Big brother to the F5XZ?

Andrea:

Just came back from a month travelling in Europe and I had to let you know that the F5XZ (rugged wear) was awesome. Considering the weather (very wet), the bag worked flawlessly. The biggest advantage with this bag was how unobtrusive is is: it doesn't scream "expensive camera inside" and barely got a second glance.

What would be really nice would be to get a bigger brother to this bag for those times when you need just a bit more, such as an additional larger lens. This would also allow for a larger opening on the top and my one complaint with the existing bag is that to opening is a bit too narrow for a prosumer SLR. This would also allow for a slender pocket on the back of the bag to carry a netbook/small notebook as well.

One other thing that would be nice would be to use less velcro on the flap (maybe just is the corners) or use snaps instead. There is nothing worse than standing in a large cathedral, quiet and solumn, people silently praying and hearing the lengthy "RIPPPPP" of the overly large strip velcro resonate off the 100 foot high ceiling and every matching stone wall. It is about as subtle as letting off a small cannon. More than once my face turned an interesting shade of red while extracting my camera from the bag...

Other than that, the F5XZ is perfect and I'd love to see a larger version one day.

Glenn

[Jon]

Take a look at the F3x or F803, both also available in Ruggedwear. As for the Velcro, grab a piece from somewhere (hardware stores, fabric stores, camping stores, etc. carry it) to put over one side of the large piece on either the flap or the pocket when you don't want it to be noisy. The Velcro, unlike a snap, give you some kind of alert if someone other than you tries to open your bag.

[QUOTE=Jon;1382] <snip> As for the Velcro, grab a piece from somewhere (hardware stores, fabric stores, camping stores, etc. carry it) to put over one side of the large piece on either the flap or the pocket when you don't want it to be noisy <snip> [/QUOTE]
[B][U][SIZE="4"]Tiffen[/SIZE][/U][/B]: I think this should be addressed. An excellent solution I have seen is with the Think Tank Skin system. There are velcro patches just above the velcro. Hence, the velcro can be flipped above to eliminate noise:

[IMG]http://www.thinktankphoto.com/product-images/xlarge/Feature-Skin-50-12.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://www.pinoyphotography.org/forum/tp-images/Image/skin_components/tt_skin-20080925-71130000.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://www.thinktankphoto.com/product-images/xlarge/Feature-Skin-75-Pop-Down-14.jpg[/IMG]

This came in incredibly useful during a recent Gig (church wedding). I hope Domke will implement something like that :) Cheers.

[2mnycars]

Sabesh.

Great idea!
Great post--velco silencer!

I have a C. $7MDH that I stopped using for this reason.

DaveL
(I'm Dave. I'm a bagaholic.)

edit: looking for a new supplier for photo equipment. Not pleased with the vendor that sold me my Domke bag and g11. I have problems with my g11. Truly impressed that the lady responded to your comment about a US order!

We are coming out with some new bags in the near future that will allow you to silence your velcro.

[2mnycars]

Andrea I truly appreciate the quality that you bring to this forum.

Question:
Can something be done to improve labelling on display bags in stores?
I couldn't for the life of me figure out which model was which until I yanked them down off the rack and dug deep.
I probably looked at bags 6 or 7 times at Henry's and didn't buy. I'm sure I bought another competitor's bag during this interval. (My name is Dave. I'm a bagaholic.)
I've found Henry's store help less than helpful when I'm looking at bags. So I"ve been on my own.

I've been a Domke customer for a long time. My vest is about 20 years old; I've probably had more than 10 straps on different cameras and bags.

Question 2:
Would it be expensive to add the rubber gripper material to the second side of the straps? It would be easier to put a camera on my shoulder if I didn't have to choose the strap side and be so careful putting it on. Just a thought.

DaveL
Toronto

edit: first better camera was a Nikon F2 photomic I bought new when first out. Been around a while and I've bought 2 many bags.

[QUOTE=sabesh;1386][B][U][SIZE="4"]Tiffen[/SIZE][/U][/B]: I think this should be addressed. An excellent solution I have seen is with the Think Tank Skin system. There are velcro patches just above the velcro. Hence, the velcro can be flipped above to eliminate noise:

[IMG]http://www.thinktankphoto.com/product-images/xlarge/Feature-Skin-50-12.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://www.pinoyphotography.org/forum/tp-images/Image/skin_components/tt_skin-20080925-71130000.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://www.thinktankphoto.com/product-images/xlarge/Feature-Skin-75-Pop-Down-14.jpg[/IMG]

This came in incredibly useful during a recent Gig (church wedding). I hope Domke will implement something like that :) Cheers.[/QUOTE]
That's a nice idea that Think Tank got with this system...

hi guys,..
its very great informative link shared here useful one for many others who needs this kind of stuff,…
i appreciate this effort,..
thanks,..

This is a very good point, and I think Domke should seriously rethink the design of their bags Re. Valcro which must be costing them sales against their competitors, I had to cut off most of the Valcro in my recently Olive drab F5XC and devise a way to silence what's left, I particularly bought the bag for inconspicuous street shooting but when I opened the flap that people from ten yards around looked my way making stealth impossible because it was so loud.

Hi Ben,
Check out the new Domke F-831, 832 and 833 Photo Courier bags. they all have velcro silencers on them.

Andrea