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Quality backpack suggestions?


Kisaha
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I am re-searching for a good quality backpack that can fit a couple of bodies, around 4 lenses, a couple of small Edelkrone stuff (they are very small!), the Mavic 2 Pro, a smallish 15" gaming laptop and a 10" tablet, and a lot of accessories. If it can fit the ronin S in there somehow, it will be a bonus (or a nesseccity, it depends).

I am looking for something like this

https://www.lowepro.com/us-en/pro-trekker-450-aw-lp36775-pww/

or this

https://www.manfrotto.us/pro-light-camera-backpack-3n1-36-for-dslr-c100-dji-phantom

If anyone has any experience or suggestion to share please feel free to do so.

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I used to use the same size Lowepro from their Runner range quite a lot and it will take a lot of gear and a lot of abuse.

It was useful for travelling when budget airlines got a bit more strict with weight limits for carry on as its half the weight and a lot less conspicuous than a Peli 1510.

The downside to it being able to take a lot of gear is that you take advantage of that and it can add up to a lot of weight to have on your back.

I got in a London cab with it on fully (over) loaded once and slipped and ended up on my back like an upturned turtle and the cab driver had to come and help right me. Not my finest hour!

I can definitely attest to the durability of it as I've had sat in snow, mud and rain while I've been working and its never had a problem keeping my gear dry or protected from bumps, knocks and taxi floor impacts.

Bags are ridiculously overpriced though aren't they?

Obviously its a worthwhile cost when it comes to protecting gear many, many times the price of it but even so its still a bit of a piss take and there is definitely a tariff when it comes to getting a photo specific bag versus a similar generic bag.

Reminds me of this sketch about wedding cakes

Incidentally, there are some surprising prices returned when you put 'Lowepro' into the search at Aliexpress........

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They are expensive, but after 20 years in the job I am certain only about 2 things. Good bags and good tripods come expensive, but they certainly worth it!

I bought 800€ worth of - sound - bags (mostly Orca) just before Christmas. I am still looking at them and ask, "why?"! But deep inside me I know why (cause I'm a fool!).

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8 minutes ago, Kisaha said:

They are expensive, but after 20 years in the job I am certain only about 2 things.

The third thing of which you can be certain is that you will never be able to say "that really is enough bags for me now".

I'm pretty sure that if I had to move house that I could transport most of its contents in the various bags I've acquired over the years.

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My previous bag was a Lowepro protactic. Lowepro bags are extremely well made, good looking and comfortable. However, there was one major problem for me. The divider system was extremely fiddly and prone to falling apart. This was especially true in my case as I chop and change layouts quite a bit.

My current backpack is the Peak Design 45L travel backpack which has by far the best divider system I have come across. Currently in Rajasthan with two Sony bodies, 8 lenses, a Mavic 2 Pro + stuff, ipad and laptop. I think it is well worth taking a look at - it is certainly high quality and pricey! But people tend to either love or hate Peak Design and I guess I am a bit of a fan boy (I have 2 of their everyday messenger bags.) There are plenty of youtube videos on the product..

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Another 5 for consideration.

I have a Vanguard Quovio and I am very pleased with it. This is one is not available locally though.

https://www.vanguardworld.com/photo_video/alta-sky-51d-camera-backpack.html#go-sectionTop

And the best Tenba

https://eu.tenba.com/uk/products/shootout-backpack-32l.aspx

and some Lowepro

https://www.lowepro.com/us-en/pro-trekker-450-aw-lp36775-pww/

https://www.lowepro.com/us-en/protactic-bp-450-aw-ii-black-lp37177-pww/

https://www.lowepro.com/us-en/pro-runner-bp-450-aw-ii-lp36875-pww/

I guess most of the market is covered by these and the above.

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On 1/5/2019 at 7:22 AM, Kisaha said:

I am re-searching for a good quality backpack that can fit a couple of bodies, around 4 lenses, a couple of small Edelkrone stuff (they are very small!), the Mavic 2 Pro, a smallish 15" gaming laptop and a 10" tablet, and a lot of accessories. If it can fit the ronin S in there somehow, it will be a bonus (or a nesseccity, it depends).

I am looking for something like this

https://www.lowepro.com/us-en/pro-trekker-450-aw-lp36775-pww/

or this

https://www.manfrotto.us/pro-light-camera-backpack-3n1-36-for-dslr-c100-dji-phantom

If anyone has any experience or suggestion to share please feel free to do so.

I own the LowPro 450. But only used it on one trip and have not used it again. 

Pros:

it's well built.

It has everything you require

I like how you can detach the shoulder harness and make it take smaller footprint for international travel (that's the reason I got it). 

 

Cons:

It opens from outside not inside. 

When you hang it from center column of your tripod (which is what I often do). It's off balance and tills in the angle that makes everything inside of the bag easily fall out. 

It's bulky (but for your needs  bulky might be the only option)

It has not internal framing to help support the weight for long treks. 

Otherwise it's a great setup and lowepro sticks with their product. One of my lens bags the zipper broke and they just replaced it. 

 

Other options: 

https://fstopgear.com/products/packs/ajna

https://www.shimodadesigns.com/en/explore-40/

 

https://atlaspacks.com/collections/atlas-packs/products/atlas-athlete-camera-pack

 

If you're in the Bay Area you're welcome to play around with my 450 or buy mine used, if you like. 

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I am also in the same boat.  Looking at something more on the adventure side for the mountains.  So far every camera bag from a photography company just sucks imho.  Was looking at the trekker the other day and it took me 10 seconds to put it back on the shelf.  Why cant they figure out a decent harness system? So far I have narrowed my choice down companies that specialize in the outdoors.  Since they know that the harness and frame are the most important aspects for a decent backpack.  All day comfort, back can breath, weight evenly distributed.  Burton (zoom, Fstop)  and EVOC (35L) are on my shortlist.  Burton looks like better value, but I have an EVOC MTB backpack that has seen 5 years of total abuse in every weather and if I clean the grit off it looks like new and may last 10 more years.   But the price aint easy.  Last option is just a decent hiking bag (good harness, frame) with a camera bag inside.  But that wont be easy to pull out your gear.  I am going to have to be REALLY nice to the wife to get the EVOC.  But I believe in buying quality as you only have to buy it once. But the price aint easy. 

https://freehubmag.com/articles/evoc-cp-35l-camera-pack-review

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I should also mention that I have owned a Burton (snowboard) backpack with great success.  BUT, MTB is alot more abusive to backpacks than snowboarding/skiing.  All that dirt, rock, mud and what have you goes directly from your rear wheel to your backpack.  So if it can survive that, then it can survive anything. 

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On 1/5/2019 at 10:22 AM, Kisaha said:

I am re-searching for a good quality backpack that can fit a couple of bodies, around 4 lenses, a couple of small Edelkrone stuff (they are very small!), the Mavic 2 Pro, a smallish 15" gaming laptop and a 10" tablet, and a lot of accessories. If it can fit the ronin S in there somehow, it will be a bonus (or a nesseccity, it depends).

I am looking for something like this

https://www.lowepro.com/us-en/pro-trekker-450-aw-lp36775-pww/

or this

https://www.manfrotto.us/pro-light-camera-backpack-3n1-36-for-dslr-c100-dji-phantom

If anyone has any experience or suggestion to share please feel free to do so.

I have the Lowepeo Flipside Trek 450 AW and I absolutely love it, far better than the overhyped Peak Design bags. Mine has been to 40+ countries, on countless planes, trains, busses, tuk-tuk’s and so on. It’s survived Africa, Patagonia, hikes up 10k foot volcanoes, treks through Indian cities and it still looks like new. It’s comfortable to wear all day in 100f+ heat, does a great job in heavy downpours and protects your gear well. I use it everyday and if lost I’m buying another immediately. 

Check it out  

Chris

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8 hours ago, Thatguy said:

Last option is just a decent hiking bag (good harness, frame) with a camera bag inside.  But that wont be easy to pull out your gear. 

I have used this type of setup forever and it works if you have a smaller amount of gear, but I wouldn't recommend it for @Kisaha.  It has many advantages and I prefer it over a dedicated camera bag, but as you say, it's not easy to pull out equipment.  I also doubt there would be a suitable insert for the gear required.

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1 hour ago, kye said:

I have used this type of setup forever and it works if you have a smaller amount of gear, but I wouldn't recommend it for @Kisaha.  It has many advantages and I prefer it over a dedicated camera bag, but as you say, it's not easy to pull out equipment.  I also doubt there would be a suitable insert for the gear required.

I have some inserts, and went that route in the past - especially on my own journeys - but it is not convinient for pro work.

What I currently do, is having a backpack or rolley bag for personal stuff and extras (cables, some additional chargers and stuff I do not particularly need on a shooting) and a shoulder bag, or two for the shooting essentials, but lately the numbers of different bags have increased substantially!

The other factor that I overlooked is the ability of some of those to go into the cabin of an airplane. 

I have to find something with the most interior space that fits on a cabin.

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9 minutes ago, Kisaha said:

I have some inserts, and went that route in the past - especially on my own journeys - but it is not convinient for pro work.

What I currently do, is having a backpack or rolley bag for personal stuff and extras (cables, some additional chargers and stuff I do not particularly need on a shooting) and a shoulder bag, or two for the shooting essentials, but lately the numbers of different bags have increased substantially!

The other factor that I overlooked is the ability of some of those to go into the cabin of an airplane. 

I have to find something with the most interior space that fits on a cabin.

How big is the Ronin S when packed down?  In my mind that's the largest and most difficult item to include in a carry-on.  Unless the Ronin rides checked but gets strapped to the outside of the bag when you're on set?

If you take that out of the requirements for being inside the bag then a larger but normal camera bag would probably work well.

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problem if you get a "big" bag that goes in cabin is the weight. sometimes you have to cross fingers for your bag not to be weighted

i have lowepro bag and the last one i bought was an amazon bag, i was surprised by the quality of it, for the price it was a very good deal, i still use it

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17 hours ago, thephoenix said:

problem if you get a "big" bag that goes in cabin is the weight. sometimes you have to cross fingers for your bag not to be weighted

i have lowepro bag and the last one i bought was an amazon bag, i was surprised by the quality of it, for the price it was a very good deal, i still use it

Cabin bag weight is a worry for me as I never want to be forced to check any equipment.  I've done a lot of reading on the subject and there are a few general approaches, but the one I like is that if it becomes a problem then move away from the people weighing the bags and then put the heavy items in your pockets to get the bag under the weight limit.  They don't weigh people and so this is a good strategy if they don't know you've done it.  Photographers often talk about having a photographer / hunting vest that has lots of huge pockets in their bag just in case and this is what I've done.  I suspect that if you're an asshole and start filling your pockets right in front of them then you may not get away with it, so that's why I suggest moving away from them.

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  • 2 months later...

Finally, I was split between the LowePro Tactic AW II 450 and the Tenba Axis 32L; in all honesty I was cheap out and went for the LowePro, was 185€ at the time, but the Tenba seems like the better bag!

I decided against a huge backpack for many reasons -including back pain and in flight baggage allowance.

The bag just arrived and it looks quite good and the protection system inside is - probably - much improved than older LowePro. Haven't used it yet, but the size/capacity ratio seems good, the bag looks good and is very discreet.

Some extra pouches are included, the materials and zippers seem just adequate (not impressed..).

https://www.amazon.de/gp/aw/d/B07J1ZNZXF/ref=cm_cr_arp_mb_bdcrb_top?ie=UTF8

https://www.amazon.de/Tenba-Backpack-Rucksack-liters-Schwarz/dp/B07HRGV7PZ/ref=mp_s_a_1_51?__mk_de_DE=ÅMÅZÕÑ&qid=1553804322&sr=8-51&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=tenba

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Not sure whether it is big enough for your needs, but I use a Peak Design 30l.

In it, I pack; 3 bodies, 5 lenses, drone (Mavic Air), all my audio gear and small lights etc, batteries and small stuff.

Really comfortable and practical. Not cheap however!

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