Sick and tired of bedlam in your camera gear storage? Packing cubes and sacs come to the rescue to organize everything from batteries and remotes, to lights and lenses, to anything tote along for your DSLR.
Once you get sucked into the world of photography, your closet and camera bag can start busting at the seams with cameras, lenses, lights, tripods, cables, filters, and all kinds of accessories. Organization is a must if you want to stay sane when reaching for your gear—or packing your camera bag for a road trip.
Packing cubes aren’t just for taming underwear and socks bedlam (although they do that too!). These organizational miracles—from superlight to super sturdy—can also work for making Marie Kondo happy if she peeked in your photography organization at home. Here’s the coup: The packing cubes or their contents used at home for camera gear storage can also then get lifted out of drawers or pulled from closets to go into the car, duffel, or pack to bring better organization to the tangle of gear when you’re documenting your travel adventures. Plus, guess what, they are light enough to send as gifts without breaking the bank.
Organizing Camera Accessories
Cables and batteries can get lost in a flash in the bottom of camera bags, so you need to keep them collected in one place. As somebody who also does a lot of night photography, I have a collection of flashlights for not only seeing in the dark, but also for use when I “light paint,” a creative way of adding light to longer exposures at night. I used to have multiple small pouches to hold these smaller items, but have since fallen in love with the Isolate Quick Trip Small, a toiletry bag that is so much more. Here’s why.
First, don’t buy black camera bag organizers—then items don’t go AWOL in a bottomless pit. Second, having zip pockets on each side is perfect for tiny tools, cables, small batteries, or other small accessories. Then, a collection of flashlights, remotes, or larger batteries fit comfortably in the main inside area.
If you want further separation and organization for your camera equipment, use both the Extra Small and the Small Quick Trip—or choose different colored kits to color code them. The great thing about the Isolate line is that it is also a softer, lighter nylon, so it packs flexibly into a backpack to head onto a location or fits tidily into your camera gear bag in the back of your car. And it’s still water resistant if you set the kit down on a wet rock in the field.
Organizing Camera Cables
If you are more of a traditionalist for your camera cables, batteries, and plugs, stick to the Reveal E-Tools Organizer, designed specifically for electronic gear and accessories. Choosing different colors than your other packing cubes and sacs is an organization hack that helps you select quickly what you need from your camera bag so you can always get your perfect travel photo. Another choice, depending on your preferences, would be the flatter Pack-It Gear Pouch or Reveal Sac, particularly if you have lens filters in individual pouches that you want to gather into one place (look at the sizing carefully as you can pick out sacs that fit your gear—larger organization sacs for those with DSLR, and smaller ones for those with micro-four-thirds cameras or simply less camera gear).
Superlight Isolate Cubes are very helpful when packing together like items when the gear isn’t too fragile. I adore the XS version to stash a couple of light panels: When at home in storage, there is room for a battery and charger, too, but if I head out for a shoot and don’t need those, I can take them out but still keep a couple of small light panels or cubes organized together.
Organizing and Storing Camera Lenses & Equipment
What about lenses? They seem to multiply like rabbits, too, and it’s important to be able to choose the one you want quickly. The small, ultra-durable Gear Protect-It Cubes feature padding for protection and internal removable dividers, so you can lay your lenses in them to better choose what you want either from a home closet, your car, or your camera bag. An internal zipper mesh pocket on the inside of the zippered lid is also ideal to stash a few lens cleaning cloths. No camera bag should be without them!
Organizing Everything Else
When outdoors taking photos, you will also likely need a few layers if the weather changes—or a place to keep ones you peel off. For that you can also use the Isolate Cubes—go with Isolate compression cubes so you can compress or enlarge storage as needed. Plus, when your layers are in the cubes, it also serves as a little cushion for your behind or knees if you need to sit behind your tripod, or kneel for the perfect angle. Speaking of tripods, depending on the size of yours, the Isolate Slim Cube can serve as a simple protector, particularly for shorter travel-, light- or smartphone-sized stands, and you can then easily slip the cube into the side of your camera backpack for easy carry!
Packing cubes are chameleons so think a little out of the box for alternative packing cube uses. When it comes to organizing your camera gear, no bedlam is a beautiful thing!
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