Digital SLR Reviews Blog

Posts Tagged ‘Backpack’

NIKON BF 1A SLR Body Cap for Lens Mount

Cap covers lens mount area on a Nikon SLR body

User Ratings and Reviews

5 Stars Useful as a lid and not only
If you frequently swap lenses and have a lot of gear to carry in a backpack and prefer to transport your camera bodies without attached lenses, get some spare body mount caps because they might prove invaluable in some conditions. The plastic is well finished and very well manufactured and fits well into the mount for perfect protection.

Another thing you might consider is using this baby as a pinhole device support if you intend to explore a bit this area of creative photography, which, believe me, is full of fun.

5 Stars Small, but important
Small part, but I buy them to have the right fitting on my lenses, often bought used. Good vendors carry smaller items like these.

5 Stars Put this in your hole
This awesomely fits right in the hole in my camera, plugged to perfection. That’s just they ways I likes it, baby!

1 Star Nikon Ripoff
I’m sure this is a fine product, but at ten bucks a pop? It’s just another hunk of overpriced Nikon plastic. Do not buy your camera accessories from these bandits! You can get them much more cheaply on eBay.

5 Stars It is what it is.
This is exactly what it advertises. It helps protect your mirror when you take your lenses off.

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Lowepro Fastpack 250 Black

Specially designed for today’s on-the-go technology enthusiast, whether the task is photographing family travels, traversing campus, or taking a day trip around town, the Fastpack 250 has been designed to accommodate a digital SLR with attached mid-range zoom lens, 2-3 additional lenses or flash units and accessories and have a specially designed compartment for a 15.4″ widescreen notebook computer, as well as extra space for additional memory cards, cables and accessories.

User Ratings and Reviews

4 Stars Fits all important accessories & some.
I purchased this bag for my honeymoon trip out of the country. The bag held my Nikon D50 w/ 18-200mm VR lens, charger, lens hood, 18-55m lens, 2 extra SD memory cards, mini (4inch) tripod, laptop (Dell Studio 15, 15.4″ screen), and in the upper compartment it held some clothing and smaller items. This bag is very helpful for travel, especially due to the side opening pocket for easy access to your SLR. I had hoped I would be able to fix a pair of jeans and a t-shirt in the top section but they did not fit. Because you cannot fit a few other common things in the upper compartment I wish I had purchased a smaller backpack only for the DLSR and accessories. This item will still be great for airplane travel.

5 Stars Perfect
I purchased this for my trip to Paris in August. It meets the specs to use as carry-on with all your airlines. This made it an even better purchase, because I didn’t want to have to put my camera and lenses with checked luggage. I use a Canon XSi with the kit lens, 50 mm lens, and 55-250 mm lens. I had the 55-250 mm attached and it fit perfectly, wasn’t a snug fit, but I wasn’t worried about lens coming unattached or breaking. Other lenses fit nice and snug. Compartments can also be configured based on your personal needs. Bag didn’t leak, carried it in the rain in Paris for about a 2 blocks and had no leak problems. The laptop compartment will definitely fit a unibody MacBook Pro 15 inch. I think it’ll fit a 17 inch with no problem. The upper compartment held card reader and remote. It also has plenty of room. Very comfortable to wear and doesn’t feel like you’re carrying a lot, I carried a full load the whole time. The only thing missing is a way to attach a tripod, I’ve found a sew shop here the will make me one for less than $5. The thing I really liked about the bag was that it doesn’t look like a camera bag, very inconspicuous. Paris is known for pick pockets.

5 Stars Mark Rudd’s MyMac.com Review
A GEEK’S DILEMMA

In addition to my love affair with all things Apple (sans those moments of invasive encroachment upon my electronic liberty), I am a lover of photography and photography related technologies. Like many photo-Geeks, I love to carry along my MacBook and a DSLR when leaving the house. Considering the size of most DSLRs, finding a backpack that would allow one to securely and comfortably carry both pieces of tech has never been an easy task. If you could find a backpack that could meet the above mentioned requirements, it generally was large, bulky, and non-pleasing aesthetically (let’s just say it, UGLY).

As a leader in this space, Lowepro has been producing a wide selection of protective carrying solutions for photographic and electronic devices since 1967. Prior to my evaluation of the product reviewed in this article, my experience with Lowepro was limited to word of mouth and the occasional scanning of an online review. I was excited to finally get my tech stained hands on one of these vaunted products from Lowepro. As I awaited the delivery of the Fastpack 250, I felt a sense of excitement. Would this be a great solution to the problem facing so many Geeks, or would it be another in the long line of also-rans relegated to the pile of bags and backpacks that just didn’t fit the bill?

DESIGN

Once the Fastpack 250 arrived, I removed it from the shipping container and found a bag that was well constructed and stout.

The front offers a huge main compartment to store just about anything you need on your trip (more on this compartment later). Additionally, there is a smaller quick-access compartment in front of the main compartment for those little things you need to access quickly. In the lower section of the front, a buckle-secured flap doubles as a cover for the zipper clad storage compartment underneath and a camera compartment opening guard (more on this later).

The business end of the Fastpack is the left side (when worn on the back) of the backpack. This is where all the magic happens, so to speak. Moving from the back to the front, The first compartment is secured by a zipper that runs the vertical length of the bag. This is designed to securely carry a widescreen notebook computer with a screen size measuring up to 15.4″ in length. I really liked the ease with which the side opening allowed me to insert and remove my notebook. IMO, this is much easier than the normal top load backpack.

Moving forward from the computer compartment, what I consider to be the greatest selling point of this backpack, is the side access camera compartment. The intelligent design of this compartment really sets the Lowepro products which utilize this feature, apart. The previously mentioned front flap provides a guard against opening the side access too far and dumping your expensive camera equipment onto the not so friendly ground below. The side access opening was designed to allow you to easily slip the backpack off the right shoulder so that the backpack may then slide under your left shoulder. With the backpack still anchored by the left shoulder strap, you may easily access your camera for that quick picture opportunity. You can then easily secure your camera back within the backpack, slide it back over both shoulders, and done.

The right side of the backpack provides a mesh pocket with a drawstring. This is handy for a water bottle or something that requires immediate access. The drawstring is a nice addition to provide the greatest flexibly possible.

The back of the Fastpack 250 is designed to properly distribute the weight associated with carrying around a notebook computer, DSLR camera, and all the associated connectors, adapters, and cables. In addition to the two appropriately padded and very comfortable shoulder straps, Lowepro has added a secondary support system to the Fastpack 250 through a padded adjustable waist-belt (more on this later).

While I am a fan of simplicity in design, I am also attracted to beautiful, sexy, and svelte industrial designs. I guess that is why I have been a fan of most of the products which have been mercilessly thrust upon me and my severely depleted bank account by that captain of Cupertino and his merry band of minstrels. As such, I would like to see Lowepro trim a few inches from the overall size of the Fastpack. Indeed, it would take some rethinking in-order to continue to allow someone like myself to carry a full-frame DSLR and a ubiquitous notebook, in a design that was as thin and sexy as physically possible. Don’t get me wrong, I love this bag. However, I could love it even more if it were a little less.

FEATURES

Lowepro has taken a very straight forward and simple design perspective for the Fastpack 250. There are not a lot of gadgets and gismos here. Just a well constructed backpack with three major sections (computer, camera, and storage). It is refreshing to find a product that is simplified around and focused upon doing a really great job on the basics of what a backpack in this space should be. Just what you need, nothing more, nothing less. Jump to the product page for the specs.

USABILITY

The Fastpack 250 arrived just in time (thanks Vanessa) for me to take it on a vacation/photowalk I had planned with my family. I knew this would give me a chance to really put the Fastpack to the test. The night before we left on the trip, I laid out most everything (sans clothing items) I would be packing in the Fastpack 250 during my photowalks.

As you can see, the Fastpack 250 can handle pretty much whatever you throw at it. While the spacious main storage compartment can indeed handle both large and small items, I found it hard to find particular items because everything must be placed into one big compartment. My work around was to combine similar items into ziplock bags and then place all the bags into the compartment. This compartment would be much more usable if it was divided into different sections through one or more dividers that could be arranged as needed similar to the camera compartment.

With the Fastpack 250 loaded with my MacBook Air, Canon 5D2, adapters, cables, water etc., I was off for a day of fun under the sun. While the weight of the pack was substantial, I was able to dramatically lessen the stress on my upper body and shoulders by buckling and adjusting the waist-belt. I could hardly believe the difference once the belt was employed. It was like night and day. Once I arrived back home from my trip, I left everything but the MacBook Air in the Fastpack and added a White MacBook and then changed that out for a 15″ MacBook Pro. While the weight change for each notebook was noticeable, the waist-belt evenly distributed the weight and allowed the added weight to be carried comfortably. Great Job Lowepro!

As I stated above, the greatest feature of this backpack, IMO, is the side access camera compartment. With the Fastpack fully loaded, I was able to remove the right shoulder strap, slide the entire pack under my left shoulder, easily remove my camera and, “get the shot.” Restoring my camera into the Fastpack was just as easy as removing my precious (sorry for the Rings reference). At no time did I worry about the security of my highly sensitive and expensive electronics. I think this is the best endorsement I could give any bag or backpack.

MAKING A GREAT PRODUCT EVEN BETTER

As noted above, there are a few areas which could be improved to make this great product even better. Adding configurable dividers to the main storage compartment would allow a better utilization of this large compartment. Because the Fastpack 250 will generally carry substantial weight, adding a pad to the top handle would allow the pack to be lifted without any discomfort to the hand. Finally, a little redesign on the next version to reduce the overall size and footprint while maintaining the basic storage capabilities would widen the appeal of this product to a larger customer base.

MyMac.com Rating:

I am very impressed with the Lowepro Fastpack 250. It is a simple design that securely protects your computer and camera while providing easy access to your gear. Even with the minor recommended improvements, this is a strong product that should be a serious contender for anyone in the market for a backpack within this category. I am awarding the Lowepro Fastpack 250 an outstanding rating of 4.5 out of 5 in our MyMac.com Rating System.

Original Review – http://mymac.com/showarticle.php?id=3725

4 Stars It’s in the bag (yeah that’s corny)
If you’ve seen the video, you know exactly how useful it is. It can be a little awkward to use because the top open space is of an odd shape. I have a D90 and even though the compartment is narrow, there is still a lot of room for the camera to move around. I haven’t gotten my laptop yet, but I’m sure it will fit. It’s really comfortable to wear too.

5 Stars Great backpack
I made an excellent choice. This bag allows me to carry my Canon XSI with a 70-300 lens on it and has room for another couple of lenses and accesories. The bag isn’t too big yet not so small.

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Canon 200DG Digital Camera Gadget Bag Black

Canon is a leader in professional business and consumer imaging equipment and information systems. By developing innovative, high-quality business solutions Canon makes it easy to create, manage, and share images and information better, faster, and more efficiently.

User Ratings and Reviews

5 Stars Fabulous Bag
Recently purchased this bag. Love it. Holds DLSR plus 2 extra lenses, flash attachment, video camera and all the needed accessories (extra batteries, chargers, memory cards, lens cleaner, etc.) Substantial bag. I have a backpack which I find annoying because you need to lean it up against something and then take stuff out to get to what you want on the bottom. What a pain. This bag is great – put it down, open it and everything is right there.

4 Stars review of cannon bag
large but holds everything you need ,plus , good build ,worth the money

5 Stars Canon Camera Bag
I was looking for a bigger bag that would hold my EOS 5D body with one lens attached plus another lens and a flash. I have not only room for that in the main compartment plus the battery charger and spare batteries and various cables in the side pockets. This bag is well made and has heavy duty handles and hardware.

5 Stars great bag
This bag has all kinds of room, I can’t wait to fill it up with some brand new lenes, well built and all materials are first class, heck, I don’t even own a Canon camera, but I sure like this bag!

5 Stars Sturdy, roomy bag
The bottom of the bag is solid. We only have a camera, a flash, and one lense in it, but the sturdy, velcro fastened sections keep them firmly in place. There are roomy side pockets for lense filters, covers, and other misc. items needed for the camera. We still have space in the bag for two more lenses. I looked around at different items before buying this item here. Amazon had it for the best price. I would suggest if you are looking to get it as a gift and want the free shipping, to order it at least a month ahead to be assured you will get it on time. It’s amazing how just a few dollars for shipping speeds up their processing.

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Kata KT DR 465 BR Digital Rucksack for 2 Digital SLRs with Mounted Lens 3 4 Lenses Flash Accessories and Personal Gear Black Red

The DR-465 Digital Rucksack features a unique TST RIB structural protection for D/SLR with mounted lens, 2-3 lenses, and flash etc. + personal gear.By removing the padded bottom camera insert you can easily convert this rucksack from a camera bag to a daypack when not shooting.

User Ratings and Reviews

5 Stars Awesome bag for price.
awesome bag. i was looking for a backpack type camera bag that wasn’t as large and didn’t say steal me all over it. THis bag looks just like any other backpack besides the KATA logo which is fairly small. Bought this bag for my 40D + 28-135 is lense. Fit the body with lense and hood attached backwards in perfectly. Also have the 580EX II. The speedlight is a little long for the compartment with the sto-fen attached, but put hte flash to 90 degree angle it and it fits better. With room to spare for my chargers, extra batteries and my 50mm f/1.8II.. top compartment has enough room for small lunch and other assorted items. side water bottle holder fits normal 20oz bottles fine. used it to fit my tripod with two legs in it and strapped around the bag with the bag straps. Took this bag on a 6 mile hike. didn’t feel the weight at all. great bag. buy if ur equipment load is smaller or if u just want a bag to take ur single kit on.! hope this helps!

5 Stars Great Grab n’ Go Bag
Pros: This is a great little bag. Very High Quality. I will buy KATA again. It has all the compartments you could ask for. Now, this is not a bag you would take out on a Pro Session, but is geared towards a family day out or a short day trip. I took it camping recently and the provided rain cover got its first use (this is a very handy extra). It worked wonderfully. It rained quite a bit and didn’t even penetrate through. The storage area up top is quite roomy. It is the perfect size for a jacket (or a couple children jackets in my case) and some personal artifacts (or diapers and wipes in my case, haha).The Straps are comfortable and well padded, but the chest strap is a bit thin, but nothing to worry about. It is not flimsy, just not padded. The metal rings on the outside are great for hanging stuff on. The hinged camera compartment is awesome. My wife could get things out in a snap. I just had to swing it around quick if I needed something. The compartment fit the body+lens, about 10 filters, Camcorder, and had a space for an extra lens. The surprise cup holder pocket on the side is great, too.

Cons: The compartment for the camera is a bit small. Don’t expect to fit the body+ a telescopic lens in there. I had a 18-55 attached and it was almost maxed out, but, like I said, it is more of a day out bag. The bag also has no way to secure the excess of the straps down. They kind of hang there and blow around. I personally took the waist strap off and used the elastic bands for the shoulder straps. Problem solved. This is not a functional problem, but just bothered me.

Overall: If you want a bag to grab and go out the door. This is a great bag. Its very durable and functional. You can throw in you camera equipment, toss in some other junk, and head out. If you want a bag to hold all your fancy lenses and gear, then do not get this bag. Plus, If you need a bag for all that then shame on you! Fork over the extra dough for a bigger bag. DUH!!

5 Stars Great & innovative bag, perfect size
Just received mine today & loaded it up for a week-long trip to Germany. In went my Nikon D200 with 18-200 mounted, 85mm 1.8, 50mm 1.8, and SB-800 flash + various accessories, all in the lower compartment. The way this rotates out is brilliant. My computer is a Macbook Air, which fits widthwise into the computer area, leaving about 1/2 of it for papers, etc. Overall the external dimensions don’t suggest how much capacity this bag really has. And it doesn’t look like a camera or computer bag – it just looks like a nice medium backpack. The only omission I noticed so far is that there is no small pockets in the camera area for extra memory cards.

5 Stars Best Camera Pack
I spent a long time searching for a camera backpack that would work well for me. I am a small woman (5′) who uses this pack for hiking and biking. I am able to put my Canon 30D w/70-200 F4 L lense attached in either the bottom or the top sections. I do have to rearrange the foam dividers to put the camera on the bottom section, but it is very secure and still easy to access. I usually have a 28-80 lense inside the bottom section too.

This pack is very well made and the included rainfly is a plus while hiking in Colorado where the weather can change in a blink of an eye. I checked out all the other major brands of backpacks and nothing compared to the quality of the Kata. I highly recommend this backpack for your camera gear.

5 Stars HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
I already own a Lowepro Computrekker AW, which is a very good bag but too big to carry around and is not suitable for personal belongings. So I had to get a smaller bag for a 9 days trip which required allot of walking and biking. After reviewing various models of Lowepro, Tamrac and Kata, i decided on this one. I packed a Canon 40D, 2 prime lenses of 35 and 50mms, 28-135mm IS, a polarizer filter, card reader, battery charger and couple extra memory cards. The upper comportement was also good enough to carry three books, wallet, hat etc. It also had a separate comportement to use for either a water bootle or tripod. I am not always happy with the design of the camera bags and this one in my eyes was very well designed. I recommend it to anyone who does not carry a laptop.

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Caselogic SLRC 205 SLR Camera Sling Black

SLR camera sling wears like a backpack but allows for instant access to your SLR and accessoriesHolds SLR camera body with attached standard lensPatent pending hammock system suspends your SLR above the bottom of case, providing superior impact protectionLarge zippered compartment stores an additional lens or flashThree additional zippered pockets store memory cards and other small itemsAdjustable shoulder strap with waist strap prevents the sling from jostling around during activityMemory foam on interior helps protect your delicate LCD screenIndustrial strength hook and loop strap holds your tripod

User Ratings and Reviews

5 Stars Love it, though some adjustment is required.
I spent days looking for a sling bag before I bought this one. I travel light, but have a Canon 5D, plus a 28-135mm lens and a 70-300mm telephoto lens. I wanted a sling pack to slide my small amount of other personal stuff into while traveling in (potentially shady) areas (and non-shady ones).

Verdict: I love this bag. It is so awesome. The hammock is so cool. But there are some other things to consider:

1. It is going to be very annoying to constantly stop, slide the bag around and take photos. The bag needs some breaking in at the beginning; it is very stiff (and that is a GOOD thing). If buying it for a vacation, take it out for a romp BEFORE your trip to soften it up and get used to the maneuvers required to load and unload your camera. I only say that because it has an usual design.

2. The height of my 5D (from the bottom, set down, to the top near where the flash module would hook into) seems uncomfortable fit-wise into the hammock compartment. I am not sure if an EOS 1- or 5D with one of those battery pack grippers would be able to fit into this compartment. My 5d JUST fits. However, a camera with a full telephoto lens might fit in here without disassembly. There is a lot of space in the hammock for a longer lens than my 28-135mm lens.

3. In order to use this, it is really optimal to remove any other protection: ie, camera armor (which I had) and the strap. To keep the strap on while storing the camera in the bag is to add serious and repetitive frustration to your life when you unload- and load the camera back into the bag. There is just not space for the strap in the compartment.

4. There is limited space for much else if you have a telephoto & default lens. The small side pocket has space for my mini tripod, my folded strap and a few lens caps. The flat pocket over the camera hammock fits something flat, like a manual and some papers or whatever. There are a few other nooks and crannies but don’t expect this to double as a backpack for personal items if you have a lot of stuff. It will fit a camera, a manual, a mini tripod, some other various doo-dads, 2 lenses (one on, one off), and a small variety of whatever else.

Regardless of the above items, I think this is a fantastic bag and is totally worth the money. I hope it lasts long enough to carry my camera to the Southwestern USA, Denmark, Norway, Bermuda and throughout my winter of snowshoeing and winter sports! The padding is awesome and it is very sturdy. When this bag dies, I hope I can buy another one. Perfect for an on-the-go photographer.

4 Stars Perfect for travel
Fits my Canon 5DMarkII with a 28-80 lens attached in the clever hammock compartment. Room for 70-300 lens AND a 420Ex flash in side pouch, and a couple of filters, etc. in the small front pouch. Attaching a Canon monopod to the outside, while slightly awkward, works well enough. Could probably fit a couple more pouches on it somewhere, but at some point you start entering backpack territory, I guess. I really like this sling.

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