You may not own a Fujifilm camera or five, and you may not have a Fujinon lens or five and a Fujifilm flash or two, but this column still has a message for you. And if you DO own the foregoing, you need to sit up and take notice right now.
Camera manufacturers sometimes engage bag making companies to make branded carry-alls, rucksacks, or promotional duffel bags. Most of them are just an excuse to get the brand name out there on show, and can be seen as a cynical exercise in geek training. The marketing department probably sit around in a karaoke bar on the Ginza at 3:00AM making bets on whether they can get their fan-boys to buy underwear with the camera name emblazoned on it...
But occasionally they do a good thing - Fujifilm has with this bag. It is referred to as a travel bag - as opposed to a fashion bag. It has enough useful features to lift it from the money-trap class and put it into the working line. Let's start out with the premise that it IS for a traveller....
The basic size is small enough when you see it not to excite the airlines into a frenzy. It will go into an overhead locker. It is amateur - looking enough to warn them that you will make a hideous shindy if they try to slug you for excess baggage. You can also overbear them if you look totally professional and bitter, but anything in between is inviting trouble.
Inside the first flap are dedicated pockets for memory cards, batteries, a mobile phone, pencils, and business cards.
Inside the second zippered flap is a multi-configurable compartment with velcro partitions. Nothing new about that until you look along the side of the bag...
And there is a zipper running underneath the whole thing. After you unhook and unzip this the bag widens dramatically and you can fit in several bodies, multiple lenses, a flash and triggering accessories. The really interesting thing is the cynicism shown by Fujifilm, who have no confidence in the abilities of either the owners or the baggage handlers. They have included padded cubes with velcro fasteners that can be put under bodies and lenses that are going to be subjected to extra love from the handlers. You just configure the thing as you need.
Of course there is a shoulder strap to take the weight, and of course the size of the open carry compartment will tempt Fujifilm owners to carry far more equipment than they will ever need. That is human nature. Since the case sits on padded rubber feet as well, you can set it down on wet asphalt when you run out of energy without doing the gear any injury.
Note there is a tablet space there inside as well.
You will not injure your wallet either - this whole shooting match goes for under $ 60. Come on down to Camera Electronic and fill it up with new lenses.
