Tenba have just launched a new range of cine bags in various sizes and configurations – many suitable for international airline carry-on. The new Cineluxe bag collection includes four shoulder bags, two backpacks and a roller. Each has a wide ‘doctor style’ opening that allows rapid and unobstructed access to the gear inside. The exterior of all the bags are made of 1680 denier ballistic nylon and have aluminium re-enforcement to prevent damage to the gear inside in the event of a knock.
The internal configuration of each bag appears to have been well thought out. The idea is that you leave your camera rig assembled and then pack other gear around it. This is done with the aid of padded lens wraps, a pouch and special FlexCore dividers which hold their shape around gear.
The shoulder straps are anti-slip and the handles are leather. The bags also have a trolley strap that allows them to piggyback on a larger rolling case. Something that I find very useful on my luggage when I travel.
So far, so good. A considerable amount of thought has gone into the designs. That said, l don’t think they are significantly different to other cine bags from Sachtler, Portabrace or Thinktank. I already pack my Sachtler Dr. bag in pretty much the same way as Tenba are advocating – by placing lenses and other bits in bobs into wraps and packs around the rig. Funnily enough I quite often use Tenba’s own Toolbox and BYOB pouches to do this. Also, even though the video mentions that you can put an assembled rig into most of the bags, looking at the photos provided it seems that you still can’t easily fit a Sony FS7 in with grip and EVF attached. Their picture shows the camera with grip removed in the bag. This is a problem I have found with other makers bags too.
We’ll have to wait and see how these bags perform in the real world before being able to recommend them, but so far they do seem to have pretty much all the features you can currently expect on a cine bag. We look forward to seeing them soon at the BVE show in London.
You can find out more about the bags on the Tenba website.
