I'm surprised at you John; you seem to wear exactly the same type of clothes that I do; I always had you figured for a much more conventional gentleman; more the city type. I have no idea why I thought this, other than from the way you have with words and a trace memory (that I have) where you said that you did journalism of some sort.
Rob C
P.S. What's an S95? Is it a camera or a motorbike?
I went to a photo-show opening for Ctein last night, and I'd have to say that photographers are *extremely* varied in appearance and dress.
An S95 is Canon's top-of-the-line shirt-pocket camera. Very nice, too - but you wouldn't want to sit on it, and its 0-60 time is terrible.
I used to be a journalist, and still do it from time to time; now I do fiction. (Is that different, I hear you ask? Such a cynic.)
just did a little searching. anyone have any experience with Scottvest? looks capable of carrying quite a lot of gear unobtrusively (bigger than micro 4/3 ?), but since the pockets are internally accessed, may be a nuisance during shooting.
also looked at the Duluth - looks like nasty bulges if you put too much in the pockets. not sure it constructed to carry loads
the Gitzo is very expensive and probably unusable in warm weather - bellows pockets will obviously hold a lot
what i need?
- jacket with removable sleeves and padded shoulders and support for weight so it doesn't become saggy baggy
- a couple externally accessable pockets with internal bellows and user-adjustable dividers to hold a reasonable size body or on or two reasonable sized lenses
- dedicated filter pocket with removable cleanable dividers
- lens cover pocket
- internal pockets for pens, flashlight, passport, ...
- handwarmer pockets
Thinktank, are you listening?
I tried a Scottvest, and though it does hold a lot, it also bulges and is somewhat flimsy - especially the zippers.
I ordered a Duluth microfiber sport coat, it should arrive next week. I suspect you're correct in your view -- but I'm going to try it. I hope that as a "presentation jacket" -- that is, one that contractors use when presenting plans, etc., that it does have a lot of support and internal pockets for tape measures and such.
As for your specs, I think that jacket, or something very much like it, is available as a hunting jacket through Orvis or Powell. What I need is a sport coat -- something dressier than an outwear jacket, and that also isn't too conspicuous (which is why I specify navy blue or black.) The problem with a regular jacket is that you wouldn't wear one in warm weather, when you might very well still wear a sport coat -- going to visit religious shrines, etc. I travel quite a bit in the summer, and I don't like to have a lot of cameras obviously hanging off me, which is the same reason I don't want to wear camera vests and so on. I just want to...blend in, with something that looks neat and inoffensive.
I have had a sport coat made by a tailor (it was not entirely made from scratch, but I think is called "made-to-measure" which means that it's a stock-cut coat that is then altered to the requirements of the purchaser.) I had larger pockets put in the chest, so that it will take bulky document holders, etc., and even small guidebooks, both with zippers, and it works fine. I asked if I could get a kind of reverse-bellows side pockets that would bulge to the inside, rather than out, but the guy who was doing the alterations said that wouldn't work, so while it's good for documents, it's not so good for cameras. When I spec'd out that coat, I was doing a lot of traveling in the Middle East, and I had it made in a very small black-and-dark blue check, because black sometimes has religious meanings that I wanted to avoid, while at the same time I wanted it very conservative so that I would blend as much as possible into the street. It was, I have to say, perfect for that.
Maybe what I really need is an extended line of pancake lenses for my Panasonic GF-1. They've come out with a new 14mm, and now, if they had a ~40 and a ~70, like Pentax, I might not have to jump through all these hoops.
Thinktank might actually be the big hope for both our jackets. I would think they'd be interested especially in my concept, because journalists often go to places where they just as soon not look like journalists. When I was working for newspapers, we used to joke that when there was a riot, you didn't want to stand too close to the photo guys, because you could get hurt...as a reporter, you'd just stick your notebook in your pocket, and then you were just some passer-by.
JC
