It’s got to be said, camera bags are typically pretty ugly.

Until now, I’ve carried a combination of a small camera bag packed inside another non camera bag. A weird combination that’s never really made sense to anyone else but I stick with it as a mix of function and form. It’s not that I’m trying to win any points for stylish photographer of the year – but maybe it’s a youth spent growing up in the UK where backpacks were typically considered only for people who live on the "continent" (i.e. Europeans). Or maybe it’s a natural aversion to anything which could be described as a "fanny pack" – something which has a very different meaning on that little island we call Britain.

Well anyway, this long and somewhat pointless dilemma has now finally reached it’s end. Someone recently recommended I check out Crumpler bags. Crumpler’s are famed for their stylish design which do not shout "camera geek" as you walk down the street. Available in N.America, Singapore and Australia, I took a trip down to their store in Singapore (Raffles City – there’s also one in Wheelock and Paragon on Orchard) and got myself a "7 million dollar home" for about a hundred bucks USD. The name itself makes about as much sense as their website, but managing to look past that small detail – I gotta say, it’s great. It’s to hold my 5D with a large zoom / prime attached, and space for four more additional lenses in a water resistant nylon / mesh bag. Yet despite this it feels surprisingly compact, feels like it could take a good couple of slashes of a bread knife from an angry baker, and looks pretty sweet. I got mine in blue – the catalog image follows.

So – I may still be a camera geek – but now at least I don’t look like one.