New Line of Manfrotto Bags- Part 1

For the last few months I've had the opportunity to use and test a number of the new bags in the Manfrotto Professional Collection. I've been a very happy user of Kata bags for many years now and I was a bit skeptical about finding anything that made me want to switch. After using these new bags for a while, I can honestly say that, although they may not make me get rid of all my Kata bags, they are a worthy addition to my inventory.

Finding the right bag is a pretty personal choice. You need to find a balance between what is the perfect size for what you need to carry, what has the features you need, and what feels the best on your back or shoulder. I'm happy to report that these new bags come through on all these accounts.

First the backpacks.

Manfrotto Professional Backpack 20

These packs look a little different than a lot of similar packs- they have a more geometric outline. This is because the outer skin is reinforced with a semi-rigid material. It's not a hard bag like a Pelican, but it offers a ton of protection against the impact of any hard or sharp object.

In most ways, they're what one expects from a quality bag. They have well padded shoulder straps and backs and multiple padded inserts that attach with Velcro.

Manfrotto Professional Backpack 20

Manfrotto Professional Backpack 20

These packs are comfortable and have plenty of zippered compartments, inside and out. On a non-shooting trip recently, I pulled all the inserts out and found it to be an efficient briefcase/backpack. It held my 15 inch Macbook Pro in the slot in back easily.

Manfrotto Professional Backpack 20

Where these packs really excel for me is in a few details. First, they have quick release straps that serve as a back-up to the zippers. For those of us who routinely over stuff our packs this is a well considered and necessary feature to ensure the bag stays closed in case of a blown zipper.

Manfrotto Professional Backpack 20

Secondly, it has the tripod pocket built in. This may seem minor, but if you're like me, you don't carry a tripod all the time and when you do you have to find the pocket (sometimes a pain) and then put it on the pack to use it. Having it integral to the pack is a very nice touch. By the way, notice the little plastic feet on the bottom. These make the bag sit upright and not fall over.

Manfrotto Professional Backpack 20

Manfrotto Professional Backpack 20

The last detail I want to tell you about is so small you might miss it. Waist straps have to be long enough to accommodate a wide range of body types. Some people (me for instance) almost never use them at all except when carrying a large, heavy load. When you're not using them or if you're relatively slender, these straps are long and hang down, way down. Manfrotto has had the good judgement to include little Velcro straps that allow you to roll them up and keep them out of the way. I really like this.

Manfrotto Professional Backpack 20

These new packs come in three sizes- the 20, the 30, and the 50. I'll probably use the 20 most often since I've lately been shooting a lot with the Fuji X system. These cameras are smaller and lighter than my Nikons and the body, several lenses, and various accessories is held easily with the bag. The largest one, the 50 is big enough for me to use when I'm doing "Studio in a Backpack" shoots. The 50 is a bit smaller than the Kata backpacks I used to use for these shoots, but between smaller cameras and the smaller and lighter Elinchrom Quadra Hybrid strobes, the 50 is just fine. Its large, padded waist belt is very sturdy and helps enormously when I have to carry this heavy load.

My final verdict? If the size of one of these three backpacks is right for you, I really don't think there's any downside. They're well-built, have great features, and are priced right- not cheap, but competively. Now, they don't have twenty different sizes like some other brands, but if the size works for you, you should definitely take a look.

Number 14 from Out on Buford Highway

Lee's Bakery is at 4005 Buford Highway. It's one of the most popular banh mi and pho places on Buford Highway and that reputation is mostly deserved. It can be tough to find a table during lunch hours, so consider take-out if that's the only time you can get there. The food is very good, but I like some of the places that are a little further off the beaten track. Maybe I'll write about those in the future.

Fuji X-E1, 18-55mm lens, ISO 200, 1/400 @ f/5.6

Fuji X-E1, 18-55mm lens, ISO 200, 1/60 @ f/5.6

Number 13 from Out on Buford Highway

Cho Sun OK Korean Restaurant is at 5865 Buford Highway. I ate there with a group early on a Saturday afternoon last February. I'm not terribly familiar with Korean food, so I just sat back and tried a little of everything. The myriad of kimchi was a revelation to me. I've never been fond of things pickled, but the flavors, textures, and spiciness of what was served was astonishing. The dumplings and fish egg soup were most excellent. And the staff was warm and helpful. I'm told the restaurant has changed hands since I was there, so I hope the quality has been maintained.

Dumplings surrounded by kimchi, Pentax K-5IIs, 16-50mm lens, ISO 1600, 1/60 @ f/2.8

Fish egg soup, Pentax K-5IIs, 16-50mm lens, ISO 1600, 1/50 @ f/2.8

Barbeque, Pentax K-5IIs, 16-50mm lens, ISO 3200, 1/60 @ f/2.8

Owner Hu Bok Chong, Nikon D600, 20-35mm lens, ISO 1600, 1/40 @ f/2.8

Waitress Jeong So (Miss Park), Pentax K-5IIs, 16-50mm lens, ISO 1600, 1/50 @ f/2.8

Waitress Kyung Sook Han, Nikon D600, 20-35mm lens, ISO 1600, 1/100 @ f/2.8

Number 12 from Out on Buford Highway

Pollo Norteno is at 2501 Chamblee-Tucker Rd. just east of Buford Highway. I haven't eaten there yet, but I'm told it's very good. I love the way it was glowing this night, just before the sun went down.

Nikon D600, 20-35mm lens, ISO 100, 1/200 @ f/5.6

Number 11 from Out on Buford Highway

Taqueria El Ray Del Taco, 5288 Buford Highway, is a fun Mexican joint. The outside is covered with colorful designs and the inside is a garish explosion of greens and blues. It will definitely wake you up if you need it. The staff is friendly and most speak English pretty well if you need a menu item explained. The house Margarita is good, but the real stand outs to me are their shrimp enchiladas. It's a big portion (not that I really care about that) and the green sauce is truly outstanding. It's quite spicy hot, but it's a slow burn that I wasn't aware of until the third or fourth bite. There was plenty of time to enjoy the great flavors before the heat set in. Very nice!

Nikon D600, 20-35mm lens, ISO 100, 1/640 @ f/5.6

Nikon D600, 20-35mm lens, ISO 100, 1/60 @ f/8

Fuji X-E1, 18mm f/2 lens, ISO 800, 1/105 @ f/2.8

Fuji X-E1, 18mm f/2 lens, ISO 800, 1/40 @ f/2.8

Week 10 from Out on Buford Highway

I posted two pictures from El Taco Veloz a few weeks ago, but I decided these were worth showing, too. It looks fantastic at night.

Leo Roque, Pentax K-5 IIs, 16-55mm, ISO 1600, 1/100 @ f/2.8

Fuji X-E1, 18-55mm, ISO 1600, 1/80 @ f/3.6

Week 8 from Out on Buford Highway

Taco Market, 3304 Buford Highway, is a combination convenience store and Mexican specialty market owned by Koreans. I don't know why Koreans own a Mexican food store, but judging by the number of people there who appeared to be Hispanic, I guess they're doing something right. I just loved the simplicity of the color and geometry.

Nikon D600 20-35mm f/2.8 lens, ISO 100, 1/320 @ f/5.6

Nikon D600 20-35mm f/2.8 lens, ISO 200 1/15 @ f/5.6

Week 6 from Out on Buford Highway

El Taco Veloz at 5084 Buford Highway is a great little place. Their chicken burrito is a thing of beauty with a creamy sauce and lots of cilantro. It doesn't have a dining room, but there are picnic tables enclosed in a tent-like structure, so if the weather is bad you can sit with a roof over your head and there are heaters if it gets cold. Their neon signage is wonderful, so I'll be going back to shoot exteriors at night.

Employee Eva Kaya was kind enough to sit for a portrait.

Pentax K-5 IIs w/ 16-50mm f/2.8 lens, ISO 1600, 1/200 @ f/4

Nikon D600 w/ 20-35mm f/2.8 lens, ISO 100, 1/640 @ f/5.6

Week 5 from Out on Buford Highway

Fiesta Farmers Market is at 4166 Buford Highway. It has primarily Asian food, but lots of other international fare as well. Fresh fruits and vegetables, fish and meat, dried and packaged beans, rices, and pastas. And it's huge! It's definitely worth the trip if your looking for otherwise hard to find ingredients and products.

So, what's not to love about giant pictures of food?

Fuji X-E1. ISO 200, 18mm f/2 lens. 1/900 @ f/8

Week 4 from Out on Buford Highway

Of course, the restaurants on Buford Highway have some remarkable food. It's often interesting, authentic, and usually reasonably priced. But I'm a photographer not a food critic.

I've gone out there a number of times when many of the places weren't open. Very early in the day. Late in the day. I drive up and down and look to see how the light is hitting the buildings. I watch how they're lit up at night. A lot of them are extraordinarily banal. Anonymous storefronts in anonymous strip malls. Anywhere USA. But there are some that stand out. Odd architecture. Explosions of color. Strange signage. So I'll be showing some of those, too.

China Bucks sits by itself at 5412 Buford Highway. I've never eaten there. Inside it looks more like a cafeteria than a restaurant, but I love the building. It reminds me of a cross between an alien fortress and a 1960's world fair pavilion. I thought the brilliant blue sky played nicely against the red and white structure.

Shot with the Nikon D600 and 20-35mm f/2.8. ISO 100, 1/320 at f/5.6. Gitzo tripod

Picture of the Week- from Out on Buford Highway

Hello Dau Hu is primarily take out. They're in the Asian Square plaza at 5150 Buford Hwy. I had a banh mi sandwich which was fine, but the grilled stuffed grape leaves were truly outstanding. It was a huge amount of food and all together, both sandwich and grape leaves cost just $ 5.00. Definitely worth a visit.

On Location

I recently took students from my Portrait Photography class to the sculpture studios at SCAD Atlanta. We did three shots in a little over two hours and had a great time. Susan Krause and Steve Jarvis were kind enough to let us take over their facility, as well as pose for us. We did three shots- one with four lights, one with two, and one with only one that also incorporated the available light. My Elinchroms worked perfectly and had plenty of juice to light such a large space. And the Skyports once again were flawless, both triggering and adjusting the strobes remotely.

If you'd like to see what it looked like, you can see a web gallery here.

Tripod, Light Stands, and Modifiers

On the outside of the pack, I carried my tripod, light stands, and light modifiers. I didn't try to take these on board with me when I was flying- they went in my checked bags then. But, whenever I went out shooting, they were with me.

I don't use a tripod all the time- in fact, I use one for fewer than half the photographs I make. I generally like to stay quick and agile and move around a lot to find the perfect vantage point for whatever I'm shooting. I always have one with me, however. I don't like to be caught unprepared for any situation I might run into. For my European trip, I brought the Gitzo #1541 Series One tripod with the #GH1781QR Series One quick release ball head. I've owned other tripods in the past, but when I made the switch to Gitzo, I was shocked and amazed at what a difference it made. The sections always open and close quickly and smoothly. The legs open flat to allow a low vantage point. The ball head operates exactly the way I prefer. And they last forever. I actually own the larger 3531 to use when I'm not traveling. It's beefier and can hold big cameras with long lenses in the wind and stay steady. But the 1541 was the perfect blend of light weight, small size, and adequate sturdiness to be the right tool for the job I needed when I was carrying it on my back.

The light stands I chose were two Manfrotto 5001B's. Like the tripod and some of the other items in the pack, these were chosen because of their size and weight. They're not as heavy duty as the stands I carry in my usual shooting kit, but they raise to over six feet, they hold what I need them to, they are very small when folded, and they weigh about two pounds each.

I most often use portable softboxes when shooting portraits. Depending on the size, they provide a stunning quality of light. But they can be a little bit of a pain to set up and with the quick rings necessary, they're bulky and little heavy. Umbrellas solve the problems of set up time, bulk, and weight, but they just don't provide the control because their design allows light to bounce all over the place. (By the way, I carry both softboxes and umbrellas in my standard kit.)

The Elincrom Varistar was the perfect compromise. It essentially is a shoot through umbrella that has a black skirt on the back that keeps light from bouncing back and all around. It allows for almost as much control as a softbox, but it sets up as quickly as an umbrella- and there's no quick ring to carry. It's a great design and I carried two in the 33 inch size in my Studio in a Backpack.

In the next post I'll talk about my reflector/scrim set and the hardware I use with it.

Studio in a Backpack

In early 2010 I was lucky enough to live, travel, and photograph in small towns and villages throughout Europe for three months. You can read about it here . I had a specific look I was trying to accomplish in the photographs I produced and I put together very specific gear in order to do that. You can see some of the pictures I did there on my web site .  

Over the last year or so I’ve been doing workshops covering my “Studio in a Backpack” and I’ve been asked if I could publish a list of the items in that notorious pack. So here it is. Keep in mind that I had another case with various chargers, cords, and back-ups that I left in my room when I was shooting, but this is exactly the outfit I carried when I went out to photograph. Over the next weeks I’ll be posting follow-ups every few days with more detailed descriptions, estimated prices, and the reasons I chose those particular tools. For now, here goes.

Kata Beetle 282 Backpack

2- Manfrotto 5001B lightstand

2- Elinchrom Varistar umbrella-softbox 33”

Gitzo #1541 Series One tripod with #GH1781QR Series One quick release ball head

Lastolite TriFlip  30” 8 in 1 Grip Reflector Kit

Lastolite Trigrip Bracket

Manfrotto 026 Swivel Umbrella Adapter

2- Manfrotto 035RL Super Clamp with Standard Stud

2 each- Manfrotto #118 and 119 studs

2- Manfrotto 039 U-Hook

Metz Mecablitz 58 AF-2 shoe mount flash

Metz P76 Power Pack

Metz Mecalux 11 Hot Shoe Slave

FlashZebra.com Item #0126 Female Hotshoe to Elinchrom Skyport adapter

Elinchrom Skyport Universal Starter Kit

Elinchrom Ranger Quadra Head A Pro Set

Gossen Digisky and/or Digipro F light meter

small roll black gaffer's tape

various CF cards, straps, cords, etc.

Cameras to be discussed in a later post