-
3 Ways for Women to Carry Camera Gear
Do you like my socks? They’re sock monkey socks.
This is one of those duh, I could figure that out blog posts. I like to take photos, which means I need to have my camera with me. Which means I need to figure out the easiest way to do that depending on what I’m going to be doing. Mostly I’m just running around town and would like to just pop my camera in a bag that I would take normally. This is where the camera insert comes in handy.
I totally believe that you should have at least one camera insert. Sometimes you can scrounge from another bag that has an insert that comes out or you may have to buy your own.
I’ve got an Ape Case camera insert and I love that it’s bright yellow. Very helpful if you need to park an airliner. Or just seeing things in a dark bag.
So obviously there’s the camera with a lens, on or off, up to you. My religion says lenses on so the rest of you will go to hell. Then there’s your wallet of choice, nail glue and file, eye drops, chap-stick, pen, highlighter for some reason, sanitizer, eyeliner, lipstick, microfiber cloth, gum, Aldi quarter, ear buds and mints 😉. And I guess keys, if you use them.
Behold, see how it fits in the quality pleather bag I definitely didn’t buy on TikTok.
I blame my phone camera but here’s an idea of what it looks like when wearing. This concept can be used for any size camera insert you may find and bags currently in your possession. I have a couple of inserts from dedicated camera bags that I can move into other purse like bags or back packs which makes this one of the more practical ways to carry your camera. It’s just not as fun as purchasing the perfect camera bag again.
Speaking of the perfect camera bag, this one is close. I alternate between this Domke F6 and a Wotancraft Pilot 7l (buy this 10l if you can). I love the cram-ablity of this bag. With it’s waxed canvas and flexible insert I’ve had two cameras, extra lens and film, plus usual camera things stuffed into this bag. The strap is great with the rubber grippy on the inside. It will pull long hair though.
Downside for this specific bag and other flap covered bags is that it is hard to see into when wearing, the flap likes to flap and I have to fight to grab stuff out and put back in and organization goes out the window.
See what I mean, outward opening flaps would be so much easier.
That said, here’s how I load the Domke with camera and personal bits and roberts.
Next of course is your backpack carry, gag. I hate backpacks usually but they are great at what they do. I’ve got this old Mindshift camera backpack. I don’t use it often, but when I do use it I’m glad I have it.
I’ve got a lot gripes about this backpack but having it works for photographing with the long lens. I can tuck a mono-pod or tripod or collapsible stool in the stretchy pockets. This backpack is great for day hikes and once I have the camera out with the long lens on it’s quiet light since I have the strap to carry when on the move.
I can fit a bunch in this bag but it’s not packed down in dedicated pockets like in a Lowpro or something more bulky and box shaped.
Oh god the blasphemy.
So we’ve got a camera, two lenses, mono-pod, mono-pod foot that goes in the small lens bag if it’s clean, rain cover, camera strap, personal junk, water bottle that still tastes like plastic, a power bank and typical camera things.
It’s got a nice sternum strap that was of course designed for men and I wear it with the straps as small as they can go or close to it.
I’m still looking for ways to slim down what I need and what to bring. But this is the system that works for me. And none of this is for women only. The more you take your gear out the more you’ll be able to narrow down what works for you.
Have fun and take photos! Like this bald red-bellied wood pecker sneaking up on it’s friend.
-
10 Things I Do When I Get A New Camera
I’ve had the new Nikon Zf (zf? ZF?) for about a month now and I hopefully have all my settings and customization dialed in. I thought I’d share 10 things I like to do when I buy a new camera just to make the transition a bit easier.
Re-research the Camera I Just Bought to Make Sure I Really Wanted It
The fifty million videos I watched about specs and user reviews were obviously not enough. I need to make sure I re-watch my favorite ones. Bonus- if there have been new ones made that agree with your purchase. Re-convincing myself that I didn’t do something stupid with my money is an important first step. Husband loves re-watching the videos I’ve forced him to watch on the living room TV.
Buy Lens Mount Adapters
A plus of mirrorless cameras is adapting other lens mounts to your camera. I have old Pentax, Olympus, Minolta and Nikon F mount lenses around the house. Most of them are manual focus so I don’t need to get auto-focus enabled adapters. But being able to use the random Ai-S 200mm on my Nikon Zf is handy. I have adapters for my X-S10 so my collection for the Zf needs to grow beyond the FTZ-II I picked up. I love the look I get from my Zuiko 50mm 1.8 on my OM-1 so I think that will be the first one I grab in the near future.
Learn My Menus
I grew up (hahahhaha) with our Nikon D90 and D7200 so Nikon’s menus are where my heart lives. Randomly using our Sony A6000 for travel hurt my photographer heart. And even though I love my little Fujifilm X-S10 the menus confuse my middle aged brain. Digging back into Nikon’s menus to set up the Zf was easy and smooth. All I had to do was catch up with the new additions to the menu because of the mirrorless and auto-focus upgrades between the D7200 and the Zf.
Buy A New Camera Bag
What better accessory for a new camera than a new camera bag. Forget that I have four others, the obvious thing to do is buy a new one. There is something currently wrong with each bag I own and a new bag will solve all my problems. I have learned from my camera bag buying is that I do not like backpacks, that I need something bigger than 3 liters and I do not like square boxy bags. Until I find the perfect new camera bag I will be forced to use the worst bags ever with my new camera.
Buy More Peak Design Anchors
I have firmly lodged my camera strap into the Peak Design ecosystem. I love these little anchors. I have two of the Peak Design straps and love being able to quickly switch between cameras. I have them on everything from my Yashica 124G to my Nikon F4 and the new Zf.
Get An Extra Battery and A New Memory Cards
Cameras today barely come with a charging cable. The Zf had a cable for USB-C charging and that was it. I picked up a charging brick along with a spare battery to get through an outing. All that’s left for me to add to the power consumption and charging, is an outside the camera battery charger. But I’ll wait until the current setup bugs me enough. I do also like to pickup fresh cards for my new cameras. The Nikon Zf uses a dual slot setup of a SD card and a micro SD card so I picked up two of each of those for redundancy. Watch the write-to speeds and make sure they are the same, because, reasons.
Stalk Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace for Lenses
I like to buy vintage lenses. I like being able to use my lenses on my old Nikons and the new Zf. I spend some time looking around Craigslist and Facebook marketplace for older cameras and lenses. Then I abandon my search and head up to West Camera or National Camera Exchange to buy new or used gear. I also torture myself on eBay looking at lenses but that takes too much patience. Currently I’m making myself wait to buy a Z 24-120mm or a Z 28-75mm. I wonder how long I can wait till I buy a native macro lens.
Research a Completely Different Camera to Buy
Now that I’m set with the perfect camera it’s now time for a manufacturer to come out with one slightly better and newer. Now my brain will go into goddamit mode and buyers regret will appear. To fix that problem I go out and shoot as much as I possible can and remind myself why I fell in love with the setup I currently have and how much money I will save by staying with what I have. But that won’t stop me from bingeing on YouTube videos of new cameras and researching the hell out of them, hello OM-System.
Use DP Review* to Compare My New Camera to My Old Camera
*What’s left of that site, anyway?
DP Review camera compare is (?) was (?) a great place to compare specs. It helped me choose the Fujifilm X-S10 when it first came out and I’ve been happy with that choice. Being able to side by side compare two choices really helps when you want to avoid the what-ifs in buying a camera. That being said once I have a new camera it’s fun to look back and compare your old cameras to the the new one, especially if you traded-in your old camera.Scour KEH For a Film Camera to Buy
Or eBay, or Craigslist, or Facebook marketplace, or or or or. GAS is never ending and film photography GAS is even harder to resist sometimes. Did someone in a video or an article somewhere mention an underrated film camera. Off to look for one for yourself. Forget about the multiple thousands of dollars you’ve spent on a new fancy digital camera, my monkey brain wants what that person has and film cameras are cool! I usually combat this urge by placing things in shopping carts soon to be abandoned. My wallet thanks me and I can once again feed my family.
-
Camera Journey – How Did I Get Here
I suppose the middle of February is as good of a time to write this as any. I’ve seen a few posts with photographers talking about their camera journey. Mentioning how a certain camera of theirs started them on a path to taking photography seriously. I’ve never really mentioned mine anywhere so here’s my go.
In The Beginning
Growing up my mom and my grandmas always seemed to have a camera. It was as if cameras were the small luxuries they allowed themselves to have. No-one in my immediate family circle was an actual photographer, and I don’t remember really seeing a classic SLR in my younger childhood.
The camera types I do remember as a kid under 10 was a Kodak disc camera, and several 110 cameras with the flash bulb cube on top. I remember seeing the cartridges on the table getting ready to go into a developing envelope and trips back from the store with fresh prints, several envelops full. My mom was the most consistent picture taker and being the oldest child I have LOTS of prints of myself.
Older Kid to Adult-ish
Over the years mom would get nicer 35mm cameras, usually for her birthday. She never did get an SLR but she had higher quality point and shoots with focus. I was allowed to take her nicest camera on a trip to Florida when I was 18 it was so fun. I think it even was the one I was allowed to take on all my trips seeing Chicago, Mexico and Colorado.
Youth group trips were where I was the unofficial photographer. I was given slide film for the first time on a trip to Chicago. My mom would buy black and white film for us to use. She would let us kids to use the camera as long as were weren’t being dumb about wasting film. We would also have cheap give-away 110 cameras, that barely had a body, you could make from cereal box freebies. Film was always flowing in our house.
I only really remember seeing a family use a stereotypical silver and black SLR at a friends house. It was mostly point and shoots and never any “modern” SLRs until I got married. I only really had a chance to use an SLR in a high-school photography class. I loved it. I had no idea how to meter, and with me denying that I needed glasses, focusing was hit or miss. But it was so much fun. We were allowed to use all the extra rolls we wanted and develop them in the class. I knew I was falling in love with photography then.
Digital Firsts
My first experience with a digital camera came in 1999. My boyfriend at the time got his hands on a digital camera somewhere. I played around with a bit but I was still able to use my mom’s camera if I needed to so I wasn’t all that impressed. I did use it to post to wedding planning forums here and there though.
My boyfriend and I were longtime friends and even before he proposed I gave him the info for the engagement ring I wanted and found at a local jeweler. I knew his mom gave him a ring from his grandmother to use the stone for a ring for me. One day I was hanging out in his room and looked through the photos on the camera. I found a photo of the ring I picked out and his grandmother’s stone in it. I spoiled myself on my own engagement ring thanks to digital cameras.
Owning digital
After getting married we purchased a Fuji Fine-pix camera and used it on a vacation to Arizona. We had a lovely fight about printing all the digital photos. I wanted them all and he said to pick our favorites and have the local Ritz Photo place print them. We had a few Sony and Canon point and shoot digital cameras while the kids were little.
Our first DSLR was a Nikon D70s that I never really picked up until I took a college photography class and learned how to shoot in manual mode. We also had a D90 that I claimed as mine and he had a D7000 to use taking photos of RC airplanes. For my birthday he bought me a refurbished D7200 with an amazingly low shutter count. I loved that camera to death. It’s the camera I became proficient at and built a teeny tiny business with.
Analog Again
Around 2017 I was getting the itch to try film photography as an adult. I picked up a Canon AE-1P and a Holga toy camera. Tried my hand and home developing black and white film and eventually color as well. I also scavenged up some enlargers and photographic paper and turned the laundry room into a darkroom. I fired up the Graflex Crown Graphic from my father in-law and purchased a few other SLRs from friends and the internet. Keeping the analog GAS away is a bit hard though.
Mirrorless Begins
At the end of 2020 I bought myself a Fujifilm X-S10. I wanted in on the mirrorless train and at the time my choice was between the Nikon Z5 and the X-S10. In the end the IBIS of the X-S10 won out and I’ve had so much fun with the little, light and mighty X-S10. I love adapting lenses to it and how fun Fuji makes shooting. Until…
Nikon introduced the ZF at the end of 2023. I knew I had to have it. IBIS check, full-frame check, FTZ adapting old Nikon lenses check, top of the line focusing check, retro styling check. This is the camera I would have bought if Nikon had released it when I was first looking into mirrorless. So far I’m having fun. The files are great to work with and the low light capabilities are perfect for me. I’m having a blast adapting my old Nikkor lenses and looking forward to pickup up a nice mid range zoom.
So, that’s my camera journey. Photography has always been in the house.
-
Using the Nikon F2 Photomic and Nikkor 200mm AI
Giving My F2 Photomic a Little Exercise
I love using my F2, I found this camera on FB marketplace from a local who used it to photograph swim meets. He had the standard 50mm AI lens and a lovely 200mm AI too. I think I picked them up for around $150 a few years ago. I’ve mostly kept the 50 on it and haven’t had a chance to use the 200. The shots in the post are dev’d and scanned at Boutique Film Lab.
Decided to take it out and see if I could get some good shots of the Minneopa Bison Herd that are nearby.
I’ve had mostly Superia 400 laying around so that’s what I popped inside and off I went. Viewing the herd can be hit or miss as they have a large enclosure that you can drive through. I’ve had them leap out in front of my vehicle suddenly, seen them lounging in the mud, and right up against the fence on a hike around the enclosure. One is not guaranteed a shot or even seeing them.
I definitely should have driven my taller vehicle to get a vantage over the tall prairie grasses.
The herd moved on out of reach of my 200 and so I went down to the falls part of the park and took a couple shots in the ravine.
Decided to head out to Fort Ridgley State Park to roast ourselves in the sun and get lost on the multitude of trails but only took some shots of the old Harken Store that’s unfortunately closed.
I also took a welding class at the Mankato Makerspace and brought the F2 with to fill up the roll.
I had a few shots left on the rolls so of course there are cat photos. Loki is 6 months old and sometimes sits still enough for manual focus.
-
I Put Peak Design Anchors On My Vintage Camera Strap
One of my old film cameras came with a velvet lined camera strap. Someone had sewed elastic to one end to hold film canisters. I love the retro look of the strap but somethings bugged me.
I didn’t want my cameras to get scratched up with the old clips on the strap. The leather was stretched out and I didn’t know how long it would hold up. I was given some Peak Design Anchor Links for xmas so I ordered up some leather and rivets from Springfield Leather Company. I got out my leather punch got to work.
Here you can see how stretched out the leather was. Who knows how long it had left. I didn’t like the clips because they were hard to change to different cameras and were noisy and over all I didn’t like them.
My new Peak Design Anchor Links ready to live on a vintage strap.
Springfield Leather company has a small anvil that you can use to pound the rivets together.
I very roughly approximated the shape of the old leather. I used the natural color leather because it was the thinnest in the pack of the bridle I picked out.
I creased the leather bits up a bit so they would be easier to fit on the strap and the links while installing the rivets.
First couple of holes punched. I bought the small black 3mm rivets and I could have used the medium and been fine too.
Anchor Links installed.
First end of the strap finished I could have gone longer on the length of the leather. I’ll fix that on the next strap 🙂
Both sides of the strap done.
Here’s how the strap looks on a Nikon F2.
Sitting pretty. I like the contrast with the natural leather and the black rivets. I’ll be on the lookout for more straps to upgrade when I’m vintage shopping.
