I went to Arlington Camera this morning initially to buy a second small lens case to hang off one end of my Think Tank Retrospective 5.

The Retrospective 5 work GREAT for a one-body, three-lens outfit. Took my E-P3 and the 12/25/45 prime set to Paris and it was perfect. Since picking up the E-M5 I have also started carrying the 75-300 full-time since the E-M5 has made it usable basically whenever I want with the great high ISO capability. My solution to adding the extra lens was to put the 45/1.8 in a small lens case I already had and hang it on one end of the Retrospective 5 via the great rail accessory they have on these bags.

Now that I also have the tiny 9-18mm M. Zuiko and want access to the extra wide capture ability when needed I had a quandry to figure out. Do I get a second small lens case and now have one lens case hanging off each end of the Retrospective 5 (tried it, starting to feel a little bulky and not-so-small with the two separate cases and more fiddly getting to those two lenses), make a decision as to which lens to not take with me, or do something else, especially considering down the road I'm looking at also adding the vertical grip for the E-M5.

I've tried making the other few bags I have work, but there was always one thing or more I didn't like about them, fit-wise or the way I could or could not carry extra "stuff". Bob saw me with a nice Lowepro bag that works "ok" a few weeks ago.... until a point that morning where I bent down to do something and my Kenko tubes slipped out of a side pocket that was, supposedly", closed via the velcro tab, and I somehow "lost" two lens caps. End of that experiment.

Once I got in the store this morning the answer was pretty easy. One size up from the Retrospective 5 is the Think Tank Retrospective 7. Not overly larger than the Retrospective 5, but way more roomy inside, so now I have two bags for my system that are perfect. The tiny, three lens Retrospective 5 for when it makes sense and this new, one body, five lens Retrospectve 7 for when I want everything......which is most of the time. Same great pocket system as the Retrospective 5 where I've worked out how to carry everything, switch lenses efficiently, keep everything safe and secure, the slightly bigger bag still stays very close to my side in a very unbulky profile, and it is still really, really lightweight considering what it's holding.

....I saw last month where the '7' was being introduced. It sounds perfect for my load because I get it done now with a '5', but very tight... Next on my list is a tripod when the kitchen overhaul is finished.

I have Zig's tripod model information and have looked into a couple of others. Greg, what is the model nomenclature for the tripod & head you have.

The house rework has kept me pretty much grounded, by next weekend the project should be done. Yesterday evening I went up the street to the Friday night car show & tell; I took the P3 and 9-18 for a few shots and will post some later.

Gonna take a NAP now, just plain pooped from all the work & no play....zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!

I just saw a very good review of an updated Vanguard ballhead model that uses standard Arca-Swiss compatible mounting plates, which my model SBH-250 does not. That could open up access to other accessories if that was important. Definitely not as cheap as the SBH-250 is the tradeoff. This new Vanguard is about as much as the Manfrotto equivalent to the SBH-250 when I was shopping for which head to buy.