Guest Author: Neil Zeller
You know how this goes. You step away from the car to chase a photo. You grab the camera and the lens you think you need. You leave everything else behind because this will be quick.
Fast forward a few minutes, and somehow you are 1.8 km from the car. The door might still be open. The keys might still be in the ignition.
And of course, the better photo shows up. And of course, it needs the lens you didn’t bring. Naturally.
Also, I don't carry my big backpack every time I step out of the vehicle. If I did that all day on tours or shoots, I’d last about five minutes before getting annoyed at myself having to set the bag down, zip things open etc etc..
I've always thought about a small camera bag for this purpose, but haven't found one that worked. But...
Before Tanzania, I picked up the PGYTECH 11L sling bag. And honestly, it does exactly what I hoped it would. My long lens still lives on my regular sling strap. That part didn’t change at all.
But now this smaller bag stays right beside me and holds everything else. Extra lenses. Sometimes a second body. Batteries are organized so I can instantly tell when they're full or empty (there's a red/green slider). Filters. Cards. Wallet. All the little things that you need once you're out there. There’s even a stretchy front pouch that swallows sweaters, gloves, monopods, snacks, or whatever random thing the day throws at me. Actually useful.
On safari, the bag lived under my legs in the vehicle, tucked against the seat. Always there and never in the way. Easy to grab the lens I needed, a new battery, or a memory card*.
*I was testing the Sony A1ii camera over there, and for the first four days, I had the shutter set on 'super high explosive massive speed' (not the technical term). And precapture. So every time the camera went "ch-chk", I'd have 30 photos from after I pressed the button and 7 from before. Needless to say, I changed memory cards OFTEN until I figured out how to set a hot button to easily change the shutter cadence.
Since coming home, I’ve been using the same setup on commercial shoots. Same result. Clean. Organized. No digging around and no heavy backpack. Just simple and ready.
So… What Lens Should You Use?
People ask me this all the time. “What lens should I use, Neil?”
For years, my honest answer has been: “It depends.”
But now? Yes. Because the right lens is finally the one that’s actually with me.
Featured in this blog:
PGYTECH OneMo Sling 11L
