National Geographic NG-2475 medium shoulder bag

[Michael Meissner]

We don't seem to have reviews of bags, and I thought I might give a quick review of some of the bags I've used.

First up is my now normal bag, the National Geographic NG-2475. Here is the link from Amazon for the bag:
http://www.amazon.com/National-Geographic-NG-2475-Explorer/dp/B000FJ2OTG/sr=1-1/qid=1171467883/ref=sr_1_1/105-5605574-8587631?ie=UTF8&s=photo

The cost is $100 USD, which is probably reasonable for bags of this type. For me, the selling points are:

The bag is canvas, and isn't neoprene or neon. It is a retro look. The only other canvas bags that I'm aware of (Domke, Billington) are much higher cost.
I can fit all of gear in the bag (4 lenses, 2 teleconverters, FL-50, extra cards and batteries, etc.), including having the 50-200mm + EC-14 lens attached to the camera, and the SHLD-2 on the E-1.
There is a zippered cover in case of inclement weather, but you can roll the cover up if you want to get to the gear fast.
It is a shoulder bag rather than a backpack, which allows me to go along with the camera in the bag, but I can get the camera out by feel if I don't have the top zipped down. I often times do this when wandering around shows and such, and would prefer to watch the show rather than fumbling getting the camera out of the bag.
The laptop sleeve is big enough to hold my work laptop (Acer Ferrari 3400), and the bag fits underneath airplane seats.
There are plenty of places to attach things to the outside of the bag in case you need to carry more stuff.
The bag can be folded down to about 3" tall for packing in another suitcase.There are a few minor things that could have been done been done better:

The shoulder strap is not removable. It is nice and wide and fairly comfortable, but if you have a favorite strap, you can't substitute the strap.
For carrying stuff through airports, it would have been convenient to have straps on the back to fit over the handles of roller bags. I use a luggage strap on the top of the bag, and it is a workable solution.
My laptop is a little taller than the laptop sleeve. It would have been nice to have an extension to fully protect the laptop.
The lens bag is a little tight with my current configuration.
Because the bag is so big, it encourages me to take more gear, and at the end of a day, it can be tiring.The gear that I carry with the bag is:

E-1, sometimes SHLD-2 attached, and one lens (usually the 14-54mm) in the big empty pocket, with the E-1 sitting with the lens pointing up.
There is a padded lens box, that I have:
50-200mm lens
50mm macro lens
11-22mm lens
EC-14 teleconverter
EX-25 teleconverter
FL-50 flash in one of the large side pockets
Flip-it bounce card + diffuser with flash
Spare batteries, memory cards, RM-CB1, and wrist strap in the other large side pocket
67mm polarizer in one of the top pockets
67mm Expocap in the other top pocket
Gorillapod SLR zoom tripod in the top loops.:cool::camera:

Here are some pictures of the bag, using an earlier configuration of the bag (I now move the flash to a pocket, and usually don't carry a PSD in the field):


http://www.the-meissners.org/albums/camera-hacks/small/2006-08-13-12-31-128-bag.jpg

http://www.the-meissners.org/albums/camera-hacks/small/2006-08-13-12-31-129-bag.jpg


http://www.the-meissners.org/albums/camera-hacks/small/2007-02-13-14-57-142-bag.jpg

[edit 4/25/2008]
I'm adding an attachment so the bag will be pictured in the thumbnail, and shows the way that I'm currently using the bag. In the bag I have:

Left camera: Olympus E-510 with 50-200mm lens + EC-14 mounted.
Left side of lens pouch: Sigma 70-210mm manual lens + 2x extender.
Right side of lens pouch: 11-22mm lens, 50mm lens.
Right camera: Olympus E-1 with 14-54mm lens mounted.
Left front pocket: Extra batteries, memory cards, and filter cleaning cloth.
Right front pocket: FL-50 flash, FL-36 flash, Demb Flip-it junior, Demb diffuser.
Left top pocket: 67mm expocap, 67mm polarizer.
Right top pocket: RM-CB1, RM-UC1 clone, hand straps.http://www.the-meissners.org/albums/camera-hacks/small/2008-04-25-09-36-166-camera.jpg

[Bojan Volcansek]

Very nice review, thank you very much!

Yours Bojan

[Michael Meissner]

Very nice review, thank you very much!

Yours Bojan
You are welcome.
:camera:

[arteacher]

I have one too. you are right- you can put too much stuff in it. I have ordered the midi version to use when I won't need the flash or 300mm lens. BTW I think they use some hemp in the construction as well. I find the strap tends to slip off my shoulder unless I put it over my head.

[Michael Meissner]

I have one too. you are right- you can put too much stuff in it. I have ordered the midi version to use when I won't need the flash or 300mm lens. BTW I think they use some hemp in the construction as well. I find the strap tends to slip off my shoulder unless I put it over my head.
Yeah, I've been thinking of the midi bag to for the E-510 with fewer lenses. :D

Note, they've evidently changed the colors and the new bags are a little more green than the old bags.

IIRC, they advertised using hemp in the bag to give it a classic 1930's image (ala Indiana Jones).

[Michael Meissner]

I just wanted to update this review in terms of the bag's carrying capacity. I have recently moved to having 2 bodies (E-1, E-510), and I recently borrowed the 7-14mm and 8mm fisheye for a week. I was able to fit all of the gear in the NG-2475 as long as I didn't mount the SHLD-2 on the E-1. I put the lens bag in the center, and put the E-510 with 50-200mm + EC-14 mounted in one end, and the E-1 with the 7-14mm mounted in the other end. The 14-54mm, 50mm, 11-22mm, and EX-25 were in the lens insert case. The 8mm fisheye was in one of the large bottom pockets, while the FL-50 was in the other. The FL-36 fit in one of the top pockets, and I had a clip-on filter case for the expodisc and polarizers. I never carried the full gear during a photo shoot, since that is getting to be a very heavy pack. Without putting stuff in the pockets, the NG-2475 fits under an airplane seat, but I'm not sure having the flash and 8mm in the pockets wouldn't have made it too tall.

I suspect the larger lenses (7-14mm, 35-100mm, 90-250mm) will not fit in the lens case with other lenses.
:nerd:

[Godfrey]

This seems a darn nice big shoulder bag although I have to say the styling leaves me cold. And it's only available in khaki ... I wish it were available in black.

The competing Domke is actually a bit bigger and the same price:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/"Domke F808 Messenger Bag" (http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=productlist&A=details&Q=&sku=487238&is=REG) at the same price. It's simpler, less features (basically a big open pit with a removable laptop sleeve and a large front pocket with organizer, some padding on the bottom) but I like the overflap and it seems trimmer somehow.

I think either is larger than my need for another shoulder bag, but I've got them both on my wish list so I can find them easily now.

Godfrey

[mcjohnruther]

Nice post..thanks for sharing your vast experience with us.