D90 camera bag search saga

Since I ordered my Nikon D90, I have been on the lookout for a new camera bag. I wanted something that doesn't look funny with a dress (if I were to attend a wedding, for example) or a suit (so Julian can carry the bag also), comfortable to wear, and provides room for my current gear plus a little room for growth; a really nice-to-have is to have sufficient secure space for the knick-knacks normally in my purse so that I can just carry a camera bag instead of a camera bag plus a purse. My current gear includes the Nikon D90 body with 18-105mm f/3.5-5.6 lens kit, the 35mm f/1.8 prime lens, the SB600 speed light, and miscellaneous items such as remote, batteries, memory cards, filters, etc.

Unlike the good 'o days of a choice of 2 or 3 bags at the store, there are many, many choices online with, unfortunately, not very many reviews. To top it off, most bags really don't look all that great next to a dress (this rules out sling shot type bags/backpacks). I won't bore you with the details of my saga but want to share with you some deciding factors that hopefully will help you with your search:

• Decide how much you want to spend - is it ~$50, > $100, or price is no object (check out the Billingham bag if price is not object for you!)?
• Gather the dimensions for your gear and compare that to the internal dimensions of bags. Determine if you'd like space for a laptop also. Don't get fooled by the external dimensions as some bags, such as the stylish National Geographic Walkabout satchels has decent external dimensions, but the camera insert is significantly smaller. Where available, always go to the manufacturer's site for dimensions to eliminate human error in translating the requirements on a reseller's site.
• Once you've narrow it down to 3-4 bags, in addition to reading reviews on Amazon, search for blog entries or forum posts that may mention these bags. One trick that I used in searching for blog reviews is by doing an image search and clicking on images that looks different from the manufacturer product shots.
• When it comes down to it, as Ken Rockwell says in his bags post, it really is a matter of personal taste. Ken recommended the following brands in his post: Tamrac, Tenba, and Lowepro.

Here are some bags I considered:

Internal Dimensions	Width	Depth	Height	Price**
Min. requirement*	8.7"	4.1"	6.5"	N/A
Lowepro Stealth Reporter D100 AW	9.8"	6.1"	5.9"	$69.95
Lowepro Stealth Reporter D200 AW	9.3"	6.9"	7.7"	$81.53
Lowepro Rezo 170	8.7"	4.5"	7.9"	$45.04
Lowepro Rezo 180	9.8"	6.1"	7.3"	$64.95
Tenba black label medium satchel	12"	4"	7.5"	$124.95
National Geographic midi satchel	6.9"	4.3"	6.5"	$89.90
National Geographic medium satchel	7.9"	4.3"	6.5"	$144.90

*Minimum requirement was calculated by adding dimensions of my gear together (imagining how they would loosely fit in a bag).

**Price as of 10/9/09 on Amazon

As you can see, putting the list on a dimensions grid immediately eliminated a few choices. (I was very sad that the National Geographic bags were outed; they were the best looking ones in the bunch!) In the end, it came down to the Tenba black label and the Lowepro Rezo 180 for me and I opted for the less expensive one of the two. With the money saved, I can buy a couple more filters for my lenses!