Camera bags are the bane of us all, and believe the perfect ‘all purpose’ bag doesn’t even exist. However I may have come close. My previous acquisitions have either been too large, too expensive (for me), or not practical enough. Now I’m sure many could find the perfect bag if money wasn’t an issue, but I’m not wired that way, at least when it comes to justifying a camera bag purchase. What I’ve wanted for a while now is a practical bag I can use every day to carry my basic gear (DSLR, two lenses, hot shoe flash unit and accessories) along with a laptop and business necessities. Most available options are just too expensive and too bulky.
Recently, however, I stumbled across an option that was so affordable; it was worth taking a gamble on. Adorama.com an online retailer and image processing site has provided me with several pieces of equipment in the past at reasonable prices. Their service is excellent, and catalog extensive. While I don’t want to shill for Adorama, I can say my past experiences with them have been positive. Adorama recently reduced the price of their ‘house brand’ camera bag called the “Commander” to a whopping $29.95 apparently due to overstock. This is a compact, water-resistant nylon bag that is available in gray and black.
When it arrived I was able to transfer almost everything in my cumbersome backpack to the Commander. It is compact, so some sacrifices had to be made, however, not in regard to the camera equipment. There is a compartment for a laptop, the center compartment comes divided into three sections and can be adjusted using Velcro panels, and a large zippered pocket. It’s deep enough for my camera body with attached Minolta 70-200mm f4 Telephoto lens. The front compartment has several pouches, pockets and zippered sections for accessories and business items. There are additional zippered pockets on the front and back for notebooks, documents, magazines, etc., and even a mesh water bottle pocket on the side. It’s been very useful on a day-to-day basis and allows me to keep my basic camera gear close. It’s built well and everything is accessible.
While it displays Adorama branding in the form of a large white logo on the lower, right corner of the bag facing, it is a fairly unassuming, generic looking bag, which is a plus in my opinion. Adorama is being a bit misleading in its product description however. Luckily for me I use a small form factor 13.3” laptop. While Adorama claims the Commander bag will support a 15” laptop, I’m not sure what the PR department was smoking at the time they made that claim. How they expect a 15” laptop to fit in a bag with dimensions of 12.5” x 12.5” x 7” is a mystery. I’m not sure what 15” laptop model is only 12.5” inches wide, but that would be the only model(s) that would fit in this bag. Mine barely does.
That being said, it turned out to be the perfect bag for cross-country air travel, as it was put to the test recently on a trip from Arizona to Rhode Island. When I arrived at the security station, all I had to do was remove my laptop, since it has to be in a separate bin, and sent the bag with camera equipment, accessories, doohickies, and all through the scanner. It couldn’t have been simpler. The Commander fits perfectly under an airplane seat and is quite accessible once the plane takes off. It was also quite comfortable on my walkabout around “beautiful downtown Woonsocket”. Not bad for 30 bucks.
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