Gear Review – Apex Bean Bag

By Bill

From time to time, my friends at Essential Photo Gear send me stuff to evaluate. Two weeks ago they sent me the Apex Bean Bag, a new product designed in large part by Chas Glatzer, master photographer and well-known columnist and photo tour operator.

I have made two trips to Africa, once in Tanzania where I had personal guide and driver, and the other to South Africa where I did all the driving myself. One of the biggest issues I faced on both trips was how to support my camera and telephoto lens when doing wildlife shots.

Good solid support of a long telephoto lens is absolutely necessary. And when one cannot use a tripod, the choice among most photographers has been to use a bean bag.

Photo Courtesy of Travis Peltz

Well, this bean bag is different in many respects from what I have used in the past.

First is its shape. Made like a horseshoe, the bag fits neatly over a vehicle door frame. And I must mention something here that is very important. Yes there are all kind of window mount alternatives. I own one, the Ergorest Multi-tripod, but the problem is that the mounts require you to roll up the window to fit the mechanism in place, that means that critical “headroom” for your tripod mount is lost and it means that the camera is often too high to use effectively. This is one reason that I love the design of this bag, the photographers who designed it have encountered the same issues I have.

And, as you can see in the photograph, that is one more large lens! Yet the bag supports it perfectly.

I often use a bean bag while doing photography in Florida. There are many areas where shooting from a vehicle is a distinct advantage as wildlife tends to pay no attention to a truck or car. And, almost always, I am either shooting early in the morning or late at night which means I need a really really solid support for my camera as it is likely that I am shooting at less then 1/50. As in the photograph that follows.

The Bald Eagle simply ignored me as I took shot after shot, all from my SUV window.

What I would have given five years ago to have had the Apex Bean Bag! It would have made a significant difference in my photography for years. So I am glad to see that the folks at Essential Photo Gear have introduced the bag and made it available to folks like me.

Not all photography is done from a vehicle. And I am repeatedly advising others that getting low, or getting on the same level as your subject is a fundamental thing one must do to get a great shot. And wouldn’t you know, the designers of the Apex Bean Bag made it work by turning it upside down to support a heavy lens while shooting prone, something I often do. As you can see, the lens fits perfect in the horseshoe turned up.

Photo Courtesy of Travis Peltz

The Apex Bean Bag is made of high quality materials and I am amazed at the attention to detail that went into its construction.

An aluminum plate comes with the bag to which is welded a tripod mounting screw. One simply inserts the plate into the top of the bag and the mount protrudes through a small hole in the bag. Two washers are included with the bag to protect the cloth from marring when the tripod mount is affixed to the bag. There is even a little sleeve on the side of the bag to store the washers. Details, I like that.

When I got the bag, my first task was to go to Sam’s Club to find earth friendly stuff to fill it with. My first choice was rice. A big mistake. Rice is small and thus heavy, really heavy. So, I bought a bag of pinto beans and mixed the rice with the beans. The result was a bag that weighed 20 pounds when filled. Yep, 20 pounds! Like an idiot, I did not read the instructions or follow the advice of those who made it. One needs to find lighter stuffing, but not to the detriment of what the extra weigh means. The whole idea here is to have a solid surface on which to mount a very heavy tripod mount (most photographers use a Wimberly with it), a very heavy lens and professional grade camera. A five pound bean bag configured like this won’t work very well. It has to be heavy.

There are some other nice features about the bag. It has two straps and buckle that allow one to anchor it to a door handle, or whatever seems handy. Why is that? Cause you don’t want to run into the assembly and have your $8,000 camera and $6,000 lens wind up on the pavement! Having a way to secure the bag to whatever then is a really good idea.

Photo Courtesy of Travis Peltz

Course there are many ways to use this bag because of its unique design. For example, it makes a great table top tripod. And, I can see it used on the ground for doing landscape photography as well. Or even on a car hood.

Photo Courtesy of Travis Peltz

Perhaps the most important feature of the Apex Bean Bag is that it is easy to pack for a long trip. One simply empties the earth friendly contents, rice, beans, or bird seed onto the ground and it all folds nice and flat, hardly taking up any room in my luggage. When I get to my destination, I fill it with whatever is available. That could be anything from pine straw to leaves, or dried beans bought at a native market. And if worse comes to worse, sand will do nicely as well, although that would be dern heavy!

My only regret is that this product was not available when I went on my last trip to Africa. I sure could have made good use of it while driving from one end of Kruger Park to the other, all 2,300 miles of my journey.

Ever since Essential Photo Gear got started, what has impressed me is that the stuff they sell is designed by photographers. Imagine that. And, each time I buy a product from the company I find the quality to be well beyond my expectations. In other words, a group of expert photographers with good business ethics and a friendly helpful attitude are making stuff that I can use because they have been at the same place I have and have faced the same issues I have. And they are making stuff that will last a lifetime.

In sum, if you have a need to support a heavy lens and camera from a vehicle, you should consider the Apex Bean Bag seriously, it is the perfect solution for such situations. In my view, if I am headed on a safari to Africa, this would be the first item I would pack. And frankly, I will use it in Florida repeatedly because I know that early one morning, some deer will pose for me in light that demands that I have a solid surface to support my lens and camera cause I am shooting at 1/20th of a second.

This product is not for everyone. It is for the photographer who wants solid, high-quality support for a heavy tripod mount, camera, and camera lens.

But, if it meets your needs, I highly recommend that you buy it.