There are loads of different styles of camera bags, and the trick to finding the right one for you is largely down to your chosen genre of photography and how much kit you need to carry. A landscape photographer might prefer a sturdy backpack to transport a hefty load over long distances in comfort, while a street photographer is likely to favor an understated sling bag that enables instant access to their minimalist kit without first removing their bag.
I've aimed to include a broad selection of bag types in this guide. But despite their differences, they are all dedicated camera bags that have specialized internal padding and dividers for storing camera kit securely, and in many cases include useful extra photo-friendly features like tripod attachments and laptop compartments. For more on how to choose the right bag for you, check out my guide to choosing the best camera bag at the bottom of this page.
If you want more options for a specific type of bag, don't miss my dedicated guides to the best camera backpacks and the best camera sling bags. Otherwise, read on to see my picks of the very best camera bags.
Guides Editor Adam loves shooting everything from street to landscape photography, so finds that having the best camera bag for the job in hand is very important.
The Quick List
I love this bag: it looks good, has plenty of space, and offers enough customization to suit pretty much any camera system.
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Available in four colors and nicely made, this stylish option can function as either a shoulder bag or a sling bag – you choose.
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This lovely item costs so much you might hesitate to even take it out, but it offers plenty of convenience alongside good looks.
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Best for street
Sleek and minimalist, this shoulder bag is ideal for street photographers who want something simple.
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This is what most people think of when they imagine a camera backpack, with comfortable straps, a versatile layout and space to spare.
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This clever backpack system enables you to fix extra modules to the front any time you need to carry additional gear with you.
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Photographers with longer lenses or the need to pack loads of gear will appreciate the room and robustness this backpack provides.
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Simple but smart, this sling bag enables you to bring out your camera and take a shot without having to take the entire bag off first.
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Ideal for lightweight setups, this sling bag can be worn front or back, with lots of pockets and dividers to keep things organized.
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Best camera bags
Why you can trust Digital Camera World Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you. Find out how we test.
Best shoulder bag overall
I love the Peak Design Everyday Messenger 13 V2 bag; it's arguably the archetypal camera bag. With a blend of simple but chic styling, loads of internal space and adjustable dividers to best manage that space, it's a bag that the vast majority of photographers will get many years of use out of.
Peak Design’s FlexFold dividers allow you to customize the interior to suit your setup, building secure and padded slots for your cameras and lenses. It works well with most configurations; a small camera might take more fiddling to ensure it doesn't bounce around, but it's perfectly doable. There's a sleeve for a 13-inch laptop and plenty of pockets for extra items. It’s available in charcoal, ash, or black colorways.
Read more: Peak Design Everyday Messenger 13 V2 review
Most versatile shoulder bag
The Morally Toxic Wraith comes in two sizes (medium and large) and three color options (onyx, emerald, and sapphire), and can be used as a messenger or sling bag due to its detachable carrying strap and two sets of fastening loops. The custom-designed jacquard fabric with a unique pattern gives the bag a stylish appearance, and it has a durable, high-quality build.
Key features include multiple pockets and compartments for organizing camera gear and personal items. The main compartment has adjustable dividers, and there's a special 'frog' pocket for storing a camera with a lens attached or separating wet and dry items. The bag also has a dedicated laptop compartment (13-inch for the medium size, 15-inch for the large size) and additional pockets for a tablet, passport, and other essentials.
Read more: Morally Toxic Wraith review
Best luxury shoulder bag
The Billingham Eventer MKII is a beautiful-to-behold, hand-crafted messenger-style camera bag, constructed from high-quality materials, with a durable yet soft and flexible canvas outer shell and leather base that allows the bag to stand upright. It features a tall, briefcase-style shape for easy carrying and packing, and includes a removable, padded insert that can hold a couple of cameras and three to six lenses, along with a padded 14-inch laptop sleeve. The main compartment has a zippered cover, and there are two surprisingly spacious expanding front pockets (1.5 liters each) and a zip-up document sleeve on the back.
However, the Eventer MKII lacks smaller compartments for accessories like cables, cards, and batteries. It's a luxury item with a price tag to match. Its asking price and functional limitations take it out of the realm of practicality towards sheer indulgence – but sometimes, you just have to treat yourself…
Read more: Billingham Eventer MKII full review
Best street photography bag
This stylish sling bag has proven particular popular among YouTubers and other reviewers, being described as one of the best bags you can buy for street photography. Naturally, I had to give it a try – and came away impressed. The Bellroy Venture 10L Camera Edition is a pretty minimalist affair, with no laptop sleeve to speak of. Plus, in what some consider sacrilege for a camera bag, the internal dividers are sewn in rather than velcro, meaning the space can't be customized.
For street photographers, however, this makes a lot of sense, as street setups tend to be fairly uniform in size. You have three areas in the 10L internal space to make use of, and they're more malleable and adaptable than they appear, as the memory foam can be bent and compressed to suit the specific contours of your kit. I found it to be a comfortable and versatile bag, robustly made to high standards. If you're looking for a photo bag for street shoots and city breaks, this is my best buy.
Read more: Bellroy Venture 10L Camera Edition review
Best everyday backpack
The Tenba Axis V2 20L backpack is an archetypal design, providing pretty much everything you’d expect in a camera backpack. There’s ample room for your camera, lenses and accessories, with a multi-compartment layout allowing easy access to anything you need, plus a space for a 14-inch laptop. It also feels comfortable and balanced to carry around, with well-padded straps and breathable back support.
I found the bag could comfortably accommodate a DSLR camera body, a battery grip, three lenses, a flashgun, and an infrared trigger unit. For this particular bag size, I found my telephoto zoom was too tall, but 24L and 32L sizes are also available for carrying larger loads. You can also scale down to 16L or 18L if you have less to carry, and there’s a MultiCam camouflage option in addition to black.
Read more: Tenba Axis V2 20L review
Best modular backpack system
Have you never got the right bag for the job? Although the idea of a modular system, where you can add or remove sections to suit your needs, might sound like overkill, it’s actually great value for money because you don’t need to buy (and store) multiple backpacks for different situations: you can just add modules when you need to take more gear with you, then remove the modules when you want to travel light.
This is all achieved through a set of loops through which you can attach accessories such as a neoprene flash holder, a tripod toe-cup and straps, or a phone case. Just add what you need. Inside the main backpack, there are Velcro dividers you can configure or remove entirely, and there’s a separate compartment for a 13-inch laptop.
Read more: Lowepro ProTactic BP 350 AW II full review
Best rugged backpack
The Vanguard Alta Sky 51D is designed to carry camera gear, a drone, or a combination of both. The main compartment has room for a pro DSLR with an attached 70-200mm lens and up to four lenses around it. The padding is good, and there’s a hatch on one side for mobile access, although openings on both sides would be better.
Primary access to this area is via a large rear panel that contains a slot for a 15-inch laptop. The flap opens wide, but you’ll need to bend the shoulder straps out of the way for unobstructed camera access. Comfort is assured by good-sized hip pads, thick back padding and generous shoulder straps.
Read more: Vanguard Alta SKY 51D full review
Best sling bag
The Nomatic (in North America)/Gomatic (everywhere else) LUMA Camera Sling 12L is a compact, lightweight sling bag that is available in four colors: black, rust, sage, and stone. The smart-looking bag is constructed from durable and weatherproof 900D Poly Ox material with a nylon interior and padded compression-molded EVA dividers to protect camera gear. The interior can be easily reconfigured using the strong 'hook and loop' dividers to suit individual storage needs. The lid has a zipped Darlington mesh with two compartments for storing smaller items like cables and memory cards.
Neat features of the bag include a lightweight metal frame that retains its shape, even when empty, and a magnetic seal on the lid, which allows for quick and easy access to the contents without having to constantly zip and unzip the bag. The bag also has a handle for easy carrying and a padded, adjustable shoulder strap for comfortable wear, which is attached to the bag with sturdy metal pivot rivets. It's a great option for photographers and mobile filmmakers who need a compact and customizable bag to carry their gear. It offers a good balance of size, durability, and functionality, with some innovative features that make it stand out from other sling bags on the market.
Read more: Nomatic/Gomatic LUMA Camera Sling 12L review
Best small sling bag
Named after Peter McKinnon, the McKinnon 8L Camera Sling is made for photographers who use a small DSLR or mirrorless camera, and it’s ideal for smartphone photographers and videographers who need to bring extra gear with them. The design provides plenty of pockets and dividers to help you to organize your stuff.
A single padded strap enables you to carry the McKinnon 8L on your back, or to keep it close to your chest if you’re in a crowded space, and the durable material is water-resistant. Gomatic is the Europe-wide brand name used by Nomatic, so you might have a different logo on the bag depending on where you buy it, but the bag is the same.
Read more: Nomatic/Gomatic McKinnon Camera Sling 8L review
How to choose the best camera bag
What are the benefits and drawbacks of a shoulder or messenger bag?
Both shoulder and messenger bags use a cross-body design, with a single strap that you take over your head and rest on the shoulder opposite the bag itself, which helps the load feel balanced. The technical distinction between shoulder and messenger bags is that the latter have shorter straps and sit higher on the body - think of a messenger on a bike.
Shoulder and messenger bags are convenient, with easy access to your camera gear, and are available in many sizes. Their main drawback is that they’re not ideal if you’re out all day or simply have a lot to carry: bearing the load on one shoulder can become tiring. But they’re great for shorter shooting assignments where you perhaps have one or two extra lenses you want to be able to access quickly.
What are the benefits and drawbacks of a camera backpack?
Backpacks have a strap for each shoulder, centering the load behind you for a comfortable feel. This means you can carry more at once, so backpacks are typically bigger than other designs. They are a great option when you plan to be outside for a long time or have a lot to carry. A typical camera backpack offers internal dividers to organize your gear and stop things from getting mixed up.
The main drawback of backpacks is access: you often have to take the backpack off and set it down to access its contents comfortably, so they don’t suit spontaneous shooting. But when you have a lot you need to take with you, this is the workhorse bag you need.
What are the benefits and drawbacks of a sling bag?
Sling bags have a single strap, like a shoulder bag, but their design makes them more comfortable to wear on your back, like a backpack. Their biggest benefit is that you can bring them to your front easily, and without taking them off, so they’re great for rapid access.
The penalty for this convenience is size: there’s a limit to how big this design can comfortatbly scale, and therefore how much you can carry. But if you just to take a camera and a couple of lenses you can bring out quickly, sling bags are well worth trying out.
What are the benefits and drawbacks of a holster bag?
A typical camera holster bag goes round your waist, perhaps clipping to your belt. They’re comfortable to wear and walk around in, to easy access to your gear, but they’re usually quite small, so don’t expect to be able to take much out with you.
How we test camera bags
The Digital Camera World team are all camera enthusiasts, and between us we have tested hundreds of different camera bags over the years – and owned a fair few of them too!
For us, a good camera bag is one that keeps your photographic gear safe and secure when not in use – but also easily accessible for when you need to take pictures. The particular requirements of a bag will depend on its type – we'd expect quicker access from a messenger bag than with a backpack, but we'd expect the backpack to store more gear.
We test our bags in real-world scenarios - accessing how much kit you can fit into each, so we can give a clear idea of which type of photographer each is best for. The design and looks of a bag can be equally important to the photographer - so we ensure we take this into account in our assessments.
Find out more about how we test and review on Digital Camera World
