In your bag 1788 – Tokyo Forgeries – Jeff Austin
Tokyo Forgeries , AKA, Jeff Austin is a fellow Tokyo-ite and shares with us his bag from when he first started shooting in Japan. A gara-kei really brings it back for me, I had a sling bag with mine inside. It is really cool to see he still has the bag. I have my old beat-to-crap Domke somewhere. Over to Jeff.
The Story
I’ve been shooting in Tokyo for nearly 25 years, and like many photographers, I have more camera bags than I need. Selecting just one for the Japan Camera Hunter series, In Your Bag, was difficult. I decided to go with my first camera bag in Japan. It is old, trustworthy, hand-stitched, and it’s not even a real camera bag.
I bought the green canvas Nomadic Ho/Nuno bag to fit my wallet, keys, and my fancy new flip phone, along with one of the two lenses I owned at the time while I was out exploring my new Tokyo home. The other lens and camera body in hand.
Since those days, there have been several cameras, lenses, and bags. I always shot with Nikon. In my film era, the F100 was my go-to. It was a real workhorse for me. I carried the F100 in this bag and a couple of Nikkor AF-D lenses. I remember getting lost in the underground of Ikebukuro Station with this setup many times.
Along came digital, and with it a lot of photography work. I did everything I could: editorial, weddings, portraits, and commercial contracts. I bought bigger, heavier and fancier gear to look the part of the professional. Several bags, a fortune in gear and many years later, I have arrived right where I started.
The Gear
A Nikon body, currently a Z9, a couple of lenses and that old green canvas bag that was never meant for gear.
The body I carry doesn’t fit or find its way into the bag. I keep it in hand 95% of the time. Mounted on it are one of four Nikkors: 24mm Auto NC f2.8, 50mm AIS f1.4 (mounted in pictures), 85mm H-Auto f1.8, and a 135mm Q f3.5. I love the imperfections in these lenses. Sharp where you want it and gorgeous fall-off everywhere else.
All of these lenses fit in this bag, but make for a long day. I follow the two-lens rule of my youth: one lens on the camera and another in the bag. Each lens has a neoprene pouch to keep them clean. Other staples include two pens, a notebook, ibuprofen, a wallet and earbuds.
The strap is twisted, worn and frayed where it attaches to the bag. I have stitched up the strap a few times now. This bag will likely be retired soon, but not before it goes on a final run as the everyday go-to bag.
Tokyo Forgeries is an evolving archive of Tokyo street photography.
Thanks for sharing your bag with us, Jeff. Really cool to see. And those Nikkor lenses? Chefs kiss!
Make sure you check out Jeff’s site, some fantastic Tokyo Street Photography on there.
Please keep them coming folks, we need more submissions, so get your bag on Japancamerahunter.com
Send me a high resolution image of the bag. Optimum size is 1500px across. Please ensure there is a bag in the shot, unless you don’t use one. The more you can write about yourself the better, make it appealing and tell us a story. Snapshots of your gear with a camera phone and no words will not be featured.
Oh and don’t forget your contact details (twitter, flickr, tumbler et al). Send the bag shots here. Please understand that there is a long wait now as there is a backlog of submissions. Not all make the cut, so make sure yours is funny/interesting/quirky. And please make sure the shot is of good quality, as the ones that are not do not go up.
Cheers
Japancamerahunter
