Since Leigh does NOT want a discussion thread in his quest for the Zone VI 8x10 film carrying bag, and it seems that there are several who actually WOULD like to have a discussion about it, let's break the chain and start one here.
The original discussion was about the Zone VI film holders and the desire Leigh had to find more like the one he already had. Other folks chimed in, offered some suggestions, and what I thought was an actually enlightening conversation ensued.
I have been very disappointed with the MC Gear bag that I purchased earlier this year. I found it very flimsy and that it didn't offer much actual protection to the film holders. At over $125 a pop for 4x10 holders I decided to go in search for a better solution. I couldn't find one that I actually liked, so I decided to have my own bags made locally here in Salt Lake City, Utah, from a reputable custom bag maker named WAVE.
They have made me several bags, one to carry two seperate Canham camera backs in one pouch, another for the wide-angle bellows, one that can carry seven 8x10 holders and one that can carry seven 5x7 holders.
Ironically I haven't had the 4x10 holder bag made yet b/c that is my preferred format and I do not want to be without the holders for the week that it would take to make the bags. WAVE really wants to have the actual item/s with them when they make the bag so that they are able to offer a superior fit. Giving them measurements wasn't good enough...they wanted to ensure that they were exactly right, so I would leave the various components with them as I could.
The basic design is derived from the MC Gear bags. I do like the way the off-set loop allows them to hang at an angle from the hook on the bottom of my tripod, so I opted to keep that aspect of their design. My green 8x10 holder bag has padded partitions, which does add slightly to the size and weight of the bag, but I feel it is worth it. The yellow 5x7 holder bag does not have this feature. The 4x10 bag that I will eventually have made will have padded dividers and I will have the design such that the opening will be that the holders will be oriented from left to right instead of from front to back.
I also decided that I was tired of hunting for pencils to take notes with, so I had pockets for pencils and paper incorporated into the outside.
The red bellows bag unzips completely so that I don't have to slide the bellows in and out. I decided to make the bellows bag red in a subtle homage to Ron Wisner, whose 4x5 pocket expedition camera I once owned many years ago.
The grey camera back bag only unzips partially so that they don't flop out accidentally.
I have put additional pack strap loops on the backside of the film holder bags if I want to be able to strap them to a pack in the future. As I look back on the design and have used them for about six months now I would also add D-rings on the sides of the film bags so that I could add a shoulder strap. I will probably have those added in the future.
Let's see everyone else's bags...good bad or ugly!
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