My Perfected Domke F-5xb bag

As camera bags go, the Domke F-5xb is a classic for mirrorless camera systems.  When the micro 4/3 system came out and became popular, this bag quickly gained a following for being a small, easy to carry and durable camera carrier.  I’ve owned a few prior to this one and always enjoyed them, but there were a few small issues that kept me from keeping it.  With this latest bag though, I made some modifications to make it the perfect version for me.

The biggest complaint with this bag has always been the loud and strong velcro that is used on the front flap.  When trying to open the bag in a quiet place, that velcro can be heard by everyone around.  My solution was to remove the hook side of the velcro and in it’s place, add in the male studs from Fidlock Snaps.  On the flap, I carefully cut a slit in the loop side of the velcro and slid the female side of the Fidlock between the velro and the flap fabric.  This hides the back end of the Fidlock so it can’t be seen on the flap.  Now I have a very quick and easy way to open the flap without tearing the velcro apart.  The snaps simply lock into place and to release, you just pull the flap down a half inch.

The picture above shows the 2 halves of each Fidlock Snap.  They screw into each other to hold into place.  For this application, they work perfectly.

The other main complaint was the strap.  Domke uses what they call a ‘Gripper’ strap, which is basically a strap with rubber threads sewn in.  While this sounds good in theory, in practice the strap is a pain to use.  To solve this, I pulled the strap from a Peak Design Sling 10l bag that has a great quick adjustment slide and attached it to the F-5xb by way of 1.25″ brass lobster claw swivels.  Now the bag can either hang loosely at my side while shooting or I can cinch it tight to my back to act as a sling bag so it won’t flop around while moving.

Now that I’m back in the Fuji X ecosystem (all of my Sony gear is sold and gone, a story for another day), this little bag can hold my daily carry gear; a Fuji X-E3, Fuji 16-80mm f/4, Fuji 23mm f/2, Meike 35mm f/1.4 and all the accessories I need.