I'm a growing photographer. As my skill and clientele grows, so does my equipment. When I started a little over a year ago, my little cheap canvas bag that came with my Canon Rebel Kit was good enough for my camera body and 2 lenses, which rubbed up next to each other - not the most ideal situation for expensive equipment. Now I carry at least 3 or 4 lenses, an external flash, batteries, memory cards, etc. with me on a 2 hour engagement session; more when I shoot a wedding. I had been researching camera bags off and on, all the while wearing my kit bag out.
Like most women, I wanted my next bag to be stylish yet extremely functional and comfortable. I read many reviews for bags from
Kelly Moore,
ShootSac,
Jo Totes, and
Epiphanie, yet I hesitated making the jump because buying online without seeing them in person made me nervous. After narrowing it down based on size and style, I couldn't decide between the
Epiphanie Belle in teal and the
Kelly Moore Classic in fuchsia. Even though the Kelly Moore in fuchsia is chic and many of my photographer friends recommend it, I ultimately let price be the deciding point and went with the Epiphanie Belle.
Here she is:
Isn't she lovely?! I shot with her for the first time last Saturday, and I made her model for me yesterday :) I figured that I'd use my blog as a review in case there are other lady photographers that are trying to figure out if the Epiphanie Belle is right for them.
Appearance
Have you ever bought something online based on the color and then it gets shipped home, only to find the color is a little off (or a lot) from the color you saw on the computer screen? Not here. The teal is exactly what I expected from the Epiphanie website. I love the silver accents: zippers, clasps, tag, and beading (I don't know what else to call it). They are all quality made and firmly attached - no cheap, plastic-y pieces on it. The leather is thick but very soft. You would think being waterproof that the leather would be shiny and pleathery-like - not at all. I haven't had it long enough to come into contact with a bunch of water or drink spills, but I do feel comfortable that it'll do the job of keeping my equipment dry if those situations arose. There are two pockets - one on the front and one on the back. I wish they were a tad bigger, or there were side pockets for more personal items like my keys or cell phone. No biggie - I can still fit my essentials. In the front pocket, there's enough room for my SD Card wallet, my lens pen and writing pens, and extra batteries for my flash and camera in the back pocket.
Inside and Space I am very happy with the space that's available inside the bag for equipment. The whole inside is made of bright green felt material, so the sky is your limit when deciding where to put what and none of your equipment will blend in which makes it easy for you to locate things in your bag. The dividers have really good velcro on the bottom so they aren't the easiest to remove, but that's good. They are thick and sturdy - definitely aren't moving once you put them in place. There's even a little flap over the top that serves a shield for whatever you put in that spot. In the picture below, you can see how I have my bag set up. There was an extra small divider, but I took it out. On the left side, I have my Tamron 10-24mm, Canon 100mm 2.8, and Canon 50mm 1.4; in the middle, I'll have my Canon 60D body on its back with a Tamron 28-75mm attached pointing up; and on the right, I have my Canon Speedlite 580EX II and a bounce card. Even with packing it with all of this, the zipper closes easily and it stands up when I have it on the ground. No worrying that something is going to fall out!
On the Body
The thing I was most worried about was how comfortable it is to wear and how it lays against my body. The longer padded strap is a dream - VERY comfortable and is adjustable depending on where you prefer your bag to fall. The bag width is thick based on how much is packed in it. For me, wearing it without the messenger strap is kinda uncomfortable because my arm has to wrap around the entire bag - very difficult to shoot like this. I prefer to wear it messenger style on my left shoulder and across my body so it falls on my right hip. Leaving the zipper open makes it easily accessible to switch out lenses and grab whatever you need in one fell swoop.
Overall, I give the Epiphanie Bell Bag 4.5 out of 5 stars. It's adorable and makes carrying my equipment effortless - I just wish there were more pockets on the outside for personal items. On its debut shoot, I never got annoyed with the strap or weight, and didn't need to adjust it at all.
I highly recommend this bag for anyone who can't decide between Kelly Moore and Epiphanie. Kelly Moore may be THE bag to buy right now, but being $30 cheaper and not being on backorder, the Epiphanie Belle definitely meets my expectations.
