What are some of your favorite bags and why?
I love the
Think Tank Photo "Urban Disguise 20" bag. It's small and light yet holds a good amount of gear. The materials and workmanship are top-notch. Unfortunately it seems, when TTP revved their "Urban Disguise" line to v2, they dropped the 20. Very sad indeed - I should've bought two!
When really packed up it holds a body w/lens, up to five additional lenses or film, batteries, SD cards, lens cleaning supplies, a couple of filters, a tabletop tripod and cable release... Even fully packed, it's still comfortable to carry around all day - unlike my backpack of DSLR gear that rang in at 25lbs. (which I had to carry it for ten hours once).
The inside is highly configurable as it comes with a bunch of Velcro-tabbed dividers and even extra padding panels. It might take a bit of fussing to get it how you like initially (like any new camera bag) but everything stays put very well. Some prefer messenger style bags - if you do, check out the new "Retrospective" line, which is basically an "Urban Disguise" with a flap instead of unzipping across the top.
I've had it for a few years now and dragged it around the streets of Europe, the jungles of Belize, castles in Puerto Rico and beaches on the Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea - still looks and works like new, though perhaps slightly faded. But nothing's fallen off, broken or failed on me - not one stitch!