I am a part time free-lance professional photographer. As I have written before in other reviews, and any photographer will attest, you will one day find yourself surrounded by many gear bags. It just happens- don't try to fight it. After my most recent culling. of bags in a drive toward minimalism, I was left with a Domke F-2 Bag (Brown Waxwear Finish), A Domke F-1x (Tan), a Domke F-802 (Tan), and now, the F-3x (Waxwear). As any photographer will tell you, there are specific bags to meet specific needs and your needs (and style) change regularly. For example, do you really want to bring a loaded F-1x to your daughters birthday party? What if you need to mix gear and a day's worth of food and weather gear? Do you need a tripod on your bag? Two camera bodies or one? Either way, there are many variables that come into play and they are as unique as the individual photographer.The F-3x is a superb bag in every respect, as usual. I have never been dissappointed by Domke and their build quality is revered by most in the industry. The straps are all heavy duty with quality materials. The shoulder strap has a "gripper feature" that helps prevent the bag from sliding off your shoulder. The hardware is impeccable. Bottom padding is sufficient while retaining a minimalist approach. There is no sideor internal padding other than a single divider that can be attached to internal velcro, but if you are considering purchasing Domke, you probably already know that and know it is actually a feature. The bag will conform to you unlike many other bags, of which you must conform to the bag (i.e. LowePro Stealth Reporters). The design of the bag allows you to not stick out in a crowd. The design of the bag is best intended for those wanting to travel light. Inside you have a main compartment and a compartment on either side. On the outside you have a front and back pocket as well as two side compartments. The main compartment can hold a body with attached lens, in my case, a Nikon D300s w/grip and an attached 85mm lens with room to spare. You can fit a lens and flash using the inside side pockets. You can load up the bag using the outside pockets with additiona lenses, flash, etc... Interestingly, this bag is nearly the same size as my F-2 (just a little smaller and not as deep) when compared side by side.Many people complain about the Waxwear finish. Having owned and heavily used many Domke bags with this finish I only had one issue. I put too much wax on the bag (to refinish) then went out in 104 degree Tennessee heat for a shoot in bright sun. I noticed some of the wax was melting off the bag where I was coming in contact with it. It was my fault however for putting too much wax on and not using a heated hair dryer to "seal" the bag as recommended. I happen to like the waxwear finish more, simply for style reasons as either the canvas or waxwear provide sufficient rain protection for my needs.Bottom line? Since I dumped the large padded gear bags, I feel much better. Domke bags were designed by a real photographer and it shows. While many new photographers start out with the large gear bags with tons of padding and dozens of individually padded compartments and pockets, it has been my experience and observation that seasoned shooters tend to move toward Domke or other equivalently minimalist gear bags. They just have to realize it is ok for camera gear to touch other gear and it will not be ruined.