Supplies:
Messenger bag. I liked the look of this one and it was marked down at Burlington Coat Factory. Price: 20 bucks.
Foam padding. Closed-cell padding is better and thinner — you can find it at some fabric stores or camping supply retailers — but I went with some old packing foam I already had. Price: free.
Duct tape. Price: $3.95 because I splurged on a color roll.
That's it.

Total price: $23.95.

I picked the bag for comfort, a decent number of pockets, ease of access, and wide comfortable strap, but your mileage may certainly vary. Mainly, I didn't want something that looked like a camera bag ("Look! I have an expensive, easily pawnable camera inside!") and it had to have enough room inside for my stuff without being bulky.

First step was a sturdy-ish bottom. I used a sheet of foam from an old computer box, trimmed it to fit, and sliced two lines halfway through the foam where I wanted the corners to be. That way when I flipped it over and folded on those lines, I'd get a squared corner instead of a bent piece of foam.I could have just pieced some together, but I had a sheet large enough to keep it one piece.

This fits snugly into my bag, like so. I made it a touch wider than the bottom so it wouldn't slip around.

My bottom and sides.

Next I cut foam bits a little larger than I needed and wrapped them with duct tape. If I recall correctly, the foam packing once cradled a new hard drive.

Black or charcoal gray duct tape would probably have looked cooler, but I went with white to make it easier for me to find dropped filters, lens caps, etc. in the bag later. I made individual walls with the foam so I could easily piece them together with the tape, which peels right back off itself if I screw up and have to redo. And I did, a couple of times. Even wrapped in duct tape, it stays squishy and the tape helps keep your camera from catching on anything.

I crafted padding of various shapes to hold my camera face down, with a lens hood attached. Then I wrapped softer foam around it to form higher sides. No real reason to use different foam here, that was just the type I had in big enough sizes to wrap. I could have wrapped that foam individually in duct tape as well but wasn't sure how far my roll would go so I held off.

Here's the result. It ain't pretty, but my camera fits in it nicely.

And it fits quite snugly in my bag.

I pieced together some loose bits of foam into pockets for my accessories; filter adapter, filters, cleaning supplies, whatever. I didn't put a lot of work into that because I want to carry the bag around for a bit and see how I'll be using it. Duct-tape-wrapped foam walls can be easily separated from each other and retaped in new configurations, so no worries there.Here I just made a frame and stuck some loose, thin foam dividers in afterward.

The finished (so far), loaded camera bag. Camera secure, accessories stashed, camera already in shooting position as soon as I open my bag and pull it out. I can still access the interior pockets of the bag for more storage (batteries, lens cleaner, memory cards, pens, notebook, flashlight, Kruggerands, whatever you need). And the result is extremely light and I can move the compartments from side to side whenever I wish for more convenient accessibility. Doesn't look as snazzy but who cares?  The bag itself is comfortable to carry, soft against my hip, and sturdy enough that I won't panic about my camera gear.

It doesn't close tightly (this bag has magnetic catches) but I knew that when I bought the bag; just make sure you buy one you're happy with. The local Army-Navy store will likely have an incredible collection of just about any sort of carrying bag, pouch, map case or backpack you can imagine, and thrift stores can't be beat for the prices. Diaper bags make great camera bags, by the way; they're waterproof and that have tons of pockets.

And if I get tired of my bag or find one I like better, I can move my padding over or throw it out and do it again from scratch.

Total time: about an hour, mostly because I kept stopping and taking pictures.

If you like the customization but don't feel like mucking about with foam and tape, you can buy padded compartment inserts and mix and match as you like, but my way is cheaper.

Like all photographers pro and amateur, I am on the eternal hunt for the perfect camera bag. And like all great eternal hunts, my quarry does not exist in the real world.

Partly this is because your needs change. A bag for an all-day hike to take pictures of a transcendent mountain lake sunset would be substantially different than the bag you'd throw your stuff in to take pictures of your neighbor's car, and neither may handle air travel very well.But mostly because I'm really picky and skilled at determining what I don't want without ever quite articulating what I do.

It should be small enough to be convenient as a daily take-to-work bag but include padded compartments for my camera and accessories. It should have pockets for my other assorted doodads — pens, notebooks, ID, extra SD cards, batteries, what-have-you — but not be confusing. It should be durable. And, very important, it should be able to double for a casual backpack or messenger bag, ideally brown or charcoal gray (definitely not "I'm-a-camera-bag-steal me-black").

My other drawback? Has to be cheap, which knocks out some perfectly good contenders.I'm starting to think the easiest way to satisfy my various needs is to find a really good backpack and just add padded compartments for the camera gear. But that seems like cheating, and frankly I also have trouble deciding on the perfect backpack. Also, quick camera access is usually easier from a dedicated camera bag and you never know what sort of horrific accident, perfect moment of beauty, or spontaneous nude eruption might occur.

At the moment the closest (if still on the pricey side) (from my viewpoint, not compared to most camera bags) are the various offerings from Domke, but I know already that whatever I ultimately purchase will disappoint me in some way. This one appeals to me greatly, for example, but while I could make up for the lack of gadgety pockets with makeshift additions the price is still a sticking point.

There is no perfect camera bag. There is only the quest.

And two places where I take a lot of pictures are at concerts (low light, lotsa movement) and conventions (low light, lotsa movement), so I'd like to get another camera that's suited for those sorts of situations since I love going to cons and I know Teres will be making plans for the upcoming Bon Jovi tour. However, there are some restrictions.

- It's got to be in my price range, which means under $150 at the most and at that I'll be selling some stuff on eBay first. (Although if an expensive camera is otherwise perfect, I can always look for a used one.)
- It needs to perform well in low-light, fast-moving situations. Sharp zooms would be nice.
- It needs to be fixed-lens, since most big concert venues frown (and may confiscate) pro-looking cameras or cameras with detachable lenses.
- The faster the shutter response time from the second I push the button, the better.

However, this camera doesn't have to be good at anything else. My Canon works very well for most things I use it for. I just need something for specific conditions where my current camera is weak. So basically I need a cheap pocket camera that takes amazing concert photos. How tough could that be?

Ideally the new camera would also use AA batteries and SD cards to match my current one, but that's optional. I want a concert camera.

Any suggestions?