLR housing. I remove the handles since they waste so much space and reassemble upon arrival. I put my strobes and 105mm lens inside. Arms, cables, and focus light fit as well. I mount my camera inside the housing. It also fits well in the overhead bin.

Torvol Quad PITSTOP V2 Backpack - Choose Your Color (racedayquads.com)

 

Edited January 19 by MrChen
added video link

[MrChen]

The above is for traveling. For taking on the boats, I use a soft cooler by Norchill. It doubles as a soak/rinse tub as well. 

 

Bait Cooler Bags – NorChill® Coolers & Drinkware (norchillcoolers.com)

 

 

[JohnD]

For travel, I use a hardshell case, like a Pelican or Nanuk.  Carry-on restrictions and gate agent hassles make it very stressful to try and carry housings and such on planes.  I also have to take often multiple flights on different size aircraft, frequently with more than one airline.  Dealing with all of that causes a lot of stress.  Camera and lenses and sometimes a valuable nauticam wet lens will go with me on the plane in an "underseat' bag that no one ever hassles me about.  I do have a carry-on sized Pelican roller that I use on occasion, but it can only hold housing and strobes or housing and a small port or two.  

 

I know Tim has had success carrying stuff onboard using a Cinebags  Grouper case, but I don't have his charm and would have it taken by gate agents and I doubt it would survive the cargo hold.

 

To and from boats I use a waterproof duffel.  The blue one is large enough for housing with a WACP-C, the yellow one is smaller and works fine with a 100mm or 140mm dome or a flat port.

 

I have layer of neoprene on the bottom from an old wetsuit and on the boat can either close it up or drape a microfiber towel over the rig, which will keep it wet.  The bag also serves as rinse bucket later.  I tried a Cinebags and something similar, and then a soft cooler, but they took a up a lot of room in luggage and did not work well to carry on planes.  These offer no real impact protection but are easy to pack and fairly light.  if I want more protection I can pad the gear with a towel or neoprene vest or whatever. 

 

nullnull

 

[Tino Dietsche]

Hello everyone,

For the last trip to the Red Sea in 2019, I transported some of the equipment in a Peli case as checked luggage and the other part in a camera backpack suitable for hand luggage. It worked so well and I will definitely do it again this year.

Because we are traveling as a family and the airline we have chosen allows us to register extra sports luggage free of charge, we don't have any problems with the weight.

 

This is what everything looked like in 2019:

 

 

Pelicase with, small stuff like arms and clamps, one flash, Dome-Port....

 

Photo backpack with the housing, camera (inside the housing), lenses (in the ports)

[ChipBPhoto]

On 2/18/2024 at 1:30 PM, JohnD said:

To and from boats I use a waterproof duffel.  The blue one is large enough for housing with a WACP-C, the yellow one is smaller and works fine with a 100mm or 140mm dome or a flat port.

 

Hey John - what size are they?  50L?  70L?  or smaller?

[Barmaglot]

Another satisfied Cinebags Square Grouper customer here. Does triple duty as airplane carry-on, boat camera bag, and rinse tank.

[JohnD]

5 hours ago, ChipBPhoto said:

 

Hey John - what size are they?  50L?  70L?  or smaller?

The blue is a 90L  The yellow is 66L.

[JohnD]

6 hours ago, Barmaglot said:

Another satisfied Cinebags Square Grouper customer here. Does triple duty as airplane carry-on, boat camera bag, and rinse tank.

For those of you who use the Cinebags SG, do you take as your larger carry-on that goes in the overhead compartment, or as an underseat bag?  Do you have any contingency plan in the event an airline insists you have to check it?

[Barmaglot]

5 minutes ago, JohnD said:

For those of you who use the Cinebags SG, do you take as your larger carry-on that goes in the overhead compartment, or as an underseat bag?  Do you have any contingency plan in the event an airline insists you have to check it?

Overhead. If they want me to check it - explain that it's full of very expensive camera gear; if they insist - well, into the hold it goes, it's not like there is any other choice.

[TimG]

7 hours ago, Barmaglot said:

Overhead. If they want me to check it - explain that it's full of very expensive camera gear; if they insist - well, into the hold it goes, it's not like there is any other choice.

Same for me. I had to lever the bag under a seat a couple of times on Caribbean puddle-hoppers. We all survived. The secret is wrapping individual items in a bit of foam or bubble wrap to stop them smacking together. 
 

During a fit of boredom or nerdiness, I actually made a bunch of bubble wrap bags for my cameras, lenses, ports…..  

[Scubaman]

On 12/27/2023 at 7:43 PM, atus said:

What I do for travelling is to put the camera inside the housing with the macro lens and its port and I carry it with a lanyard hanging from my shoulder. The rest of the equipment, strobes, arms, batteries, dome, lenses, laptop...in a cabin suitcase with me all the time. Since  I do that I have a less problems in the airport filters and my cabin suitcase is much less heavy so I have less issues with the airline. 

 

I have to second this method. Airline staff is just interested and does not care about size/weight. Has been no issue to keep the housing protected.

[JCambs]

I can get my entire m43 rig (housing, lenses, ports, domes and strobes) into this bag:

 

https://cabinmax.com/collections/backpacks-2/products/metz-44l-classic-colour-cabin-backpack?variant=34928638623910

 

I carry it on my back and make hefting >17kg look like it no big deal to avoid having it checked in. I'll be moving to a wheeled bag solution soon as I'm aging and don't want to slip a disk on my way to a destination!

 

I take my regs, computer, mask and other essentials in this:

 

https://cabinmax.com/collections/easyjet/products/anode-30l-45x36x20cm-easyjet-underseat-cabin-case?variant=40588605980838

 

I have 5 bags from Cabin Max and can't recommend them enough. You can shop by airline so you know the dimensions of the bags you are shopping for precisely meet the allowances.  No brainer if you're based in the UK.

 

[theocean]

 Cinebags Grouper XL. It is very convenient to carry the assembled rig on local trips or even collapse it on international trips. 

 

I also have a big ThinkTank backpack to use as a carry-on for the glass and most fragile stuff.