Today's professional autofocus SLR bodies are larger than ever. Twist on a state-of-the-art zoom lens, and you've got a formidable piece of
Today's professional autofocus SLR bodies are larger than ever. Twist on a state-of-the-art zoom lens, and you've got a formidable piece of equipment that can challenge any compact camera bag. Jim Domke's answer is the ingenious F-4AF.
Ideal For: Nikon F-4/F-5 or Canon EOS-1 with zoom lens mounted, two additional zoom lenses, flash, film, accessories. Also perfect for many medium format cameras and video palm-corders.
Looks good doing what no other bag has done so far, holding Nikon F4s or F5 body with Nikkor AF-D 80-200mm F2.8 attached, 35-70mm F2.8, 20mm F2.8, SB-24, SC-17, lightmeter, film, cellphone and heaps of other useless stuff.
Strengths:
Versatile
Easy access
Big sidepockets
Descrete
Good shoulder grip
Tough and flexible
No uneeded padding.
NO PLASTIC PARTS!!!
(d*** it, I hate bags with plastic)
Weaknesses:
Akward fitting two camera bodies in padded compartments at the same time.
Great bag. I have replaced the large 1 compartment insert with a smaller one compartment insert which allows me to put my Nikon F4s body in that insert, 4 lenses in the 2 compartment insert (24mm f2.8 and 85mm f1.8 w/ hood in one slot, 50mm f1.8 and 60mm f2.8 micro in the other slot) and a Sb-24 flash and SC-17 off camer cord in the extra room left in the main compartment. I use a little bit of foam padding to seperate the lenses so they don''t bang against each other. In one side pocket I carry a Minolta Spot F meter, some filters and extra lens caps. The other is still empty. The front pocket carries all my film and a cable release. The zipper pocket on the flap carries all my instruction manuals and the pocket on the bag carries a couple of garbage sacks incase it gets wet out.
I also just got a large Domke pouch which holds my 300mm F4 lens perfectly and it easily velcros onto the shoulder strap if I want to carry that with me as well.
Strengths:
Small, easy to work out of and has that Domke feel. I don''t like camera bags that are so bulky and stiff. I think this offers the perfect amount of padding without all that extra that isn''t needed.
Weaknesses:
Well, they don''t seem to get bigger as you get more equipment but other then that....
Actually, I would like to have my flash in a padded compartment, but everything else seems well protected.
Rating Reviewed by: Gary Cheung(Unregistered User)
(Intermediate)
Review Date December 15, 2001
Overall Rating 4 of 5
Value Rating 3 of 5
Used product for More than 1 year
Review 3 of 12
Price Paid:
$90.00
from -
Summary:
I bought this bag because of its stylish look. Here in Hong Kong nearly every photo journalist use this bag. This bag works fine if you do not need a lot of protection to your equipment. I sometimes even remove all the padding making it a everyday bag or a gym bag. The canvas material is surely not waterproof. You can clearly see the water penetrating. One of the thing i unlike most is that the main compartment is not big enough to easily fit my N90s with its back resting on the bottom. So in most cases I need to remove the big lens and change it to a very thin lens like AF20 1:2.8.
Strengths:
Stylish look.
Good accessibility of equipment.
Quite durable though the color tend to fade easily.
the strap evenly disperse the loading making it quite comfortable
Weaknesses:
doesn''t fit easily a pro size camera body
not water resistant
not looking good in some people opinion. my gf always said this bag isn''t worth the money. it''s plainly a canvas day bag.
I have mentioned quite a number of advantages. But consider when I travel outdoors or aboard, I really don't need too much padding or a big bulky bag. I do admit that this bag does not provide the best protection for your gears, but I am quite sure that it provides the quickest access to your phographic equiments, unless you are just carrying "naked" cameras around without a bag.
Strengths:
- not too many padding (great advantage!!!!) - quick access to the gears - not bulky - flexible - big side pockets - good looking!!(personal opinion)
Weaknesses:
- "in-side" compartments is not adjustable. It is marginally big enough to hold my EF 135/2 with hood attached, but not able to hold my EF 85/1.2 with hood. Perhaps that is the fault of 85/1.2, it is really too "thick" - doesn't look water proof (but OK if not pouring rain) - lens rub against each other
Rating Reviewed by: Tom Terry(Unregistered User)
(Professional)
Review Date July 7, 2001
Overall Rating 5 of 5
Value Rating 5 of 5
Visitors rate this review 5.00 of 5,
1 votes
Review 5 of 12
Summary:
Camera bags fall into two categories, STORAGE or WORKING. The Domke F-4AF Pro System Bag is a WORKING camera bag. It combines the right amount of protection with accessibility to your equipment. This is an excellent companion to the F-2. A great bag for light assignments, you just throw in a camera body with a lens attached, a second lens, film, bottle water, and a few snacks, then go out and shoot.
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