I was so excited when the Boda V3 Plum Weatherproof Lens Bag arrived.   My first impression was “wow”.    I used to own the Boda Dry (2nd Generation).  I like it a lot then.    But after heavy use, some threads were beginning to not looking good.   After using it for a year and when Jim Garner announced the Pre-Ordering of the V3, I had to jump on it.  I’m not a fan keeping unuse stuff laying around the house.  So once I found a buyer for the Dry I was on my way pre-ordering the V3.

I’ve been carrying the V3 with me everyday since day one.   So far I am loving it.  Here’s a small list of pros and cons.

Pros:
1) Weatherproof – I took it out when NYC got hit with the snow storm last week…  everything inside was dry.   Next time when I visit my mom.  I’m gonna use their water hose and see how that will handle it. HAHA!
2) Built quality, the material use are just amazing.
3) the bottom of the bag has 4 little legs that keep the bag up when laying it down.
4) The side pockets are much better then the Dry version.
5) LOVE the Plum color interior.  So much easier to find things on the bottom.

Cons:
1) Heavier comparing to Dry
2) A bit too big for me..  actually just a few inches longer in height then the Dry.
3) The shoulder pad is thick for my shoulder and body…  but so far seem to be OK after daily use.
4) Not a huge fan where the retractable len cloth is located.  But it will do for now.  It’s not like I need to use it every minute.

Well so far that’s all I can think of… I’m sure I will have more to say as time moves on.  I haven’t use it on an all day shooting event yet (like Wedding), so really i can’t say much.  But overall I am extremely happy with the bag.  A huge improvement from the Dry.

What was inside the Boda V3 over the weekend?  Here’s a list:
1) Canon 70-200 f2.8L IS w/ hood
2) Canon 24-70 f2.8L w/ hood
3) Canon 5D Mark II  (the camera was attached to the 24-70)
4) Four Pull-up diapers for Dylan and some baby wipes.
5) Dylan’s Sippy Bottles (one with Organic Whole Milk, the other with water).

Yes, beside being a lens bag, you can also use it as a diaper bag.  hehehe!

Thanks Jim for making such and Awesome len bag.  And thank you for the Boda baseball cap.    I think it’s the best baseball cap made I ever put on my head.   Thank you.   Hope to see more products from you.

Armin DeFiesta has an awesome video review of the Boda V3 Lens Bag. Go check it out.

Here’s some pictures of the lens bag.  Sorry I don’t have one with me wearing the bag.   Maybe next time.

Fact:  I paid $10 for the Boda V3 Weatherproof Lens Bag.

My wife Amanda is also a photographer.  She’s not all about having the best camera or lenses in her bag.  She will use whatever is available.  For her, it is about the moment and not about how sharp or correctly the image is exposure.   She normally carry her little Canon PowerShot SD850 IS point and shoot everywhere she goes.  Its light, compact and fits in her handbag.   Last week I decided it was time for an upgrade.   As we all know, the shutter lag on a point and shoot can be very annoying, especially when we are trying to capture Dylan, who wouldn’t stop for 1 second to have his pictures taken.   I search and search and came up with the Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS3.  This camera is nice.   I got it in blue.  Oh and guess where I got it at??   My favorite camera store Adorama. And I had to honor to meet a very good man, Joel Meisels.  Anyway, here are a few spec that got me interested.

25-300mm
10.1 megapixels
movie/motion mode in 720p (AVCHD Lite HD)
The ISO can go as high as 6400
it has an optical Image Stabilization
3″ LCD screen….
and have lots of pre-set mode to play around with.

We, l meant she is still testing the camera and playing around with it.   I did use the movie mode at the Apothecary Hymns show last week for the first time.    Note: The three images on that blog were taken with the band’s camera, Canon Powershot G9.  Only the Video clip was done with this Panasonic DMC-ZS3.  if you are interested, you can see the 2 minutes clip here.   I didn’t change the setups – only using default or whatever the camera was setup were when I opened the box.    Right now I am happy with it….  I mean my wife is very happy with it.

if you interested to learn more about the camera she has..  here’s the direct link on their website.  Panasonic DMC-ZS3