Jon Sienkiewicz Blog

If you think the name Advanced Rear is a little confusing, wait until you wade through the entire Manfrotto Advanced photo backpack lineup which includes models named Advanced Active, Advanced Travel and my overall personal favorite, the Advanced Gear photo backpack. The good news is that aside from the goofy naming system, I can’t find anything else wrong with them. These are beautifully designed, very well made and look like they’ll last a lifetime. But I’m getting ahead of myself…

Let’s face it, air travelers. Takeoffs and landings in cataclysmic weather are a breeze compared to waiting for your bags to appear on the luggage carousal. Did your unlocked bag survive the flight without rupturing along the seams? Was it opened for inspection? And who would have thought that 14 other passengers checked black American Tourister Fieldbrook luggage sets identical to yours? Sound real? Then check out this Strapsafe Luggage Belt from Pacsafe.

You may think that the main appeal of Tenba’s new line of Switch camera bags is the assortment of flaps that can be zipped on to replace the standard leather-like top. Choose from denim, urban camo, brick red—check Tenba’s website for all the flavors. But even without the far-out fashion flair, these bags are the real deal. 

The holidays are approaching and that’s a good excuse to buy a new photo bag for yourself or a loved one. Here’s a collection of my seven favorite photo bags, gleaned from full reviews that appeared in this column over the past couple of years. 

The monitor you look at every day when you edit video and digital images should be as good as your camera, otherwise you may not truly be producing the output you envision. Calibration is a must, but a reliable, high performance display is indispensible.

‘Twas the night before Christmas
And I was delirious:
I could not find the battery
for my Fujifilm mirrorless.