Has any one used a "photo vest"

[Herr Barnack]

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The OP asked the question in 2009. Hope he has made his decision by now!

 

Reminded me how much we miss Lars though (post 13).

There's no need to rush into these things...

[sc_rufctr]

I use a Newswear Chestvest (Documentary). It's similar to a photo vest but more practical IMO.

 

https://www.google.com.au/search?q=Newswear+Chestvest&es_sm=93&biw=1920&bih=1033&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=57QfVZeXOYmF8QXX-YD4CA&ved=0CAcQ_AUoAQ

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[pgk]

I have used a similar vest made by Rohan.

 

Makes you look like a bit of a berk, but very handy for carrying lots of lenses, film, meters etc. without a bag.

I too have one from Rohan (well made!). It is used ONLY for air travel when all the pockets are full of stuff that I don't want damaged. I have no other use for it, but its brilliant for this. Security guards do sometimes take a second look but as everything in the pockets in innocuous in safety terms its never a problem. Can't imagine wearing one otherwise though.

[wda]

I have one or two non-photographer vests which look less professional and yet remain functional. The extra pockets are very handy for a small compact camera and travel bits and bobs. I avoid 'named' clothing, preferring to be a little more anonymous.

[MarkP]

I came across this some time ago. No offense to the DSLR/heavy-kit community, it certainly seems to serve a purpose, but it just scares me...

 

 

I haven't been able to stop laughing since I saw this.

 

Use should be confined only to consenting adult fetishists in private!

 

Those vests would certainly serve their purpose of well and truly identifying the wearer as a Berk with a capital B.

[tredlie]

Now lets add another two years; as has been said above: no need to rush into it.

 

Apparently, mostly everyone seems to be thinking of photo vests as a garment that stores

a huge DSLR including a 600 mm lens. But that is an unlikely scenario in this forum, and

certainly not mine. I want to take a couple of lenses along with the M9. Of course I could

use my small Koenig litebag. But I hate these boxes dangling from my neck.

And here I though that a slim photo vest might do: it keeps the lenses close to the

body when I am crawling around the rocks. Rap the lenses in something like

 

https://monochrom.com/aufnahme/wraps-und-koecher/monochrom-leder-wrap

 

this, and stuff it into the pocket and be done with. But it needs to be an appropriate

pocket!

A normal jacket (suitable for European winter) would do, but not in Namibia or other

warmer parts of the world.

 

So, the question for me is:  do you people always take a bag or where do you put

the two lenses. For me an unobtrusive vest seemed to make sense, but that

does apparently not find much use here.

 

Cheers

 

Tred

[LocalHero1953]

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Always a bag, never a vest!

[david strachan]

I would wear one in the right situation.  Trouble is, I can't think of the right situation!

[dkCambridgeshire]

There's an alternative to a vest if you wish to look like a real photographer

 

http://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/261871-the-press-photographer/?hl=press+photographer

 

... why he needed all that gear to shoot a classic car show where all the vehicles were static is beyond my understanding … the assignment could be completed with any ICL camera and a 24-70mm zoom or similar … or an X Vario. 

 

dunk

Edited February 2, 2017 by dkCambridgeshire

[Guest]

Gave my photo vest to the Red Cross.

It had too many pockets, never found anything again, at least not in time.

Hope to have previously recovered all my Leica stuff.

[Chuck Albertson]

I have a couple of grotty Domke vests that I tend to wear day-to-day when the weather is better. They're very handy for carrying stuff (mostly non-photo), they also make a handy second (or third) carry-on when flying, as others have described. A friend who is a theater director was intrigued by it, I gave him one for a Christmas present and it became his office. It looks like the vest is gone from the Domke catalog, so I'll probably have to break down and wash one or both of them, instead of buying a new/clean one.

 

Wait - I have three of them, the last a mostly-mesh number I bought 25+ years ago for a couple trips to Australia, where it was brilliant in the climate.

[tredlie]

Thanks for all the answers outlining that you hate vests.

 

That vests are not really liked in the forum has become clear

when I read through this thread, and that is a good piece of information.

Clearly, real "photographer vests" are made for real photographers

with lots of equipment. But I would have thought, that there might also

be models that are more appropriate to our gear, i.e. 3 pockets instead

of 33.

 

My question was not so much directed at what

you do not use, but rather where you put your couple of additional lenses if

that is all you want to take along, and if you do not want bags dangling

from your neck.

 

Pouches in your jeans pockets, on the belt.....

 

cheers

 

Tred

[LocalHero1953]

No, I don't want a bag dangling from my neck, I have it dangling from my shoulder.......

[mikemgb]

I have a vest bought from a local sporting goods store, it's actually a hunting vest, the 2 large out pockets will hold a Barnack and a Sofort, one large inner pocket is deep enough for a medium sized Gorillapod. It has some smaller inner pockets for film and batteries. 

 

It's black and nobody looks twice, I use it a lot.

[OR120]

There was a time and a place for everything........

That time passed many years ago

for me

[Herr Barnack]

I have the Domke photographer's vest, which is the best designed vest that I have found anywhere.  Some view the photographer's vest as if it has I AM A DOOFUS stenciled on it in big red letters front and back.  I have never felt this stereotype to have any truth to it, but the idea that it's "not cool" to wear a photo vest persists in some quarters. 

 

A vest is a great substitute for a camera bag if you need to carry a few accessories and a couple of extra lenses but don't want to carry a camera bag.  I don't habitually grab it every time I'm headed out to make images but it does come in handy sometimes.  I have found myself wearing the vest any time I fly, as the myriad of pockets are indispensable when traveling.

Edited February 26, 2017 by Carlos Danger

[david strachan]

You are right Carlos. 

Leica camera users like to be "low key" according to the Forum...but sometimes I wonder.

 

Wear your vest for practicality, I say.  Much easier then a bag.

 

all best..

[euston]

Like Carlos and David, I prefer to distribute my gear around my person and I use my Páramo Halcon gilet for that. Not the sort of thing to wear if you want to look dapper but very practical in the great outdoors. There’s also a jacket version with sleeves. I’m as photovest-phobic as the next man but, somehow, I don’t see my Halcon in that light.

[Lax Jought]

Wear your vest for practicality, I say.  Much easier then a bag.

My brain completely agrees with you. My self-esteem says it's taken enough hits over the years.

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[Alo Ako]

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