Trying to get a list going for what I will need in my bag. Wondering what others carry around with them so I can see if I am missing anything. Also, I am just curious!

This is always a fun topic and it's been months since the last one.

flashlights (2)
laser light
6 inch ruler
several 1/4" 20 thumb screws
several heavy rubber bands
several 1 1/2 washers
misc. 1/4 20 nuts and bolts, lock washers
several dollars in change
77mm circ. POL
3 LIC941 Lenmar batteries (Canon BP945 equiv)
Canon EF adapter XL
Large micro fiber cloth
Panasonic mini DV cleaning cassette
Panasonic DVM60EJ cassettes (3)
several spare Canon XL mount body and rear lens caps
set of ear buds
set of metric allen wrenches
spare 2CR5 batteries
3 1/2" craftsman flat blade screwdriver
3 1/2" craftsman philips head screwdriver
misc safety pins
18% grey card (white on 1 side)

This is in my fanny pack that I always wear while working. The contents change on an almost daily basis. Certain times of year I'll have sun screen in an outside pocket (so it doesn't leak on the stuff on the inside).

Jeff, that's a lot of stuff. It reminds me of the passages describing the impossibly numerous contents of the family's New York apartment living room in J.D. Salinger's Franny & Zooey. Six couches, eight grand pianos, nineteen and a half pool tables, a hundred and three bowling alleys....

Of practical value I just have a few Tiffen filters, extra tapes, video cables, extra batteries, the AC Adapter, the remote, sundry lens cleaning stuff that I never use, and various audio gear.

But of practical/sentimental value I have a stainless steel Leatherman-type multi-tool with the Skywalker Ranch logo engraved on it. It was a Christmas present from my good friend and former roommate Fabrice Lorenceau--he bought it at the Ranch while he was there mixing the sound for a USC film he produced, Ocha Cups for Christmas (http://www.ochacups.com), which has been selected for Cannes next May, and, it was just announced today, won an Emmy in the category best student drama. When he's a big famous producer I'll pull out my Leatherman and say I knew him when...

ditto the multi-tool (although mine is made by Buck with no cool logo)
flashlight
bug repellent (year round)
sun screen
lens cloth
batteries
charger
wide-angle lens
GL2
head cleaner
tiny headphones
pen
odd lengths of lanyard
Studio One
Azden SGM2x
cables (audio, video, firewire, usb)
sd memory cards
tape
remote control
antacid
gum
chapstick(tm)

<<<-- Originally posted by Robert Knecht Schmidt : When he's a big famous producer I'll pull out my Leatherman and say I knew him when... -->>>

Either that or you can put it on Ebay ;-)

In my bag:

a few filters
extra battery or 2
charger which is also needed for direct outlet connection
electrical cord
lens cleaning materials
power surge bar
extra miniDV tapes
User manual
small cheap mic

Other bag: tripod/head

The content of my camera bag changes for each shoot. Last night I did a shoot at the locale Move Theater, and after party for the premier showing of a film shot up hear. In my camera kit I had:

DSR-200
SM-58 hand held mike
ME66/K6 shotgun mike
Sony ECM wireless system
20 feet of XLR cable
Roland Headphones
3 BIG Sony battery
Sony Battery charger
Lens pen
AA battery’s
Gaffer tape
Extra full size DVCAM tapes
White balance card
Note pad
Press-pass

All of this was housed in a MONSTER Pelican Case


Alex

I currently have in my case:

- Canon XL1s
- Filterset (UV, ND, C. Polarizer)
- Power Extension cable (can be rolled up)
- rope
- Extra battery
- Charger + cable
- 5 video/audio cables off all sort
- Headphones
- Plastic straps to secure stuff
- Digital photo camera + extra flash card + extra battery
- Remote control + batteries
- 4 spare DV tapes
- Extra battery for my cellphone
- Multitool
- Gaffer tape (sort off)
- probably some small things I am forgetting now

Beside my case:
- Tripod
- 2 work stands + work lights (3)
- Ladder
- Cellphone

In addition to some of the things above, other necessities include:

- a compass (to help visualize where the sun will be at different times of the day)
- a couple of pens
- business cards
- compact release cards
- a compact digital camera (for snapping potential locations)

and always, always...the trusty Leatherman. I firmly believe a Leatherman should be issued at birth.

Is there a picture of a 'Letherman' anywhere?

Now I remember.... I forgot to add 'pens' to my list :)

Not by coincidence, there's one at leatherman.com (http://www.leatherman.com/). You'll either get a picture of the classic style "Pulse" or the new "Crunch" style Leatherman. Click on the picture and you'll get an animation of it opening up.

Sounds like quite a dilemma: you want to add pens to your list but to do so you'll need a pen.

I would make at least one of those pens a medium-point black Sharpie. (And not by coincidence, there's a picture at sharpie.com (http://www.sharpie.com)!)

Ah... I got a very similair looking device. Quite handy indeed!

Thanks for linking to a picture.

Forget the "Crunch"...give me the S2 "Juice"!

I'm interested in finding out you guys carry with you on a job? What do you carry it in? Do you use one of Canon's fancy aluminium cases or are you carrying your camera around in a plastic bag?

Myself and my partner use an XL1s and XM2 and whilst I tend towards carrying the kitchen sink my partner is determined that we should travel as light as possible.

Do you carry any unusual items with your kit? After a very cold shoot in Wales last week I've developed a fondness for fingerless climbing gloves which I purchased from a cool-dude extreme sports shop. Whilst we were there my partner formed the idea of using small padded rucksacks as essential kitbags. Needless to say, my beer belly didn't really fit in with the rest of the clientelle.

We would be very interested to hear what you are lugging around with you and what you are lugging it in.

James –

I've a fondness for Kata bags.
http://www.katadirect.co.uk
I have the CCC-10, well, I think that's the one as the bag has no model tag and I've long since forgotten which one it is. And there's no way I paid £340, for the CCC-1.

Kata have some new additions to their range which include rucksacks for both the XL1 and XM2. You should check them out.

One thing no one has mentioned, but extremely useful in our wet climate, is silica gel. I plan on getting some of the larger verity and not the tiny bags you get with stills camera equipment.

P.S. Just had a brief look at your web site. Something told me to look at the source, and I was right, made in Freeway. Same here, which is what I was just working this late at night trying to finish my site.

Now I hope I don't have nightmares about being stuffed in bags full of silica gel!

I've had my eye on the Kata CCC-3333 bag for a while, but I'll have to wait a bit more till I get one. I usually take my 800 mhz iBook with me on shoots so that Kata bag with the laptop attachment would be great. After the last shoot at a Hair/Makeup Beauty College we sat around at a coffee shop drinking coffee and logging the footage into FCP.

I use a sturdy black carrying bag that I bought for $25 in San Fransisco's Chinatown (6 years ago), just lined the bottom with syrafoam.

I put a Century Optics fisyeye adapter,
remote control,
at least 3 DV tapes,
3 BP-945 batteries,
can of air, lens cleaner and tissue,
extra pair of socks, if I have a long day of running around planned, it feels nice to put on a fresh pair mid way, but also on some shoots we shoot indoors so we run around in our socks so it's always a good idea to have a spare pair,
gave my nephew my Swiss army knife so looks like I need to get one of those cool
Leatherman's,
headphones, also a mini plug y-splitter in case I need to have someone else listen with a second pair of headphones,
various adapters- BNC to RCA, RCA y connectors, microphone jack to RCA,
Handspring Prism,
if shooting a club event, a small wireless video transmitter/receiver,
flashlight,
eyedrops, between everyone smoking and the smoke machines, my eyes take a beating,
anti-histamine pills, too much dust around and I take some,
white cotton gloves,
large plastic bag, in case of rain, I put my camera in it for extra protection, XL-1,
lots of business cards and lastly, never without my cell phone, finally got one with a camera built into it, have to test out how the photos will look when I put them in FCP.

I bought a (quite large) toolkit box on wheels that they sell at
a place where you can buy all sorts of tools for construction work
etc. It has an extra layer in the top where I put most of my
cables, batteries, tapes, remote control unit etc.

It is very sturdy and I can even sit/stand on it without my XL1s
ever being in danger. And it just fits in the back of my car (which
doens't have a too large back).

However, it is kinda bulky, so if space is important I carefully
pack and wrap it in a sturdy backpack (not specially designed
for video gear).

Oh man,
let's see; in my primary case, camera (150), it has a QR plate on it, a CAC12 Sony mic holder on it, I keep an Azden 500 rec'r and transmitter w/Sony44ecm mic, 3 batteries, Azden 41ht handheld wireless, a 9" and 18" XLR cable, Tiffen 3 filter kit, Century Optics LCD magnifier, (old eyes; it's very helpful) a WA lens attachment and 8 tapes and a nonstock shotgun mic. I carry this in a smallish thermodyne shock proof case. Oh yeah, I also have my old Sky King Lunch box for my PB&J. Hey a guy's gotta eat!

In the PortaBrace CS-DV3:
-- GL2
-- 2x BP930 & 1x BP915 batteries
-- charger/AC adapter
-- 10 tapes
-- Remote
-- All cables that came with the GL2
-- Azden SGM-X mic w/shockmount
-- NRG Tri-Mount
-- IEEE 1394 cables, 4-pin to 4-pin & 4-pin to 6-pin
-- Tiffen "Video Essentials DV Kit" - 3 filters in pouch
-- GL2 manual with French & Spanish sections removed (yuk)
-- White balance card (came with case)
-- 2x LR44 batteries for mic
-- 1x CR2025 battery for cam

Soon to be added:
-- Leatherman tool (good idea from an earlier message and something to do with it now that the airlines won't allow it in my carry-on computer case any more)
-- Small on-cam front-fill light (ala VL3)

My full kit also includes several other bags and cases. One bag has a tripod and monopod with matching quick release systems. Another has two lightstands and two lights. An "audio" box (an old briefcase) has headphones, mics, audio cables, minidisc recorder and minidiscs, and a set of NiMH AA batteries with charger.