Review : The Bare Bones Bag Stealth
I have collected a lot of camera bags over the past few years and have bags from Domke, Lowepro, Crumpler, Tamrac as well as a host of no name bags I have picked up on my travels or in the bargain bin of a going out of business camera shop. Each bag has something I like but none are what I would call “the ultimate bag”.
The bag I use the most is a messenger type bag I picked up for €12 in a clothing store in Finland. It has no padding and is not really designed for holding camera gear but it is very discrete and doesn’t look like it would be holding anything of value. I have used Velcro to temporarily attach a smaller camera bag inside to hold my Canon 40D but for the most part, I just use it to carry my Voigtländer rangefinder and for that purpose the bag is a little bit too big.
So when I saw the Bare Bones Bag from Indian Hill Image Works, I decided to see if yet another bag would work for me. I actually decided to go for the latest evolution in the BBB called the Bare Bones Bag Stealth. I’ll get into the “Stealth” part in a minute.
First of all some background: Indian Hill Image Works is run by Stephen Schaub in Vermont, USA and provides various services to photographers and artists. In addition to those services, they have been creating some innovative products for photographers and the Bare Bones line of bags is one of those products. I suspect that these bags came from a desire to also find “the ultimate bag”. The bags are actually hand made by nearby Courierware who have been making courier bags for over 20 years.
The BBB-S is the medium sized bag in the range and is 9 inches deep, 10 1/2 ” long and 3 1/2″ wide. There is one main compartment surrounded by 4 smaller compartments on the inside. On a recent jaunt around town, I used these pockets to carry the following:-
- Voigtländer Bessa R4A rangefinder with Nokton 35mm lens in the main compartment.
- A Color-Skopar 21mm lens in one small pocket.
- 8 rolls of 35mm film in another small pocket.
- My “backup camera” (Olympus XA2) in a small pocket.
- Two filters in their boxes in the 4th pocket.
None of the pockets were completely filled and there was plenty of room for more gear or film if I needed it.
The bag also has two pockets on the front under the flap that could be used for carrying a notebook or a phone and there is a large flat pocket on the back of the bag that would be perfect for maps, or even tickets if you were traveling somewhere.
The reason the bag is called “bare bones” could be to do with the padding or lack there of. There is a 1/4 inch piece of neoprene at the bottom but that’s it. If that frightens you then this is not the bag for you but the lack of padding really cuts down on the weight and bulk and is what attracted me to the bag. The neoprene is accessible from the back pocket so could add more padding if you wanted.
The adjustable shoulder strap is unpadded and 1.5 inches wide. For what I was carrying, the strap was fairly comfortable but for heavier loads the optional shoulder pad may be a good purchase. On the top is a small and discrete handle. This handle is never in the way but is right at hand when you need it. Inside is a piece of webbing with a small metal carabiner for holding keys.
The most interesting part of the bag for me is the closure mechanism. One of the complaints from users of the original BBB was that the Velcro closure was noisy when opening the front flap. So this “stealth” bag does away with the Velcro and instead has a strap that goes across the front to hold the flap in place. This is a very effective method for keeping the bag closed but is not as secure as other closure methods. But, as long as you are not turning your bag upside down and shaking it, it feels secure enough for normal use. So you don’t miss any photo opportunities, opening the bag is very quick – just slide your hand down and pull up the flap.
Other features include:-
- Two D-Rings for clipping on other items.
- Discrete all black color.
- No name tag or logo on the outside.
- Weather proofing.
But there’s more…
I have discovered that the BBB-S is also prefect for my Asus 1000HE netbook with a 10 inch screen.
There is room for the netbook, power cord, mouse and also my XA2 or some other compact camera.
So is this the ultimate bag I have been searching for? Since I have just got the bag it may be too early to tell but I will say that the signs are very, very promising.
For more information, check out http://www.indianhillimageworks.com/ or see a video of the bag at http://figitalrevolution.com/2009/09/04/the-bare-bones-bag-stealth-bbb-s-and-bbb-s2/
Update: At the weekend I tried out the Bare Bones Bag Stealth with my Canon 40D DSLR. Attached to the camera I had the stock 17 to 85 IS Lens and the bag performed admirably. I was also carrying my Olympus XA and a few rolls of film and there was plenty of room for a few more extras. Good to know I can use this bag when I want to go digital too.
Update: If there was one thing I’d like to change it would be to make the flap about 1 inch longer. When the bag is full, the end of the flap is very close to the strap across the front and I feel the closure mechanism would be more secure with one more inch of flap.
Posted on September 27th, 2009 tagged with bare bones bag stealth, camera bag, netbook, review
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Massive Development Chart iPhone App Review
Almost everyone who develops their own black and white film at home is aware of the Massive Development Chart from Digital Truth. I regularly consult this vast database for development times for the various film / developer combinations I use.
But for the past few months I have added a new tool to my developing kit and that is the Massive Dev Chart iPhone application from Martin Man based on the Digitial Truth database.
The app works on both the iPhone and iPod touch and is real easy to use. First you select your film from the huge list of available films.
Next select the ISO you shot at.
You then choose the developer and concentration you are using.
Once all of that is done you are ready to start developing.
But unlike the web version of the database, this app also provides a timer to ensure correct developing times. Just press the “Start” button and off you go.
In addition to the development time, the timer also has 1 minute of stop time, 5 minutes of fixing and 10 minutes of rinsing. These values can be edited by making the film/developer combination a favorite and then editing that favorite.
What’s real nice about the app is that there is a visual and audible cue for when agitation is required. Just before the end of the minute there is a sound which then changes for the duration of time you need to do the inversions. The font also pulsates during this time.
The amount of time you agitate for is also editable for favorites but from what I can tell there is no way to change the frequency of agitations which is set at every minute. For Rodinal I agitate every 30 seconds so I need to keep an eye on the app when using that developer but that’s not a big deal.
Other nice features include the fact that it keeps on counting even if a call comes in but to stop me being distracted I usually set my iPhone to airplane mode when I am developing. Don’t want to miss the agitation time.
One feature I haven’t used yet is the ability to change the development temperature and the app will work out the time. I also haven’t used the split time feature for developers like Diafine.
The Massive Dev App currently costs $5.99 and in my mind is well worth it. I highly recommend this iPhone app.
The iPhone can be purchased on iTunes.
Posted on August 29th, 2009 tagged with iphone, review
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Holga 120 WPC 6×12 Mask Test
My first post on the Holga 120 WPC (Wide Pinhole Camera) was done using the 6×9 cm mask. Now I have developed a roll I shot on a walk about in San Jose using the 6×12 cm mask.
The first thing that is noticeable about this wider mask is that there is some mechanical vignetting apparent in the photos. Also, the vignette is asymmetrical with the right side being more pronounced than the left hand side.
Compared to the 6×9 cm mask, I think I prefer the wider format of this mask so that is what I’ll be leaving in the camera for now.
You can see my original review of the Holga 120 WPC (Wide Pinhole Camera) in this post.
Posted on January 4th, 2009 tagged with camera review, holga
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LOMO LC-A
I first heard of the LOMO LC-A camera on a rock climbing discussion website in the summer of 2005 when someone posted that the LC-A was the perfect camera to carry climbing. It was compact, they said, took great photographs and was very cheap. The camera is compact (kind of) and it definitely takes great photographs but cheap it is not. At least, not when compared to similar compact cameras.
Originally, the 35mm Lomo LC-A (a.k.a. Kompact Automat) was produced by LOMO, Leningradskoye Optiko Mechanichesckoye Obyedinenie (Leningrad Optical & Mechanical Enterprise) in Russia in 1984. It bears a striking resemblance to the Cosina CX2 which LOMO copied to create the camera for the masses in what was then the USSR.
The lens has a focal length of 32mm with focusing done by moving a lever on the side to focus at either 3 feet, 4.5 feet, 10 feet or infinity. The lever on the other side controls exposure with an “A” setting for auto exposure and apertures between f/2.8 and f/16 which use a shutter speed of 1/60s. The camera accepts film with speeds of 25 to 400 ISO. (Older versions of the camera do have the speed setting in the GOST standard however.)
The camera became a bit of a cult phenomenon after two Viennese students discovered the camera in 1991 while on a trip to Prague. They went on to found the Lomographic Society International (LSI), coined the phrase “Lomography” and successfully marketed the camera with a lot of hype.
But with all hype aside, this camera truly is a nice camera to use. The lens is sharp and there is a nice vignette to give that old time vintage feel. There is also something cool about the sound of the shutter going off – a nice “ping”.
LOMO stopped producing the LC-A in 2005. To fill the gap, LSI created a remake called the LC-A+ which was made by Phenix Optical Company in China. Originally, all LC-A+ cameras came with a LOMO produced lens but in July 2007, most LC-A+ cameras started to be made with Chinese lenses with only a few cameras still using LOMO lenses. Those LOMO lens cameras then became known as LC-A + RL (for Russian Lens).
While I can think of better cameras to take rock climbing, the Lomo LC-A is one of my favorite cameras and you can see more of my Lomo shots in my ’35mm Snapshot’ set on Flickr.