I say this half jokingly, but I have a condition with no cure. I bet quite a few of you around me have it too. It's gear acquisition syndrome, GAS for short. Mine is a pretty bad case. I'll pour money into cameras and lenses without a second thought, yet for some reason I've never spent much on tripods or camera bags. Recently, though, I found a camera bag that changed my mind. It's been a while since I came across something I liked this much, so I want to tell you about it.

The bag I bought is the Press Center from NUBES. This isn't sponsored. I bought it with my own money, and I've had it for about two weeks now. I first met the owner of NUBES earlier this year at a flea market held at Gorae Photo Studio. Talking with him, I could feel his passion for cameras and how much he genuinely loves photography. It also stuck with me that these bags aren't just something he sells. They're made by someone who loves photos and cameras himself.

Why is the perfect camera bag so hard to find?

Anyone who has been shooting for a while will know this: finding a camera bag you truly love is way harder than it sounds. If you like the design, there's not enough storage. If the storage is right, the size or the material lets you down. Even when you think you've found one that checks every box, little things start to bug you once you actually use it. Maybe that's why so many of the old-timers who have been shooting forever end up making their own camera bags with their name on them.

NUBES, though, makes camera bags you can customize. Beyond the fabric and color, you can talk it through with them and get the design you want and the details you need. In other words, you can have a camera bag that exists nowhere else in the world. Isn't your heart racing already? If you're like me and would rather have something a little special than the same thing everyone else has (what Koreans jokingly call "Hongdae syndrome," the urge to own things nobody else has), you might already be looking up NUBES on Instagram.

Close-up of the side of the bag. A mustard pocket carries a patterned band and a NUBES label, and a gold pouch and a key ring hang from a red loop.
The NUBES label and patterned band on the side. Image ⓒ Brisnap TV

The Press Center, designed with a creator

The Press Center I chose is a model the creator Simon designed together with the owner of NUBES. Inside there's room for a 13-inch iPad, and on the front there are two pockets. There's separate storage on the back and on both sides too, so it holds more than you'd expect. With my own gear, I fit a Leica M2, a Nikon D200 with a 35mm lens, a Sony A7C with the 16-25G lens, an Osmo Pocket and an Osmo Nano, and there was still plenty of room left inside.

Looking down into the bag. A camera sits between orange dividers, with small pockets running along the front.
The inside, split up by orange dividers. Image ⓒ Brisnap TV

Maybe because a creator was involved in the design, even the basic layout feels like it was made by someone who actually carries a camera around. The zipper in particular makes the bag easy to open and close, and it's designed so you can open just one side to grab your gear when you need to. It sounds like nothing, but once you use it, these little things are really handy.

The flap folded back. A long zipper runs down the middle of the flap's underside, with an orange mesh pocket on the left.
The long zipper through the middle of the flap, and the orange mesh pocket. Image ⓒ Brisnap TV

A bag with my photos on it

Now for the highlight. From the start, I didn't want to just buy a camera bag. I wanted to make one that was uniquely mine. Above all, I wanted a bag that showed who I am, so I had it customized to hold photos I shot myself on the outside. I liked the idea of a photographer carrying his own photos around on his bag, and most of all, I loved that it really feels like my bag and nobody else's.

A hand pulling a photo out of the front of the bag. The photo of an arched doorway in a white building sits in a black-framed panel.
The photo panels on the front come off by hand. Image ⓒ Brisnap TV

There was one more thing I really wanted. Every time I've shopped for a crossbody camera bag, I've wanted a spot for a water bottle, and surprisingly, almost none have one. When I shoot street photography I often end up walking for hours, so I usually carry water, but most camera bags just don't have a proper place for a bottle. So this time, when I ordered from NUBES, I went ahead and asked them to make a separate pocket just for a water bottle. Yay!

A bottle of water tucked into the bottle pocket on the side of the bag, held in place by a patterned band and a buckle.
A water bottle on the side, held by a patterned band and a buckle. Image ⓒ Brisnap TV

In the end, I got both things I wanted: a design built around my own photos, and a separate pocket for a water bottle. When the finished bag first arrived, I loved it. It felt less like I'd bought a new camera bag and more like I'd made the bag I had in my head come to life.

Ordering starts with your gear setup

From what I hear, the size and layout of a NUBES bag are usually based on your everyday setup: the cameras, lenses and other gear you normally carry. You talk with the owner about which camera you use, how many lenses you bring, how you want to use the bag and so on, and end up with a bag that fits you. You can pick things like the color and fabric yourself too. If you have questions, I'd suggest sending NUBES a DM on Instagram. They walked me through everything very kindly when I ordered.

A hand pressing down on a divider inside the bag. Three orange dividers split the inside, and the underside of the flap is olive.
Three orange dividers and the olive underside of the flap. Image ⓒ Brisnap TV

I've only been using it for about two weeks, so it's a bit early to talk about durability or how happy I'll be with it in the long run. I'll have to find that out as I keep using it. So far, though, I'm really pleased with the design, the storage, and above all the fact that I got to build in exactly what I wanted.

If, like me, off-the-shelf camera bags have always felt just a little short of right, if you want a bag that fits the gear you actually carry, or if you just want a one-of-a-kind camera bag of your own, NUBES is worth a look. Fair warning, though: it's especially dangerous for those of you with GAS and Hongdae syndrome both. You might end up ordering one, just like I did. Let's go!

The side of the bag and the shoulder strap. A pink floral pouch and small cards hang from a red loop.
A floral pouch clipped to the red loop by the shoulder strap. Image ⓒ Brisnap TV