Originally posted by djork
seen a couple of them at cathay, feel that they are overpriced, any comments? do they last longer than other camera bags with the same amount of trashing?
Actually, they are a little expensive. I have the F3X, and it has served me well. The good thing about it is that it is very spacious for its size, because very little space is taken up by padding ( which it has very minimal amount of ). It was originally made with photo journalism in mind, which requires a relatively compact bag that is soft so that it molds itself to the user's body, stays close to the body, and does not get in the way.
That said, I can say that Domkes are well thought out bags. Mine has a compact body that can easily take a big SLR with attached booster or vertical grip with a medium sized lens attached, and still have enough space for a 80-200/2.8L lens, and 2 other small-medium lenses. The side pockets are big and roomy, so much so that I can actually put in a full sized hot-shoe flash ( a Canon 540EZ ) in one, and a bunch of film in the other pocket. It's front pocket accomodates my cleaning kit.
Another neat aspect is that it has a carrying handle that is NOT attached to the cover of the bag. This allows you to pick it up by the handle without having to first secure the cover. In a conventional bag, doing this will cause the contents of the bag to spill out !
One more thing. When I travel, I put my camera gear into my hand-carry luggage. The soft Domke bag is squashed completely flat and thrown into my check-in luggage, occupying very little space. Try that with a conventional camera bag !
