I’ve had this vintage Lowepro bag for nearly a decade now, it was a gift from a family at church, along with their Minolta X-700; I got more use out of the bag. While it was with them it made a trip to India and God knows where else; certainly it saw a lot of use with me over the years. I really loved how well-made the bag was, and started buying other vintage Lowepro bags when I could find them for a reasonable price. I originally thought this particular bag had been used as an impromptu diaper bag at some point as it did rather tend to smell like a used diaper, but as I acquired more bags and encountered others at thrift stores, I smelled it a lot; it must just be something in the materials. I also dropped this bag in a pile of horse shit once, but that’s another story (and honestly there isn’t much to tell, but it happened during this outdoor Katy Graves concert). Anyway, the zipper stopped zipping and that was the last straw for me. So here’s my new Domke Viewfinder Series photojournalist bag alongside for comparison:
It’s not quite the same but at least Domke still manufactures in America, something the brand formerly known as the Colorado-based Lowe Alpine Systems can’t claim anymore. I loved the aesthetics of old Lowepro so much that I found a duffel bag with a lot of the same characteristics, from BAD Bags: hand-sewn seams, 1000D Cordura nylon, seatbelt webbing, Fastex fasteners, and YKK zippers (supposedly the best). But in my case the zipper was the weak link:
YKK Zippers, you’re trying my patience…my jacket that I’ve worn for years is starting to misbehave now too! I’ve used my new Domke bag for the last 6 months and have been quite happy with it, though I wonder if its being open to the elements will allow more dust than with the old Lowepro. Of course, the alternative is a lot more zippers…
This is me also trying out the 55mm f/2.8 Micro-Nikkor lens that I bought last Summer.
The Resurrected Camera 