Yongnuo YN-565 TTL Flash Now Available

In March of this year, YongNuo announced a new speedlight, the YN-565, that would be compatible with wireless TTL of both Canon and Nikon at the same time.  At least one seller on eBay is now making the YN-565 available for $180 shipped.  The model is a Canon version with a Canon foot.  However, if YongNuo's claims are true, then the flash can be used as a wireless TTL slave with either a Canon or Nikon commander.  However, at this time, no Nikon version of the YN-565 (with Nikon foot) is available yet.

Related news: YongNuo Radio TTL YN-460-TX now available for Nikon

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Yongnuo Radio TTL flash YN460-TX and RX now available for Nikon!

Several months ago, Yongnuo released their own radio TTL flash, the YN-460-TX and RX.  Previewed here.  The Canon version became available a while back.  Now at least one eBay seller claims to sell a Nikon version for $235.  Yongnuo has also confirmed via email that a Nikon version now exists.  The seller told me that the Nikon version is compatible with all Nikon DSLRs.

I'm checking with the seller to see if the item includes both transmitter (TX) and receiver (RX) or just the transmitter.  The seller confirmed that the price includes both transmitter (TX) and speedlight with built-in receiver (RX).  Update: The seller has additional speedlights available for $130 (shipping included). 

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8 Techniques to Get Good Deals on eBay

eBay is a great way to get a substantial discount on photo and other equipment.  But to get the best deals, it helps to know a few techniques.  Using these techniques, I've been able to get deals like this (hit the jump):

• Quantum X2 with QPAQ module.  A brand new QPAQ by itself costs at least $685.  A used X2 is usually over $300 on eBay.  I got both for $350 shipped.
• White Lightning X3200 monolight.  $549 brand new.  Got it for $382 shipped.
• Nikon SB-800 for under $300 shipped, with 6-month warranty.

Here are the eBay techniques I use:

1.  Sniping.  Sniping is a well-known technique among eBay veterans but it still works.  eBay novices usually put in their bid for an item once they find a good deal only to find that someone outbids them at the last moment by a measly $1.  That's sniping in action.

The problem with bidding early is that you're giving information away to your competitors -- letting them know how much you're willing to pay.  If you truly are willing to pay more then there's no harm of course.  But if they are willing to pay just as much as you are, they can outbid you simply by raising their bid slightly more than yours, so you're at a disadvantage.

With sniping, you don't put in a bid until the very last moment before the auction closes, then you bid the highest amount.  A variation on sniping is to snipe twice.  You can put in a bid with a bit less than a minute left using an amount that is LESS than what you're willing to pay.  You'll notice that other snipers will put in their bids around that time too.  Sometimes they have time to raise their bid again if you outbid them.  With less than 20 seconds left, you can then put in your real final bid.  Hopefully they won't have time to raise their bid yet again.  The problem with this strategy is that it can escalate into irrational levels.

2.  Odd numbers.  Instead of bidding round numbers such as $100, bid a bit higher such as $102.68 just in case the other guy bids $100 as well.  Usually I don't see this tactic making a difference but it has been the deciding factor in a few cases.

3.  Boolean Searches.  I mentioned this on the blog before but it's worth mentioning again.  eBay allows boolean searches.  The complete list of formatting rules are here.  It's not easy to remember them all but it's easy enough to remember that "OR" is done by enclosing the terms in parentheses, separated by commas (no spaces).

4.  Saved Searches.  Some of the best deals on eBay are in a "Buy It Now" format -- not an auction.  If the deal is really good, it usually doesn't last long (disappears within minutes of being posted).  How do you find those deals?  I use saved searches.  After you type a search and you see the search results, you'll see a small link to save the search.

Once the search is saved, you can opt to be notified by email whenever an item shows up that corresponds to your search.  This works even better if you have a smartphone.  Just download the eBay app for your phone.  On the iPhone version of the eBay app, to save a search, press the star (hardly obvious!).  On the search tab, you'll then see a link for saved searches.  Pressing on that will show all your saved searches, which you can refresh by dragging down the screen.

On the iPhone eBay app, press the star at the top of the search results to save your search.

Saved Searches appear as a link at the top of the search tab.

Pressing Saved Searches shows you a list of your saved searches.  When a result appears, there will be a blue dot to the left of the search item.

When you find a good deal this way, jump on it.  Once, I saw someone selling a Vagabond Mini for $200 shipped.  At that time I only had one AlienBee though, so I hesitated.  The deal disappeared just seconds later.

5.  Unique Opportunities.  Occasionally, there are postings that present unique opportunities.  Here are the most common ones:

• Bundles.  Sometimes, sellers bundle items together.  For example, you may see a posting for 3 monolights, plus a lightstand and other accessories.  I've found that the bundled price tends to be lower.  This is somewhat expected because not everyone wants everything in the bundle.  Plus, buyers must fork over a nominally higher amount, which means that there are fewer "qualified" buyers.  Generally, the larger and more expensive the bundle, the bigger the discount.  For example, I once bought a bundle that included 3 speedlights plus 4 Radiopopper JrX receivers, 1 JrX transmitter, and 3 RPCube modules for $400 shipped.  Just make sure you really do want everything in the bundle or can find a way to sell some of them.
• Unusual Timing.  If the auction is scheduled to end at 3am Pacific Time, that's not going to get a lot of last minute bidders.  Similarly, if the auction will end during a long holiday (when most people are having fun, not sitting in front of their computers), the final price will usually be on the low side.
• Unusual Spelling or Labels.  If someone labels the item using a non-standard name such as "Alien Bee" rather than the more common "AlienBees" or "Alien Bees," the final price will again be on the low side.  Be sure that your saved searches include unusual name variations.
• Unusual Descriptions.  Sometimes sellers are not very familiar with the item they're selling and will describe it ambiguously.  Use this to your advantage by asking the seller questions to reveal hidden value, then bid accordingly.  For example, the Quantum flash I mentioned above was described ambiguously by the seller who wasn't familiar with the item.  By contacting the seller I found out that the sale included the QPAQ battery module.  Whereas no one else was willing to buy an X2 by itself for the starting bid of $350, I knew that the X2 + QPAQ pair was a good deal for that price.  So I sniped it and got it.
• "Broken" Items.  Sometimes, sellers underestimate the value of their item when a part is broken or malfunctioning.  Once, for example, I bought an SB-800 with a buy it now price of less than $300 just because there was some battery residue in the battery lid.  I also found a broken SB-800 with a price below $150.  I called Nikon and they told me it could cost up to $150 to fix it.  After asking the seller questions to make sure it was repairable, I bought it and got the unit fixed at a total price of under $300 with a 6-month warranty from Nikon.

6.  Ask Questions.  Besides asking the seller questions to clarify, try proactively asking them for other stuff they might have.  Some of the sellers of photo equipment are retiring pros or stores with inventory so they might have unadvertised stuff that you may be interested in.  Once, I bought a CyberSync receiver from a seller.  I asked him if he also had a CyberCommander transmitter and it turned out he was planning to sell one too.  He made me a good offer and I got it.

7.  Give a Little.  If there are a lot of bidders and you really want the item, be prepared to go just a little bit above what you would consider a good deal.  That little bit can give you the edge you need to win.  Just don't go overboard to "win at all costs" -- which is not a good eBay strategy if you're trying to save money.

8.  Watch out for traps.

• Misleading Descriptions.  Read the item description very carefully.  Sometimes the description is ambiguous or misleading.  For example mannequin head wig might mean a mannequin head with a wig or just the wig.  If you're not sure, ask the seller.  Don't assume anything.
• Missing Parts.  Again, read the description carefully.  The seller may make a long list of what's included.  Your job is to figure out what they're NOT saying is included.  (Few sellers proactively disclose what's not included.)  For example if you're buying a lens, they might say: includes box, instructions, warranty card, lens cap and rear lens cap.  The list is quite comprehensive which might lead you to think that it comes with everything that is included with a new lens.  It may turn out however that the lens hood is missing.
• Shipping costs.  Some sellers make the item cheap but bump up the shipping cost.  Make sure the total price with shipping is within your budget.
• Second chance and fake bids.  Some buyers aren't really ready or willing to buy the product.  Sometimes the buyers are irresponsible.  Other times, unscrupulous sellers use software or other means to create false buyers.  Either way, the price is artificially increased.  It's hard to immunize yourself from this kind of problem but one way to avoid it is to be very careful of "Second Chance" offers.  One time, I was bidding on a ballhead that had a very low starting price and no reserve.  Strangely, just a few minutes after I bid, there was another bid on the item.  Even more strange was that every time I raised my bid - even just by 1 cent, it would be followed by a counter bid.  Sensing that something was wrong, I stopped bidding.  The other bidder indeed won but sure enough, I later got an email saying that the winner didn't want to buy the ballhead so I had a Second Chance offer to buy the product for the highest bid I had put in.  The problem is that the price isn't necessarily fair to me because I was bidding against a fake buyer, which raised the price beyond what it otherwise would be.

So anyway, those are my tricks for getting good deals on eBay.  Enjoy and happy bidding!

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Quick Review: Canon 85mm f/1.8

To quote myself from my Canon Lenses Chat - Part 3 post:

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Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM: an excellent lens with USM auto-focus and very nice bokeh and loved by lots of people, however in my opinion and usage scenarios the 85mm focal length is a bit odd on a crop sensor (136mm equivalent), while suitable on full frame cameras, I'm not sure if I can take this lens on its own for walk. The 50mm and the 60mm (85 and 100mm equivalent) I already have are quite long and causes me serious problems when shooting large groups.

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This quote indicates that I would have no use for a 85mm lens, so why did I still buy one? Hit the jump to know.

It all began when I tried one copy of the lens at a camera shop, I shot a lens box on the counter @ f/1.8 and the entire rack behind the counter dissolved into a creamy mush, which is what the 85mm f/1.8 is famous for. I already have a couple of lenses that go to 85mm, I have the 15-85 zoom lens and the 55-250 telephoto, both lenses are good; but none of them could get larger apertures than f/5.6 at these focal lengths, let alone f/1.8.

Here's the creamy mush background I'm talking about, and that's only at f/2.8

The difference between f/5.6 and even f/2.8 at such a focal length makes a huge difference in depth of field, add to that the compression a medium telephoto creates and you can easily "erase" any background to isolate your subject and create a spectacular portrait (not that this is what you'd want to always do). Check Mic's detailed post here about the perspective differences between various focal lengths.

So on a whim (and to satisfy my lens lust), I decided that I needed a wide aperture medium telephoto lens, and if I found out that I don't like it, I would sell it, so how did the 85mm f/1.8 fare with me?

• Focusing: this lens features Canon's super-fast, silent, USM focusing (Nikon: SWM, Sigma: HSM), and it is very fast in this lens. I was able to shoot football games (from the sidelines) and follow the players without a hitch. The closest focusing distance is ~ 0.8m which is not very good, needless to say this lens is too long for indoor/closeup use.
• Chromatic Aberration (Purple Fringing): very strong in this lens especially at wide apertures, I was completely shocked at first and regretted buying this lens since my other primes (50mm f/1.8, 35mm f/2, 60mm f/2.8) and zooms never exhibited such purple fringing. However I discovered that my first examples were all shot in conditions that exaggerated this effect, this doesn't mean that the lens is free of CA, it is still pretty strong at f1/.8, I just learned how to shoot in a way that minimizes it. Check my post at dpreview.
• Sharpness: excellent for my own taste, I don't care about absolute corner sharpness or money note shots, I consider any lens sharp when I'm able to count someone's eyelashes, click on the picture below to see my self portrait @ 1600px wide, this was shot at f/2.0, and the focus is on my eyebrows because I was alone and didn't have someone to help, so I let the camera choose the focus point. Needless to say, stopping down to f/5.6 makes it crazy sharp.

Click to see the 1600px wide version

• Bokeh: some of the most spectacular background renditions I have seen, by focusing closely on someone's face and shooting wide open, you can easily dissolve any background.

Lovely little girl, shot @ f/2.5

• Size & Weight: One of the pleasant things about this lens is that it is quite small relative to it's focal length, and it's not heavy too, it is quite stealthy regarding that it's a 136mm equivalent on my 60D. If you add the lens hood to the equation it makes it look much larger.

Compared to my 15-85 extended to it's long end, this is tiny in comparison, shot using a Nikon D3100

In general, I love this lens a lot. If you're following my posts, you'll know that most of the time when I'm going somewhere, I usually pack my camera and pick one lens, and unless I need the zoom or the wide angle that the 15-85 provides, I usually pick either the 35mm f/2 or the 85mm f/1.8 and nothing else, they are both compact and have very excellent optics.

One thing to be aware of, unlike my 15-85 zoom lens which has image stabilization, this one doesn't, so if we go by the rule of minimum hand holdable shutter speed = 1/eq. focal length, you''ll find that you need your shutter speed to be around 1/125s or faster, which is not always easy to do in low light.

Below are some more pictures that I took using the 85 (including a couple at f/1.8), I hope you like them, if you have any questions please let me know in the comments section below.

Football, f/2.8

One of my all time favorites, the composition, the angle, the sneakers in the front, all of this makes it striking for me, shot @ f/2.8

Hey you, don't point this camera at me. Shot @ f/2.8

I shot this for fun when I was doing my Lowepro bag review, 1/30s @ f/1.8 handheld

This is the D3100 I used to take pictures of my camera, I might review it later

RELATED POSTS:

Canon Lenses Chat - Part 1: Standard Zoom Lenses
Canon Lenses Chat - Part 2: Telephoto Zoom Lenses
Canon Lenses Chat - Part 3: Prime Lenses
Macro Talk: Canon EF-S 60mm f/2.8 Macro USM
Canon EF 35mm f/2 Review
Canon EF Lenses Chat: Canon EF 200mm f/2.8L II USM Review
Canon EF Lenses Chat: Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM Review

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Tension and Climax

What is the peak moment in an action shot?



I took my son to a friend's birthday party and helped take some photos.  Like many kids' parties, they had a pinata waiting to be whacked into submission.  When taking action shots like that, I try to capture the peak moment.

Sometimes the peak moment is the climax of the action.  It's hard to imagine a better boxing shot for example than a shot of the knockout blow with the sweat spraying from the target's hair and face, which has for a brief moment distended so much that the face looks like it was separated from the skull.

On the other hand, sometimes the peak moment is not the climax but the moment just before the subject launches into action, when there is maximum tension.  Take a look at these shots.  They are very similar except for the timing of the capture.

In this case, I much prefer the shot with maximum tension instead of the strike.

The choice between capturing tension or climax is based on the result of the action.  If the action has a lot of visible impact, then I would try to capture the climax.  Otherwise, I would capture the tension.  Besides the boxing shot for example, a balloon bursting would be another example of a lot of visible impact.  On the other hand, a baseball pitch - even a 110 mph fastball - doesn't have a lot of visible impact, no matter how fast the ball might be thrown unless the ball was thrown so fast that it ignited in flames and looked like a fireball :) .  Hence I would try to capture the pitcher's maximum wind-up instead of the actual release of the ball.

In the pinata example, if one of the kids was extraordinarily strong and blew apart the pinata with one earth-shattering blow then the exploding pinata would have been a spectacular shot.  But the pinatas these days are so tough though that they survive several rounds of beating even by sugar-driven kids, falling apart little by little rather than blowing up all at once.  Thus, tension is the better choice.  At least while kids still use sticks instead of shotguns.

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UDMA CF Card and Reader Speed Tests

Here's a couple of quick tests of the Transcend UDMA CF Card (Yellow) and the Datafab UDMA CF Card Reader.



I'm not a spray-and-pray type of shooter and almost never use continuous shooting mode, but while shooting events I've run out of space on my 4GB CF Card on two occasions now.  I thought about getting a larger capacity CF card.  As I was researching which card to get, I read about faster UDMA CF cards.  I remember reading about UDMA cards previously but I was not interested because I didn't think I would have use for the higher speed.  But then I thought about how it takes me a couple of hours to import photos from a single 4GB card and read how it took some reviewers only minutes to copy their photos.  That would be a welcome benefit.

I decided to get the Transcend 600X UDMA CF Card (16GB, Yellow) and the Datafab UDMA CF Card Reader.  I was somewhat concerned that a few reviewers of the Transcend said they've lost images.  But then again no brand appears completely immune from such catastrophic failure (I have a 1GB SanDisk SD card that has failed and doesn't work anymore).  In my opinion, the surest protection is to have a camera that has two memory card slots such as the Nikon D3, D300S or D7000.

Anyway, I got the Transcend yesterday and I did some tests to see the improvement in continuous shooting speed and the photo import speed.  For reference, my current CF card is a SanDisk Ultra II 4GB and I have an old USB CF card reader.

CONTINUOUS SHOOTING:
On a Nikon D300, using 1/250 shutter speed, 160 ISO, manual focus, in Raw mode, I got around 21 shots at the full 6fps rate before the camera slowed down.  After that it shot at a bit less than 3fps (78 shots in 26.5 seconds)  and didn't slow down any further after that.  I was able to get 89 shots in 30 seconds.

By comparison, with my SanDisk Ultra II (claimed to be 15MB/s), under the same conditions I got 16 shots at full 6fps burst mode, then it slowed down to 1.5fps (41 more shots in around 27.3 seconds, for a total of 57 shots in 30 seconds).

My older Nikon D70 could not take advantage of the higher speed of the Transcend. Using 1/250 shutter speed, 200 ISO, manual focus, in Raw mode, I got 3 shots at 3fps burst mode, then 18 more shots at a little more than 1 fps (18 more shots in 14 seconds).  I got the same performance from my SanDisk Ultra II.  That's fine with me because I was planning on keeping the SanDisk Ultra II for the D70 anyway.

PHOTO IMPORT SPEED:
Using an identical scene with the D300 I took 100 shots in Raw.  It turned out to be 983MB in the Transcend and 984MB in the SanDisk.  Close enough.

I uploaded each card to Lightroom 3 using Copy only (not convert to DNG), with render previews set to embedded and sidecar only.  My computer is an old laptop (AMD Sempron 2Ghz with 3GB RAM running 32-bit Windows Vista home basic) and I was writing to a Western Digital My Passport 500GB portable external hard drive.

On my old CF card reader, it took 20 minutes to download 50 images (I ran out of patience waiting to import 100 images), not counting the time it took to fetch previews.  The Ultra II likewise took 20 minutes to download 50 images.  So copying 4GB of photos takes me 2 hours and 40 minutes with either card.

Using the Datafab USB 2.0 UDMA Reader, however copying the 100 raw photos from the Transcend took just 3 minutes 37 seconds.  With the SanDisk Ultra II, it took 4 minutes 38 seconds.  Needless to say, it's a tremendous improvement and I'm very pleased with this new card reader.

CONCLUSION:
The Transcend has impressive speed in continuous shooting mode, but didn't make that much of a difference when importing photos.  The Datafab reader on the other hand was an order of magnitude faster than my old CF card reader.  In retrospect I probably would have just bought the faster card reader and saved some money with a slower CF card.  At least the Transcend wasn't that much more expensive on an absolute basis compared to other 16GB cards.

I still haven't used the Transcend card in real shooting conditions.  I'll update this review after a couple of months or if anything goes wrong with the Transcend card (or the Datafab reader for that matter).

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2x Lowepro Review: Toploader Zoom 45 AW & 55 AW + Unraveling The SlipLock™ Mystery

Left: Lowepro Toploader Zoom 55AW, Right: 45AW, Middle: Canon 60D + 15-85

Welcome to a new rare photography accessory review as I'd like to call them. There are just these photography accessories that you don't find enough reviews for, take today's subject for example, check this link and this one for a couple of google searches about these bags, can you see any reviews about them?

That's why I will be reviewing these bags in this post, along with Lowepro's SlipLock system which was a complete mystery for me until I bought the bags and finally understood how it worked. Hit the break for the full treatment.

P.S. This will be a user review (as usual on this blog) rather than a purely technical/features review, if you didn't notice, this is a thing that we are proud of over here.

UPDATE: I have replced my Lowepro 55AW with the Vanguard Up-Rise 15Z, you can find the review here.


BACKGROUND

Before I delve into the review; I would like to talk a little about my requirements in a bag, since not all people will necessarily have the same requirements as I do. I bought my first bag with my first DSLR (the 550D), I wanted something safe and strong to carry the 550D with the kit lens plus the 55-250 lens, I ended up with a boxy camcorder bag, this bag was neither practical nor small enough to carry around, but it fit the purpose as a storage for my camera and lens.

As I acquired more lenses I wanted somewhere (i.e. a bag) to store my camera and lenses and another bag to take with me when I am going out shooting, I wanted a bag with the following features:

• Can easily access the camera quickly.
• Not expensive.
• Large enough to carry my camera and an extra lens or two, yet not huge.
• Can be worn as a sling across my chest.
• Looks professional.

I found all of these features in the Lowepro Toploader Zoom 55 AW, being a toploader it meant that the camera can be easily accessed by opening the top zipper directly, an added bonus was the all-weather-protection in the form of a built-in weatherproof cover that covers the whole bag except for the rear part touching your body, I used it in rain and it protected my equipment 100%.

After a while I upgraded most of my lens collection, acquired some more and I needed a larger bag, so I started looking for something able to carry almost all of my equipment, and I chose the Lowepro Pro Runner 200 AW which I reviewed here.

This is my lens collection so you could get an idea about the relative size of the different lenses, from left to right: 55-250mm, 85mm f/1.8, 60mm f/2.8 Macro, 35mm f/2 and the fat 15-85 mounted to the 60D

They always say that the best camera is the one that you always have with you, so I wanted to buy a bag small enough for my camera plus one lens only, this way I could carry it always with me, I ended up getting the smaller sister of my Toploader 55 AW, the Toploader 45 AW.

From left to right: Pro Runner 200 AW, Toploader Zoom 55 AW, Toploader Zoom 45 AW

THE REVIEW

I usually carry minimal equipment when I'm out shooting and I hate carrying a large bulk with me. I never used the camera strap that ships with it, I hate it because it is not practical and I feel like a mobile advertising agency, I use a nice hand strap instead, but if I need the camera ready all the time I use my brilliant BlackRapid RS-5 strap which I will review later. There are three scenarios for the camera/lens combinations I use:

• All of my equipment: this happens only 5% of the time, that's when I go all out and carry almost all of my lenses, several speedlights, tripod, lightstands, light modifiers, etc... In this situation I use my Pro Runner 200 AW to carry the camera + lenses + one or two speedlites.

Pro Runner 200 AW carrying my 60D and all of my lenses, sometimes I remove one or two lenses and would be able to fit an extra speedlite

• Camera + one lens only: this happens 60% of the time, I pick only one lens (usually a prime unless I know I will need the flexibility of a zoom) and spend a marvelous time only worrying about shooting, it is a refreshment to force yourself to use just one focal length and adapt your shooting style to it. In this situation the Toploader 45 AW is very good, it is small enough yet can carry my 60D with any of my lenses up to the fat 15-85, only the 55-250 does not fit because of it's length. It has an internal pocket for carrying small items like memory cards, and an external pocket that can carry a spare battery, your keys and extra small stuff.

Here's the 45 AW beside the 60D and the 15-85

60D + 15-85 inside the 45 AW, you can see the belt loop at the back, you can hang this bag to your belt, but I believe you have to be quite large to get away with this

Same as above but a different view, you can see the quick release plate attached to my camera

60D + 35mm f/2, one of my favorite combos, as you can see the bag quite large for this combo

Here's the small memory card pocket I told you about

• Camera + one/two lenses and a flash: this happens 35% of the time, I use the Toploader 55 AW usually when I need a speedlite with me, this bag is very versatile, it can carry my 60D plus two lenses, one mounted to the camera and another below the divider inside the main compartment (will show you in the pictures below) and my 580EX II in the outer pocket. Another combo is to use the camera with one lens and fit the 430EX speedlite below the camera in the main compartment, then I fit my Slik table tripod in the outer pocket. If I need more lenses with me I will use the external lens cases and attach them to the outside of the bag, I will show you how this works by the end of this post. You can also carry your camera with a large zoom like the 70-200 f/2.8 in this bag.
  
  
  
  

  

  There's a movable separator which can go up or down to accommodate taller/shorter lenses

  
  

  

  Here's the 55-250 lens in the lower part, when I do that I move the separator up so that when I put the camera it's weight is on the divider and not the lens below it

  
  

  

  Here's the 60D + 15-85 and the 55-250 at the bottom

  
  

  

  580EX II in the outer pocket, which can also fit my not-so-small tabletop tripod

  
  

  

  Like the 45 AW you can attach this bag to your belt

  
  

  

  Unlike the 45 AW this bag supports Lowepro's SlipLock accessories

SlipLock™ System

This is the system Lowepro advertises for attaching extra accessories to their bags, these accessories vary between lens cases and various pouches with different purposes. I have four of these accessories, three lens cases and a sturdy memory card/small battery pouch. My Pro Runner 200 AW backpack and the Toploader Zoom 55 AW supports two SlipLock accessories on each bag. I will let the pictures show you how it works.

Lowepro Toploader Zoom 55 AW, two lens cases and a memory card pouch

Here's the memory card pouch from inside

And this is where it fits to the bag

Here's how it looks attached to the bag

Empty lens case, I believe this was the Lowepro 1S lens case

60mm f/2.8 Macro inside

Lens case backside

This lens case has a double velcro system for more security since this will be carrying a lens

And here's the lens case attached to the bag, you can attach another one to the other side

CONCLUSION

I currently have four camera bags, you saw three in this post and read about my first one (the boxy camcorder bag), I use my first bag to carry my speedlites, wireless triggers, spare batteries, rocket blower etc...

Do I need more bags? I was always tempted by slingshots, and an opportunity arose before me to buy this Delsey Rondo 72, the bag was extremely roomy and carried everything I had with space to spare, but I was not fond of it's large-ish footprint, besides it was the most uncomfortable bag I ever wore, so I returned it and I am very happy with my current bag collection.

This post has taken a long time to write because I got interrupted several times during the process, so I hope it helps you decide on your next camera bag, if you have any comments please don't hesitate to let me know about them.

All of the photos in this article were taken with a Nikon D3100 and the 18-55 kit lens, lighting was a 580EX in a reflective umbrella to camera left and another 580EX bounced to the ceiling for fill light, flashes were triggered using the eBay wireless trigger. On a separate note, I was really impressed with the noise performance @ ISO 3200 of this little camera, maybe I will review it in a later time.

RELATED POSTS

Camera Bag Review: Lowepro Pro Runner 200 AW

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