Domke F6 Review for Nikon D70, D100 , D200 , D300 , D700 d-slr cameras

Domke F-6

for Nikon D70 / D100 / D200 / D300 / D700

Review #1

The Domke F6 "Little Bit Smaller" is a light and stealthy camera bag made of heavy-duty canvas. Due to its softness, it "fits" to the hip and is very silent to work with. Normally, Domke bags are made for camera bodies without lenses and the lenses put in extra. In this style, there is room for the D70 with the body cap (or attached with the fabulous Nikon 45/2.8P (!)), the flash in the front bag and 4 (!) lenses from the small Nikon 35mm f/2 up to the big 80-200mm f/2.8.

But I prefer to leave one lens attached all the time, so I have modified the 4-compartment-inlet so that one lens/flash and the cam with lens attached fits perfectly.

This bag holds: (as shown on the pictures)

Main compartment, big inlet:
Nikon D70 body with Nikon 24-120mm f/3.5-5.6G VR attached, Hood reversed.
SB-800 flash with diffuser, vertical

Main compartment, smaller inlet:
Nikon 70-300mm f/4-5.6G, vertical, hood reversed
Sigma 15-30mm f/3.5-4.5 EX, vertical, hood attached

Front bag:
either Quantum Turbo Battery or lots of accessories, batteries, cards, cables

Rear lid:
Some paperwork, Nikon manual

Top lid:
some cables, memory cards

Outer Rim:
Quantum Turbo Battery with cable attached; then the bag is easy to identify as photo bag, but having the Quantum at the bag rather than at the hip works fine for me.

The flap stays in closed place under all circumstances and can be fixed with two hooks for transport.

The inlets can be removed. They are attached with velcro at the side lines and are padded with closed cell foam. The bottom has its own plate which can be removed to add softness, at a little cost of ruggedness. I have put the inlets into a plastic bag so that they are completely sealed against moisture from the bottom side.

My personal record in loading the F6 is the following: D70 with Sigma 15-30 attached, put in vertical in the small compartment. In the big compartment (all vertical): Nikon 50mm f/1.4 with Nikon 35/2 on top, Sigma 28/1.8 with Teleconverter Kenko 1.4 pro on top, Tokina AT-X Pro 80-200/2.8, Flash SB 800 with Diffuser Dome. In the front bag the Quantum Turbo, in the lid some memory cards and the batteries for the D70 and the flash.

This is a lot of stuff and the bag is crowded but still workable. The key to usability is to "re-sort" the contents after taking the camera out!

Conclusion: This bag is a dream for the normal to semi-pro-user with perfect quality, stealthy look and best usability - but the F6 is hard to get in the shops, at least over here in Germany!

If you need more equipment, look for the F2, if even more, then only the F1X is your deal!

thanks to Michael Rother for photos and comments.

Review #2

F6 bag arrived yesterday. What a great "smaller" bag. Great for weekend town outings or whatever the case may be. No need to haul the mini trekker on my back. If I am going out for a day of macro shooting, then I will ditch the 70-300 and put the 105mm in it's place. The images has a SB-800 w/ the 12-24mm in the same padded pouch. The main compartment is where the 70-300 is w/ the Nikon D70 w/ 18-70mm attached w/ harbortronics grip attached. Fits nicely. Plenty of extra room. If you order one, just watch out, the 2-compartment I order, labelled by Domke from BH, was only one. Probably packing error by Domke, but I keep my 12-24 in a padded pouch so no big deal for me. Removing part of the partition was simple with the use of a sewing thread remover.

thanks to www.edwardswartzphotography.com for photo & info

Review #3
(Added 1st July 2008)

Equipment list in bag :
Nikon D300 + MB-D10 battery grip + Nikon 50mm f/1.4
Nikon 16-85mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR
Nikon 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G ED-IF AF-S VR
Nikon 105mm f/2.8 VR micro
Nikon SB-600
and misc. small items

I was looking for a compact bag and liked both the OD color and the old school canvas feel of the Domke. It holds all my gear perfectly with no wasted space for things to rattle around. I did put a neoprene body cover on the D300 for some extra padding and dust control, it fits perfectly with the battery grip & 50mm lens installed. I also purchased the Domke tripod bag, it is excellent as well.

Likes about the bag:
Color, size, old school look, comfort when carrying and it doesn't scream expensive gear inside

Dislikes about the bag:
Wish the space for the camera body was padded and the shoulder strap was removable

Thanks to Mike for review