crumpler 7 million dollar home Review for Canon 300D/10D/20D/30D/40D/50D/5D/7D DSLR cameras

The Tallee on the left is about the same height and depth as the 7 Million Dollar Home on the right. The big difference is that the new bag makes much more effective use of the depth (well that and it's heaps wider.) The Tallee has a bottom compartment ('the darkroom') that is only accessible from the front flap - this means that you can't take full advantage of the height of the Tallee - long lenses only fit in the bottom.

The deep Million Dollar Home easily fits an 80-200 f2.8 zoom lens (that's it on the left.) In the center compartment is an EOS1 face down with room for a medium sized lens mounted. Pleanty of room on the right for a lens and flash, or maybe a second camera body. The whole of the interior is 'loop' fabric so you can velcro the dividers anywhere you like.

You can even fit an 80-200 zoom (hood reversed) with a camera attached in the center compartment. The bag still closes easily like this and there is heaps of room for a couple more zooms and a flash. The blue flap on the front opens up to a good size pocket for battaries, CF cards or even film.

Everything else I love about Crumpler bags is unchanged. Heavy duty construction, styling that is more consistant with messenger bags than camera bags, heavy padding and lots of dividers making it easy to customise the interior.

I did say there are a couple things that I would change if I could:

First: replace the front quick release buckle. It's redundant. There is a large Velcro patch there. However, a secure clip closure is needed (particularly when you have a handle on the top.) For a bag this wide I would have preferred two clips, one on each corner of the front flap.

Second: it would be purple.

My original plan was to use the Seven Million Dollar Home when I needed to carry a lot of gear, and keep the Tallee for when I just needed a few things, but with the softer, less boxy construction of the Seven it collapses a bit when it's not fully loaded (reminds me of a Domke F2 bag I had years ago) so I really don't see myself using the Tallee much any more (watch for it on Ebay.) I'll replace it with a smaller Three or Four Million Dollar Home - if only Crumpler would make one in purple.

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Price paid: $115USD

Review text: Oh, man, what a bag.

I finally decided to treat myself to a nice camera bag - I've always used smaller, older bags that I've bought used or at swap meets, and I decided that now was the time to treat myself good.

What I had originally become obsessed over was the Crumpler "Geekstar" bag, but they are only available in the United Kingdom, and if I had ordered one, it would have cost me almost double the costs because of shipping, and while I did want to treat myself to a nice bag, spending 60+ dollars just on shipping on top of the price fo the bag simply didn't make sense. So I decided I'd visit my local Cameraland and see what the models in stock where.

I was instantly drawn to the 7 Million Dollar Home as soon as I saw it. Some of the other "Million Dollar Home" bags just looked too small, and there was only a small price difference between the "6 Million Dollar Home" and thie 7 Million, so I figured for the extra fifteen bucks, I'd get more space.

To start with, this is one swank looking bag. In fact, it looks just like a messenger bag, which is fantastic, because it doesn't look like I'm carting around expensive photography equipment. It simply appears to be a messenger bag. I like that feature.

Color wise, I really love the brownish "domke" flavor of the exterior. The interior is a lime-colored green, which really works with the outside brown color. Great for fans of earth-tone colors. The bag *is* available in other colors as well for those who like black, or blue, or red.

Once you open the outter flap, it exposes the innards of the bag. lime-colored padded velcro camera sections are aplenty and if desired can be completely taken out to form a empty shell messenger bag. The inside of the bag is completely lined with soft velcro, so I wouldn't put alot of stuff inside that could rip or mess the velcro up. But if one wanted to use it as an empty bag, its possible to do so.

With so many pads, it can take you awhile trying to figure out how you want to set the bag up. It took me about an hour of moving pads all over the place before i decided that I wanted to store the camera vertically pointing down with a lens attached, and that leaves both sides for lenses and extra gadgets. I tried to arrange the bag so that I would use every pad included. There are also these nice long horizontal pads that act as "covers" for stuff, so that they fold down and cover things up. Very nice and clean looking.

The bag also features a pocket large enough for everyday items; papers, notebooks, memory cards, lip balm, cell phones, wallets, business cards, etc. Its very roomy, and features a netted velcro pocket as well as a larger pocket.

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the outside of the bag has little material strips that I'm guessing can hold other smaller Crumpler add-ons like iPod holders and stuff. It also is good for holding pens and things with "hooks" on them.

The bag features a nice comfortable neck pad for the strap. its big, and has good coverage, and when wearing the strap across the chest, is comfy. Even when having everything inside the bag.

The depth of the bag is really nice too. I don't have any HUGE lenses, but I do have a 70-300 that fits nice and snug with enough headroom that I could add a pad above it and store another, smaller lens. if you had a big honkin' lens, like the 70-200L, you could store the camera horizontally with the lens on, but you'd have to remove alot of the padded dividers. But its completely possible to carry the lens like that if so desired.

The top flap features a really HUGE netted pocket that stores just about everything including a small woodland creature. If I had to come up with any complaint on ths bag, it would be that this large netted pocket could possibly be split up into smaller sections, so that everything doesn't jostle around so much. Sometimes it seems akward opening up the top cover, and it doesn't fold over perfectly because things like lens caps get caught on the "fold" making it rigid. Still, minor complaint, and only there because I *have* to come up with one.

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Overall, I absolutely love this bag. I feel that my camera loves me back for giving it a sexy bag to sleep in. I always felt before that my camera would get mad because I was putting it in smaller, used, older bags. Now he dosen't have anything to complain about - he's in the Rolls Royce of camera bags.

And, again, I LOVE that it doesn't scream "camera bag". Its a messenger bag on the outside, but all camera bag on the inside. Genius. I don't get stopped as often as I did before because people don't think I have camera gear inside. Its very nice.

I'd say if you really want to treat yourself, and your camera, with a nice bag, go check out the crumpler line. The 7 Million Dollar Home is the nicest bag I've ever owned, and I know it will give me years and years of loving use.

and my camera loves me more.

Likes about the bag: All kinds of room, padding is really nice, shoulder strap very comfortable, the abililty to have the bag *not* look like a camera bag, lots of extra storage for smaller items like cards, pens, caps, etc

Dislikes about the bag: the large netted area on the inside flap could perhaps have a few sections to it, rather than one large holding area. Not a major issue, but it would help seperate items like lens caps and things.

Equipment list in bag :
Canon EOS 20D w/ Grip
Canon EF 50mm f/1.8
Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM w/ hood & tripod collar
Sigma 10-20mm f/4-5.6D w/ hood
Sigma 18-50mm EX f/2.8 w/ hood
Sigma 70-200mm f/2.8 EX DG/HSM w/hood & tripod collar
Canon 430EX Speedlite
BP-511 Charger
Filter wallet, Monopod/Tripod plates, Hurricane Blower, Lenspen, Maglite, Pen, USB Cord, Sofen Flash Diffuser, Whale Tail Diffuser, Wireless Shutter Release, & Wired Shutter Release

Review text:
Amazing bag. As you can see in the review, it holds tons of stuff and I found away to adapt it to carry a laptop with some gear.

With the Large Bundle attached, it's easy to throw in a another lens or perhaps a flash. Like Lowepro, Crumpler has loops to attach and other pouches.
As I mentioned I fitted my Large Bundle to hold my 430EX or Sigma 10-20. Which ever I don't wish to carry in my main bag. Also I us the Thirsty Al's for such things as camera batteries or my mp3.

Likes about the bag: Everything! It's made well, feels good, and distributes weight well.

Dislikes about the bag: Nothing actually. I was going to sell it to make some money for I got this bag for $70 and can't bring myself to it.
I love it so much!

I'm a new user , I bought the 7 million just yesterday, after adjust the baffle, I put all the things in the list into the bag, so good.

After using Lowepro bags for all my life (5 of them in various size), I’ve decided to make a switch to something which resembles less of a camera bag when I’m lugging my gear around town, and lets face it, MOST camera bags are square, very boring in design, pretty dorky looking and screams to thieves “Rob me I have a camera bag!!!” …LOL.

I always knew the quirky Aussie company Crumpler make great bags for Laptops, I even have one which I bought a few year back. But after checking out their site again recently, they have expanded their range to include a few decent camera bags as well. So I went and visited one of their shops at The Strand arcade on Pitt St on the weekend to test out a few.

After testing a few backpacks and shoulder bags, I decided “The Seven Million Dollar Home” (yes, a strange name indeed) fits the bill perfectly!!!

Despite fitting all this gear, the bag does not feel as bulky when compared to the Lowepro Nova 190 AW which fits about the same amount of gear. The Crumpler feels more comfortable to carry around because it’s not as stiff, it’s thinner in profile, and it’s got a fatter better padded strap. It is also a bit taller as well so it fits the 70-200mm F2.8 a whole lot better than the Lowepro.

Now to the negatives. The lid is not as secure as the Lowepro, because there is no zipper. The lid is held shut by a strong velcro and a buckle. It’s also not weatherproof, so if it starts raining, you better pray for an umbrella or a plastic bag to wrap around the bag!!

Although it has a few flaws, the Crumpler is still a great camera bag. It’s very very very very well made, and fits your gear alot better than the similar sized Lowepro. But best of all, it doesn’t look like a camera bag.