Canon photo vest for photographers. For photographers, whether professionals, advanced amateurs or beginners, the camera equipment they have consist of one or two 35mm camera bodies, two or three lenses and a flash, plus a dozen rolls of film and batteries. To carry them around, the option is a gadget bag (a.k.a. camera bag) designed specially for carrying camera equipment. Of course, some photographers do not use camera bags at all; any conventional backpacks, bags or cases designed for non-camera equipment are used instead. For most beginners and advanced amateurs, having a medium-size camera bag is enough to carry their camera equipment around for their photography needs. For the professionals, their taste ranges from anything to a small pouch to extra large strongboxes or heavy-duty backpacks specially made for carrying large amounts of camera equipment. Whether using a camera bag of small, medium, large or extra large designs, one thing is sure; not all bags are suitable to be carried around to wherever you may go for your photography assignments. They may be useful in storing your equipment while you're on your way to a foreign destination or out of town assignment. However, once there, you may find that your camera bag is more of a hassle than a necessity when the time comes for you to start shooting your pictures. This is especially true if the events you are shooting happen to be cocktail receptions, fashion shows, high profile events or sports. What do the professionals do in such situations? Simple. They leave their camera bags in the hotel room or the car and just wear a photographer's vest, plus a couple of extra large pouches to carry items like films and batteries. The photo vest will make your job easier. Instead of having to lug around a near- empty camera bag and squeezing your way through a tight situation, having your camera equipment stored inside the many pockets of your photo vest will enable you to be more nimble and easy to move around. There are many photographer's vests available in the market, ranging from small, medium, large to extra large to suit one's size. For users of EOS cameras and the older series of Canon's manual focus 35mm camera system, Canon Malaysia has a photographer's vest available for sale. This Canon vest is light gray in colour and has 15 different pockets, 14 on the front and 1 large pocket at the back. From the 14 front pockets, there are two large, non-zippered types that can be used to hold large telephoto lenses like Canon's EF 70-200mm f/2.8L USM, EF 35-350mm f/3.5-5.6L USM or the EF 100-400mm f/3.5-5.6L IS USM. The top four pockets on the front, located on and above the chest area, can be used to keep small items like films, batteries, wallets or even your international passport. The four zipper-type of pockets located near the bottom part of the vest can be used for keeping short lenses like any of the wide-angle or standard EF zoom lenses, a 50mm or 100mm single focal length lenses and a Canon Speedlite. The Canon vest has mesh netting on the top part of the front as well as a large one at the back to help keep the photographer cool and prevent him from sweating when working in tropical conditions. Unlike most medium-size photo vests available in the market, the stitching and workmanship of this Made-in-Malaysia photographer's vest are of the highest quality available and photographers need not worry about any of the pockets or stitching part of coming apart due to prolonged use of carrying heavy lenses. The vest looks very stylish on the photographer and is comfortable to wear in any photographic situation. For those interested in buying one, please contact your regular Canon authorised dealer in the country for the price and availability. This vest is new and has just been introduced in Malaysia for the EOS users and other photo enthusiasts. Attn: All foreign EOS users, kindly take note that the Canon Vest reviewed here is currently available for sale from Canon's authorised dealers in Malaysia only. The vest is not available online and hence Canon Malaysia is not able to entertain any request from interested foreign EOS users. Text and photos by Philip Chong. Copyright 1999 by Canon Marketing (M) Sdn. Bhd. << Back to Main . 1 .