DIY Camera Bag Insert for $10

I made my own camera bag and I think you can do it too! Inspired by this post and the rest of them like it. I was asked to post photos, but instead I’ll do my best to tell the story! The insert is a custom fit for my smaller DSLR. I designed it myself to make it fit my gear into my sturdy backpack. These are the items that I’d need to carry:

Nikon D5100 with lens attached

Tokina 11-16 f/2.8

Sigma 18-35mm f/1.8

70-200 f/2.8 (will purchase in the future)

Off camera Flash

End product. I can easily reach behind me and have my camera in my hand in a second with very little zipper open.

Here’s what I needed to make this:

Anti Fatigue foam

Box cuter

Needle

Thread

Strong Fabric

a bag you already love

Sharpie

Cardboard

This is an example of the foam I used:

Here’s what I did:

First I turned the backpack inside out and used cardboard, a sharpie, and a box cutter to make a pattern. I measured the cardboard against the backpack once it was turned inside in. I put the lenses and the camera in the backpack with the cardboard to see if everything fit and if I’d be happy with the final product. After some trimming I was happy with how the pattern fit. I went to Habor Freight and got Anti-Fatigue foam. It cost me $10 and was the only expense. I cut the foam to match the cardboard patterns, tried the foam in the backpack along with the lenses for size. Everything looked great!

Next comes the fabric part. I imagine you could use jeans or old khakis, but I had a pair of extra scrub pants laying around from x-ray school and I figured the fabric was perfect. They’re durable, brightly colored (so I don’t lose dark colored electronics), and they already have a strong seam sewed on one side. So I cut the fabric to size leaving a little extra to account for the thickness of the foam. Then I used a needle from a hotel sewing kit I had laying around and some button thread I had in my bathroom. I sewed three sides of a square then turned the fabric inside out, inserted the foam, and sewed the foam inside. I was careful to use the pockets of the scrubs as secret pockets for the insert. The last side to get sewn always had a little flap sticking out, I sewed this extra flap to the next piece. Once I was done sewing the foam inside the fabric I sewed the bottom to the sides to form the shell of the insert. Then I made dividers and sewed them into the shell. The dividers were tricky because I couldn’t get my fingers into the tight spaces inside and still sew clean lines, so I decided to sew straight through the outer shell. I think this makes the whole structure sturdier anyway.

Final product packed away in my backpack ready to go!

Built in flap to separate lenses.

Alternative position of adjustable flap.

Bottom of the insert. Keeping loose out of the way:

In the end I was successful and have a $100+ discrete customized camera bag with hidden pockets for little more than $10 and few hours of time. I take this bag into the city for a professional portrait photo shoot. I take it when I’m shooting street photography. And I take this bag on the plane when I’m traveling with my DSLR. This bag has been to four or five continents and I don’t see any reason why it shouldn’t last for many more years!

Please leave a comment below if this writeup has been helpful or if something is unclear. Also, send me photos of your camera bag insert if you try this project

Lastly, don’t forget to see more of Schuyler’s photos,

Urban exploration photos

FoodHooch photos

Made in America Festival photos

Follow Schuyler on Tumblr or Twitter or Instagram for more content.

Schuyler L. is a Philadelphia, Pennsylvania based architectural and event photographer specializing in urban and night photography. He will stop at nothing to get the perfect image. Consider supporting original artwork on Tumblr with a monetary donation or purchasing a print.