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	Introduction
	Bags by type
	Bags by use
»	Bags by brand
	What to look for
	Choosing size
	Carry-on restrictions

There are probably hundreds of camera bag and cases brands out there. Let's concentrate on those considered the very best to care for your camera gear by well seasoned Nikonians.
 

Major bags and cases brands

BAG COMPANIES 

Tamrac, Lowepro, Domke, Tenba, Billingham, CCS and Beseler seem to be the most popular brands among serious amateur and pro photographer Nikonians.

In terms of numbers, Tamrac and Lowepro are the most apparent leaders in the Americas. We have not heard enough in the forums to allow us to ascertain which brands lead in Europe. However Billingham likely occupies a good marketing position; born in 1973 in the UK, it started making camera bags in 1977-78. CCS (Camera Care Systems) is a British company which has been designing and manufacturing top-quality camera carrying systems since 1979.

The most peculiar thing is that both the leading American companies, Tamrac and Lowepro, were also started on -or around- that very same year that Billingham began bag operations: 1977.

Domke itself is also a relatively new company, started by Jim Domke, a staff photo journalist for the Philadelphia Inquirer newspaper, in the late 70s. Tenba also came to be in 1977.

Granted that the Charles Beseler Company from New Jersey was started almost 130 years ago, but not as bag manufacturer.

So we owe to that decade of the 70s the origins of the best bags we now enjoy, taking the market by a storm with new materials and new designs, bringing to an end the era of the elegant but not so comfortable to carry hard leather cases, like those made by (or for) Nikon in the early years, as shown in previous pages and until recently in my closet.

HARD CASES COMPANIES

Another company from the mid seventies, Pelican, is the most renowned of all hard case manufacturers, started by Dave Parker with a product for scuba divers. Their Protector Case™, featuring protective case approval MIL-STD-4150J, has been preferred by the military (including NATO) for a series of applications. They've taken a very important market share in most industries. Strong and very well built, they offer the best protection for transportation of sensitive equipment, like our cameras and lenses. Made of Ultra High Impact Structural Copolymer Polypropylene, they are available in 17 stock sizes and all include a neoprene gasket, ABS latches, and a pressure relief valve. So they are watertight, airtight, dustproof and crushproof. Furthermore, they carry a lifetime guarantee against breakage or defects in workmanship. They now also have strongboxes and soft side bags. As an example, one model of soft side case, the Pelican PCS161 fits inside a Pelican 1610 hard case, making the combo a dual purpose unit.

But as anyone else in most industries, Pelican faces competition. Like that from UK (Underwater Kinetics), another company from the mid 70s. Storm Cases, one of the newest product lines by Hardigg, an older company well accustomed to comply with military specifications, is another interesting competitor. Doksocil, originally a gun case manufacturer (Gun Guard) has now added the Camera Guard line.

Porter cases belong in the strongboxes category. Their carry-on Divider cases are reported as being used by on-the-go professionals for weddings, sporting events, location shoots, etc. and well liked when you have to fly.

This list of brands is by no means complete, it pretends to show the better known and preferred bags and cases by Nikonians.