Almost as long as I’ve been “serious” about photography I’ve wanted a gorgeous, girly, fun and functional camera bag.  More than once I almost hit add to cart on a Kelly Moore bag, an Epiphane and even considered a Jill E., but I just felt all of those were too expensive for what you get  (I had a hard time justifying spending $160-$200 on a pleather bag!)  Now, if I’d only heard RAVE reviews and I thought they fit my needs perfectly, or I fell madly in love with their designs I might have been persuaded, but none of these had a magnetic AND a zip closure at the top which was something I really wanted (zip for ultimate rain proof protection, snap for quick closure when shooting.)

And that’s where Jo Totes bags came in. They had pretty much everything I wanted in a camera bag –  tons of room,  magnetic/zip closure, a long removable shoulder strap, metal feet on the bottom, gorgeous vintage design and colors that make me happy (seriously, my marigold rose bag makes me smile when I look at it) and all of this for under $100!

There are two main styles, Missy and Rose.  I have the Rose in Marigold and that is the one I’m reviewing, though I’ve read that both have very similar features and dimensions. The one difference is that the Rose gets narrower/slimmer at the top to fit under the arm so it has a little less room at the top than the Missy.

Anyway, onto the pictures!

Hello Sunshine! The Rose bag in Marigold.

Pretty vintage rose detail

Magnetic snap AND zip closure

snazzy houndstooth interior fabric (other colors have other fabrics)

configurable inserts

And now, what everyone wants to know: What can it fit??

The answer is..pretty much EVERYTHING! At a roomy 16 3/4″ x 11″ x 6″ , I can actually fit all my lenses except the 70-200 PLUS my full frame 5D Mark II body PLUS my speedlite!  But what really sold me on it is that I can even fit my 70-200 if it’s mounted on my camera and it lays sideways. Even with that, I can still fit another lens or two and my speedlite next to it.   The folks at JoTotes are quick to point out that this is NOT meant to be a heavy duty camera bag for toting around massive lenses like the 70-200, but being that it is my preferred lens for outdoor shooting I did want to share how I make it work.

Because I couldn’t take decent pictures of the bag with my stuff in it (can’t take pictures OF my camera WITH my camera!) I decided at the last minute to do a little video tour of what I packed in my JoTote for a newborn shoot this past weekend.  Clearly this is last minute because I decided to record this even though I was home alone with Jasper, which means in between the salient points you will hear whining, and constant interruption from the man himself ( and an up close look at his new haircut!) so I apologize in advance!

Now, I have read other people say they thought this bag was TOO roomy, so I think size is just completely a matter of preference when it comes to camera bags.  Just like some people like a clutch vs a real handbag, people will always have varying ideas about what their ideal camera bag size is.  Personally, I like to have a big bag that I can pack full if need be or just have it be less full and lighter but still have plenty of room for diapers, wipes case etc.

I’ve had this bag for almost six months now and I really have found it to be  pretty darn near perfect.  The only things that would make it beyond perfect would be 1) a sleeve for sliding some paperwork into (like model releases etc) which could fit under the rouching and 2) one of those things that fits on the shoulder strap that you put where the strap hits your shoulder (I don’t know what it’s called!) as the strap is a little on the thin side and can tend to dig in after a while when you tote around a ton of stuff like I always do! But seriously, those things are just nitpicky details, I have a fierce love for my Jo Tote and if anything happened do it I wouldn’t hesitate to buy another in a heartbeat – or even just to try a different color! (Did I mention that I’ve had tons of people compliment me on my “purse” and then watched their jaws drop when I told them it was actually a camera bag?)

So now that you know all about Jo Totes bags and how awesome they are you are totally going to put one on that holiday wish list you plan on slipping to your hubby right?  (You should!)  But before you do, you have a chance to win one of your very own right here!

All you need to do is go to the Jo Totes website and come back here and leave a comment letting me know which bag in which color you want if you win (please choose from in stock items only.)  Additional entries can be earned by:

1) going to the Jo Totes Facebook page and liking them.
2) going the new and rather anemic Becoming-Mom facebook page and liking it.
3) Tweeting about the giveaway with a link:  http://bit.ly/ch3t9V

Leave an additional comment for each of those letting me know you’ve done one or all.

Entries will be taken until Midnight Friday EDT and the winner will be chosen via random.org and announced on Monday November 15th…

Good luck!

Filed under: giveaways, Photography Biz by ariana
544 Comments »

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