Think Tank Photo Retrospective 30 Bag and Costa Del Mar Sunglasses
Shown above with the Think Tank included rain cover.
The Costa Del Mar Wingman 580 sunglasses are a very nice,
quality, stylish, polarized pair of sunglasses and they come with a lifetime
warranty against manufacturer defects. If you want quality sunglasses that have
a modern, hip, yet classic style, check them out at costadelmar.com
The prizes also included a couple from Enlight Photo
Products. The Frio coldshoe is a universal flash mount adapter that allows one
to mount a flash onto a tripod or light stand.
Enlight Frio adapteroshutter
The Enlight IOShutter cable is another prize and one that I
find very useful. Combined with their free iOS application, it allows me to use
my iPad or my iTouch as a remote shutter including timer, bulb long exposure,
time lapse intervalometer, sound activated, and ShakeToTake modes. Shown below
is the IOShutter cable connecting the iPad to the camera.
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Enlight IOShutter cable
Enlight IOShutter and iOS application
My favorite prize of the bunch is the Think TankRetrospective 30 camera bag.
Think Tank is a premier photography bag company
and also makes versions
of the bag that are smaller (Retrospective 5,7,10, and
20) and larger
(Retrospective 40 and 50) but for my size frame, the 30 is
a perfect size.
Check out their bags at http://www.thinktankphoto.com/?code=ap-269
I have many camera bags in my collection and each one plays
a different role
depending on what and where I will be photographing. Most of
them I've purchased
for very specialized uses such as day hikes in the wild,
on-location portrait shoots,
studio use, travel, event photography, macro
and nature photography, landscape photography, etc. The Think Tank
Retrospective 30 bag turned out to be a perfect
fit for the unknown scenario.
Sometimes I'm not sure what I will need on a shoot so
I bring along a variety
of items. In the past I would bring several different bags of items
to a shoot
and I was lacking a bag that could accomodate practically everthing but the
kitchen sink. I needed something that could fit the whole Kit And Caboodle yet
still be comfortable and non-obstrusive to carry. The Think Tank Retrospective
30 fits the bill perfectly and I now affectionally call it; "The Kit And
Caboodle Bag".
I've always felt that Think Tank photography bags are the
"cream of the crop" but since their cost was typically higher than
many of their competitors, I opted for lower-priced bags. Now that I've been
able to own and use a Think Tank bag, I've realized that their features and
quality provide me a value that far exceeds their cost. Since the contest, I
have purchased additional Think Tank products to replace some of my other
"kits".
I will post about those in future updates to this blog.
Think Tank Retrospective 30 And Essentials
As I've mentioned, this is the bag I take with me when I'm
not sure what I will need. From the picture above, you will notice that I also
take a couple of other items that I consider essential. These include:
If I think that I will need a larger tripod or monopod, I
will bring either an Oben or Manfrotto monopod and/or a Manfrotto or
ReallyRightStuff tripod.
As you can see in the photo, the Retrospective 30 bag is
filled to the brim but there is actually still room inside one of the many
compartments, nooks, and crannies along with a back pocket that can fit an iPad
or iPad mini. Now let's get to actually exposing the wonders of the
Retrospective 30 and see what I put in it.
A wonderful little ThinkTank accessory is the Cable
Management 20 bag (shown in the above photo at the top of the bag) containing
my rechargeable batteries and several battery chargers. Here is a top view of
the filled Retrospective 30 bag without the battery/charger bag:
Kit And Caboodle Inside Top View
It may not look like there is much in the bag (looks can be
deceiving) so here is a view with everything taken out of the bag.
Full Kit And Caboodle Contents
Surprising, isn't it?
Contents:
Carrying a filled Retrospective 30 camera bag was suprisingly
comfortable and not too heavy if you carry it messenger style with the bag
across your body from the right shoulder with the bag resting on the left hip.
I think the comfort can be attributed to the soft, thick, padded shoulder strap
and also to the soft canvas fabric of the bag that conforms across my left hip.
I also like the look and style of the bag and the feel of the material. The bag
is designed and constructed with a myriad of pockets and compartments inside
that sometimes plays on my memory to rediscover where I stuffed something.
I sincerely want to thank Al Diaz, ThinkTank Photo, Costa Del Mar,
and Enlight Photo for the contest and prizes.
Let me know in the comments if you like this write up on my
gear and wish to see the other "kits" of camera bags that I use for
specific purposes.
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