My Camera Bag... 

From a photographer who takes himself entirely too seriously at times, please don’t ever change! Your sense of humor and humble acceptance of ‘self’ bring me back to center every time. Thanks James. Congrats on the Leica purchase.

From a G9 to a M11 - life is treating you well !

I think James got into photography for the bags and nothing else!

Seeing the Leica stickers still on your cameras made me giggle! And always enjoy your videos! Thanks for insight and laughs, as always!!!

I have used the peak design 6L sling for about a year now and I love it. Carry it practically everywhere with me. Its the perfect size for carrying my 11in iPad Pro, m50 mkii (with the lens attached) and a few extra lenses. Its the smallest bag that I could find that fit that criteria. Even fits my 55-250mm telephoto. Its also a sling which I find far more comfortable than backpacks.

I laughed when he said his gear has sufficiently changed in a year. James your gear has sufficiently changed from last week 😂😂😂

The stabilizer is a game changer! I have the smaller Peak Design sling so I don't really need it for that one. But for my larger Think Tank Retrospective sling that fits my 13" laptop, I stole an extra strap with a hook from another backpack to make myself a stabilizer so it does't shift around when walking.

I’m so glad you have (so far!) kept the M 11. You will absolutely get used to focusing via the rangefinder. I was surprised how easy it is to get crisp, non-shaky shots, given the 60 MP sensor. I’ve always had other systems in addition to my analog, and then digital, M bodies, but there is something very special about the cameras and lenses as well as the history of the brand and of the Leitz family.

Wow, no coaster for that glass of water! This guy knows how to live dangerously!

That Elmarit is a seriously underrated lens. I love mine. At 2.8 it has a really pleasing draw and the mid-tone contrast through f/5.6 is just a little softer ( less clinical) than the latest, whoopty-doo Leica glass. I love that about it, it feels just slightly analogue.

I absolutely love how the storyline in your your videos accurately represent my camera purchasing process 😂

A few years ago (the Covid years) I became enamored with the Peak Design bags and ended up with a boat load of them. Fortunately, I have a nephew and a niece who are now the proud (?) owners of a couple of them. But, I do find the remaining ones useful. I like to use the PD Backpack for travel. And I am a fan of a bag in a bag. I put my gear in the backpack, then place the backpack in a hard shell roller suitcase. Try as they might the airlines have yet to damage my equipment. I also have a large PD sling bag that I use when I am home. The Covid years also saw a proliferation of lenses. All of which, I do not need. So, I need to sell some of them. (But, they're so beautiful.) I know, but some need to go.

You'll love the M11 the big problem is the lack of weather sealing living in North Wales.

Love your sense of humor and that you also just try things like e.g. the reduction of your equipment. Always a pleasure to see your videos!

Thank you, James!

Ahhh he’s keeping the M11! Can’t wait to see what you make with it James! 📷

I do enjoy the camera experimenting!

Oooh! Signature wall. Nice touch. Glad you are simplifying.

That is a very good strategy! Buy it on the hype. Make content on it. Rent it. Pay for it with the rent money. Keep it forever "for free". GENIUS!

I love watching your videos. You're humour is brilliant, cheers me up no end.

This makes the Leica sticker on your Sony so much more funny. I like your gear philosophy James.

Pausing at 3:49 to comment 🤯. This is the hack I’ve been waiting for all my life. (Of course now I have to buy a 10L sling 😬)

I've had the lowepro protactic 350 for about 2 years and I'm super happy with it. My old camera backpack was too big for me. So once it had too much storage space and it was too big on my back. And just after a day full of photo shoots, my back was already hurting. That's why it doesn't always have to be the biggest backpack etc. And I see it like you, you don't always have to carry everything with you.

Brilliant! I think you solved my airplane problem.🎉

Completely agree on the Peak Design backpack. Great backpack, not so great camera backpack. I am traveling in a few weeks and likely to use your idea and go pick up the 10L bag to put inside my other bag😂 Great hack.

I love learning new things. I really enjoy when humor and intelligence is utilized in the process. I just meant to say: I'm glad I found your channel.

Good stuff. I’m a fan of the sling. Have the everyday backpack and am less than enamoured of it…Going to the frozen North shortly. I shall dispense with the backpack and blame you if it all goes south. Thanks for your tongue-in-cheek delivery. Brightens our day.. Bestest.

Hahaha I’ve been going through the “do I _really_ want a digital Leica?” dance since I got an M6 a while ago. The tiny rangefinder exp is so good. Esp for 1 body 1 lens travel.

Genius! I'm with you. Hate the Peak Design Backpack as a camera bag. Frequently want a smaller camera bag when I get to a destination. Game changer idea!

Get the electronic viewfinder for the M11, it would make your experience so much better.

I have two different setups. One for Event and Portrait work which incorporates larger lenses and then I have my special "travel light" kit. In that kit (beside camera), is the sigma 24mm f/3.5, Sony 40mm g f/2.5, Sigma 65mm f2, and Sigma 90mm f/2.8. A super light kit but still produces excellent images and I don't hurt my back dragging everything around. That's important when you're 73 years old (at least for me). Love your humor and videos!

I just downgraded from a peak design everyday backpack 30 L to an Osprey 18 L! I am so much happier that I’m not taking ALL of my gear! Love the videos!

I think you’re really going to enjoy the Leica. If you hold on to it, you can hand it down to your kids as a legacy gift when they’re old enough. It doesn’t take photos any better than the Sony in my opinion but it gives a unique experience and it just feels special.

Taking less stuff than loads of stuff. PERFECT!!

I’ve just gotten the A7iv two months ago and it really is the perfect camera for RU-vid, and surprisingly good for stills

Best line in the video is the title of one of my favorite books: The Paradox of Choice by Barry Schwartz. Totally agree with your change in gear.

I knew you would!

Congrats on the Leica… I am tempted to buy one for my 40th… always wanted one, was tempted by Q2… but I really want 35mm. I am Intrigued whether you sold everything else. Personally I have a big gear drawer, and each trip I pack differently for, and each day I may take out different gear. I usually lean to taking one or 2 lenses which helps me keep being creative and not laid down with gear.

I did call it! I knew you’d be on Leica. Enjoy that camera. They’re a lot of fun

Funny, as I’m quite in the same mood nowadays : few stuff, but from great quality, and cheap. So I bought old/used Sony A-mount (discontinued) gear : A850 camera + 3 great Zeiss autofocus lenses : 24mm f2, 50mm f1.4 and 135mm f1.8 (or 100mm f2 if I choose the lightest setup). All packed up in a small shoulder bag. That’s all, the results are great and that’s liberating !

I decided to lighten my kit as well about a year ago. I've even switch cameras to the Fuji film XT5 instead of the NikonD850 recently.... and amazingly I'm selling more prints now with my XT5... I also switch to a much light tripod that is fantastic, and I'm sure you heard of the Ulanzi ... And now I carry three lenses and a small GoPro for video. Carrying much lighter gear, reduces your fatigue level as well and encourages you to walk a bit further to get that amazing shot

i really like this setup and i have both of those bags and will be stealing this idea...including adding the extra strap to the sling bag. Brilliant idea!

I like the mirror on your wall that looks like a bunch of lens filters ;-)

No comment on the bag or its contents, but as a dad of two small children I'd like to point out how jealous I am of your clean house. Lovely!

I love a bit of Buyers guilt. I had the same when I got my 50S II. Just enjoy it. And take great images.

Ah yes. Scathing thoughts and can’t stop thinking about it. Reminds me of a woman or two in my life 😂

I'm chuckling at your Leica rationalization. ;) Have fun!

Buying the Leica and selling it a few years later…you’re approaching car guy logic here. Which also makes sense for a camera the price of a car.

This is my favorite Camera Gear Channel

And suddenly, my inteire day ends perfectly with one of James’s video. 😊

Love that bag

I got the 10l park design awhile ago, saw it in the store at a great deal and wanted to grab something smaller for day to day walk arounds and I was really surprised at what actually fits in there. It’s a really good bag that can easily carry more than you need

The Leica employee where I bought my M11 said that Leica makes an inflation adjustment 2 times a year. So it is possible that your M11 will still bring in money when you sell it in one or two years.

10:33am on a Tuesday is a perfect time for a beer...cheers.

I just found your channel a month ago. I really like your sense of humor about both sending back and keeping the Leica! Now you’ve got me thinking about shooting with prime lenses as opposed to the zoom lenses I’ve been using on a Fujifilm XT2.

Thank you James, keep up the brilliant content.

I'm excited to see the Elmarit in action. I almost bought one the other day, but held off, because I wanted to walk into a Leica store to do it rather than online. I'll save it for my next trip to Singapore, I think. It looks to be exactly my perfect manual focus lens. Light, wide, 2.8. I'd probably just stick it on other cameras though, because I'm an LCD screen shooter. Don't hurt me. 😂

The one thing you might be missing after a while of using the Leica is IBIS. Other than that I completely understand why you went that route. My eyes seem to be incompatible with rangefinders but if there was a Leica like the Q just with a mounting hole instead of a fixed lens ... that would be mine in a heartbeat. Until then I have the Voigtländer APO 50 on my Sony.

I was using a 15L sling bag for a while, but as I've got older I've found a full day of carrying gear on one shoulder has started to really kill my lower back. I picked up a 7L manfrotto shoulder bag and use it as a camera cube inside a 25L hiking backpack. Gives me the option to grab the small lightweight kit for anything where I just need to take my camera and a lens or two and also have the option to pack it as carry on and use all day without it causing any real pain. With that being said, the most comfortable bag solution I've used is putting the 7L bag on a belt, but the volume is just that little bit too low to be useful in that configuration.

So the question is, where's the X-pro !? Or the M11 made it redundant?

I find sling bags to cut in my shoulder pretty quickly, I can carry a small backpack of the same weight for much longer

As a challenge to myself, I will often travel with only one camera and one lens. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, but it makes me think! 😁

That is very clever and nice excuse for keeping Leica. I must try this trick on my Wife.😁

I would never have thought that you actually keep the Leica M11! Having some experience in the Leica "world", I would recommend that you look out for a used Summarit-M 1:2.4/75 mm (Leica has sadly discontinued the Summarit series lenses) - it would complement the other two lenses perfectly, and it is still quite small (and has a short focus throw); I had one (when I still had a Leica M), and I loved it! If you need 35 mm, just crop in on the 28 mm (the M11 has plenty of pixels to do so); you can change to frame temporarily to get the right framing. And get the electronic viewfinder for your M11, it will instantly improve your focusing skills … 😁 (That said, listening to your musings I would've thought that you are a Leica Q2 kind of guy.)

Surprise surprise,,, not! Sometimes you just need to change things up and go on a voyage of discovery, it keeps life interesting. Good fun.

Glad I’m not the only photographer who hated the every day bag for camera, lenses!

James: "What's in my camera bag? Another camera bag!!" Love it!! 🤣 However I fully agree with carrying less gear. Just a few years ago I was carrying a DSLR, 24-70, 70-200, maybe a 16-35, a tripod, filters, and anything else that could fit in my bag. My back hated me!! And I spent too much time trying to decide what lens to use for each shot. I was also really worried about falling over when scrambling over rocks. These days I'm MUCH more minimalist and take one body and one lens most of the time. Very rare do I take a second. I've even started using my X100F a lot more when out on personal trips and leaving the heavier pro gear at home. It's brought back the joy of taking photos (much like you and your Leica I guess) and as I reult I enjoy the images more afterwards, even if they aren't as technically perfect as they would have been with my pro gear.

The company "Alpaca" Makes a brilliant sling stabilizer

Could have been the tenth video in a row that you could have started with "This is not a channel that is about gear", and that is about gear. 😊

"In my experience, laptops work best when they're not snapped." - James Popsys, a modern philosopher.

I've limited myself to a 10 liter sling bag. The pgytech onego sling to be exact, which I purchased used...just like my camera bodies, cars, tools and wives.

As much as I love to travel light, I've really come to appreciate longer telephoto lens. The longest lens I have is 100mm only but it's given me some of my favourite photos that I wouldn't have been able to have gotten without it. Weight is probably the biggest deterrent from me buying longer heavier lens. I don't even mind carrying the weight... it's the airlines weight restrictions that scare me off because I am to scared to trust an airline to have my gear in a checked bag

Love that you still have the Lieka sticker on your Sony cameras.

I'm a little bit shocked that you never tried a Billingham Hadley. I have the OG normal size in Khaki and large in Sage, and these are no problem 10 years old or more, and still are perfectly working and watertight. Truely, these are wonderful. A bit more posh and less outdoor looking, but you never know ;-).

I also do the bag in a backpack 🤣

5:00 YESSSSS, I´ve been asking peak design for a cross strap since the beggining. I have the 6L and I bike

Yep. I am currently carrying the x50 bag with about 15kg of Sony gear and my philosophy for 2023 is go to the gym. We'll see how that fares...

I've only been 'enthusiastic photographer' for a couple of years, but I totally agree with your philosophy of taking smaller bags... When I take my 'big bag' I essentially carry 5kg of extra gear that I really never use. In recent months I've started going back to my roots and only taking one body and one lens, it somehow makes me think better about different shots and compositions. Sure, it can be annoying as hell when you spot a composition that would work great with THAT lens you left at home, but that is a price worth paying for being more agile I think.

I've got the Peak design 6 liter and it caters to all my needs and I also am gearing towards taking less gear. Makes it a lot easier. Especially when traveling. A 17-50 lens and a 55-250 (I work with Aps-C) and Bob's your uncle. 🙂 Only with special projects, I'll take my big bag with more gear. So less is more in my opinion.

New follower here! You are funny! 😂 I can’t justify spending that much on a Leica but I have a few cameras and camera bags (far more than what I need).. and I was still looking in Amazon for new camera bag options :)..

I have totally put my old 9L Peak Design sling inside my WANDRD PRVKE backpack when traveling for exactly this reason! 😂

I love PD pouches, straps and clips. But their back and shoulder bags as well as their tripod are very inconvenient.

Totally agree. I loved the idea of the PD backpack. But it was too uncomfortable for me, and i recently sold it off. But I still use the 5ltr sling for my minimal camera carry. Probably upgrade it to the 6ltr once this 5ltr is on its last legs.

I'm using the 6 liter Everyday Sling and the only thing I'd change is the quick adjust buckle on the strap, easy to use but doesn't really hold its position that well (the strap loosens by itself over time).

Having a great bag setup for dodger scenarios is helpful and giving some inspiration for those of us that need a nudge in one direction or other is meaningful to your community.

Back to a small kit. Circle of lifffffeeeee

The gear I carry is my Canon 250D + 18-55 mm lens. and a capture clip for my camera bag. It works great for me!

Can’t believe you kept the Leica after all that 😂 you’re funny. Hope you enjoy using it

Very enjoyable .Been using Leica over 20 years also Sony/Canon/Pentax/Richo/Sigma .Always come back to Leica but they do have their limitations. Fun fact : it is strongly rumoured that the sensor in the M11 is the 62 mp Sony sensor. Probably correct as there is only one 61mp sensor on the market. Look forward to future content.

O how cool about the stabilization strap idea I need to try that.

I was surprised and excited that you kept the Leica. I'm looking forward to your thoughts on it.

kudos for keeping the Leica 😉

My setup is quite similar to yours. I have Leica M10R with 28mm f2.8 and 35mm f2 lenses. For Sony, I am using A7R3 with 35mm GM & 24-70mm GM2. Recently I have sold my 24-70mm GM2 and replaced it with the 20-70mm F4 to reduce the weight of my gear.

I didn't think you were going to send that Leica M back! Once you get one in your hands, it hard to give it back again. I think you will have a great time with the camera. It might not always be the best for landscape stuff (I would definitely recommend the EVF accessory for focusing), but it's a great camera for just taking around with you, recording life, and enjoying your photography. I'd definitely practice zone / range focusing as that opens up another world with the camera and that 28mm lens.

Brilliant! I just checked and the Peak Design 10L sling V1 also fits inside the 20L Everyday ZIP backpack like that. That may be my future method. I loved the touch of reverse-“amongst our weaponry” energy at the end 😂

Haha, sitting on the fence for one (with my heavy GFX stuff in my bag) I‘m delighted to watch your progress with the M11. Your timing couldn’t have been more appropriate 😂

I have that Voigtlander in a Sony mount. I use it on an a7c and love it! My carry around kit is the a7c, 50mm APO, 35mm ZA and an iPad Air. I love being portable.

What about the Fuji xpro3? Are you still planning on keeping / integrating it or not so much after all?

Love your combination of experimentation, self discovery, pragmatic, and tongue in cheek approach. I too, have been working on lightening my, camera bag, load and bought a 7L Wotencraft. I love it!. If I had a 10L I am sure I could cram 26g of stuff in it. I put the 24-105 and the 100-400 on the shelf and I'm currently carrying the 16-35 GM, and a Tamron 28-200. I am considering changing to a 20-70 G, and a 70-200 GM II for a bit better IQ. If you ever get the chance to test the 20-70 G with your 24-70, I would be very interested in seeing how far off the IQ is.

I know that you said that you didn't want to go much over 10L, but I found the middle ground between the versatility and the stability with the Peak Design Everyday Messenger V1--the V1 is important. I can easily fit my Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio in the bag with all my gear. The selling point for me was the strap. You can change it to several different possitions (one just like the sling), but it comes standard with the "stabilizer" strap that is used exclusively for the setup that you had suggested here. You can easily pick one up used for £65.