Has anyone looked at the Lowepro Classified 250 AW?
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Has anyone looked at the Lowepro Classified 250 AW?
Anyone used the Kiboko camera bag?
http://www.guragear.com/
Seems very good but expensive though. But with the Aussie dollar strong, now might be the best opt to buy it.
Nikon FX + m43
davophoto.wordpress.com
the Crumpler Barge series seems very good a versatile, not for the birders though...
I'm tossing between Lowepro's Mini Trekker and Primus AW.
Decisions decisions DECISIONS!
Crumpler's are a bit too "out there" for me. And my gut and rear are too big to have a shoulder/sling bag. I like my backpacks.
Crumpler shoulder bags are great but their backpacks are terrible to use and uncomfortable to wear. I made the mistake of buying one after nothing but success with their shoulder bags.
The LowePro Mini Trekker AW is brilliant it just won't hold a pro DSLR body with lens attached. Mine's now wearing out after a lot of abuse and a lot of travelling and I need to replace it.
So what is a good bag that's airline approved that will carry a 400mm f2.8 with camera attached (preferably)?? I liked the look of the Lowepro 600 AW II, but apparently it's not airline approved. http://products.lowepro.com/product/...II,2118,14.htm
Has anyone had weight issues when taking a camera bag on the plane? My lens alone is 5.6kg, then the bag, the camera, the 2nd lens...and other bits. I'd hate to get it all the way over to the US with Qantas and then have American Airlines tell me I have to put it in the cargo hold. Are any of the larger backpacks safe enough for carrying this type of lens in a cargo hold of a plane? I've always packed them before but now with the big lens I can't do that and apparently it's not covered by insurance if you put it in the cargo hold.
Threadstarter
For my last trip I ended up using a Think Tank Urban disguise shoulder bag. Loaded up with a 13" Mac Book, D90 with 18-200 attached, 10-20, 50mm, SB-800 and batteries and filters. This was uncomfortably heavy but I only carried this configuration through airports etc. During the days I would lock the laptop and the extras I didnt count on using in my large luggage and left them in our rooms. The bag suited that purpose well enough.
Things I liked: - Rain cover - used this quite a bit and worked well.
-Customizable compartment with many dividers
-Oversized, strong zippers
-Laptop/document compartment
-Slides over handle of wheelie luggage
-Thick padded shoulder strap
-Memory card wallet.
Things I didn't like:
-Customizable compartments - Theres so many bloody dividers provided, finding a combination that works is a mission in itself
-The dividers themselves are quite thin and flimsy feeling - although I think this was done intentionally to maximise the bags overall space.
-Akin to all shoulder bags I think - the fact they swing around, bounce against ur hip,buckles squeaking etc as you walk.-
-Top centre zip opening- When pulling out your camera body, its easy to snag it on the zippers, especially if you have a grip or reversed hood attached.
Satine: RE: airline restrictions, its best to check with each individual airlines (website to et exact dimensions. Having said that, I've always flown Emirates and never had a problem with hand luggage being refused, although I try to stay within their stated dimensions. My bags we nearly always overweight, but there is nothing to stop you from wearing a camera around your neck with a lens onto the plane, then simply put it abck in your bag once on board.
I believe some airlines let you have a camera bag in addition to your allocated piece of carry on, but again you'll have to check.
cheers.
Since I've been researching the Kiboko bag, I came across this review.Originally Posted by Satine
http://www.worlddriftseries.com/reviews/
Look at image 3 and the last image. Both bags pictured holds a 400mm 2.8 with 1 series camera attached.
I don't know where to check for airport approval though.
I bought and recently used the flipside 300 for hikes over the weekend. It was pretty good, held my tripod pretty tight to the bag and sat nice on my back. Only problem was that the straps seem to cut into your armpits a bit which may get a little uncomfortable for longer treks, but it's ok for me.
I really bought it for the "opening via the back" feature. Great for overseas trips where you're paranoid about people stealing from your bag
NIGH -KON
Why does the lens/cam have to be attached? Generally you can get a smaller sized bag if the cam is not attached. With long lenses there is always going to be a setup period, usually its attaching and setting up a tripod or some other stability device. Long glass is generally not the sort of lens you use for photos of opportunity.
Thanks for that!!!!!
Looks like a nice bag, I wonder about making sure you have the weight evenly distributed, but I guess you can play around with that. It was intersting to see that they didn't like the Lowepro 600 bag as this was one of the ones I was looking at.
I'll have to go and find a local distributor of the Koboko and go have a test pack and a get a general feel for it.
It's just a personal preferance. I want to have the choice of having the camera on or off the lens. Long glass may not generally be for photos of opportunity but it's nice to have it mostly set up so that if the opportunity arrises on your way to or from a shoot you can finish setting up fairly quickly.
I contacted the Kiboko people - Andy Biggs who claimed that the big white lens was a 500mm
See reply below
Mark-
Thank you for your email, and thank you for your interest in Gura Gear. Here are the dimensions:
Internal Dimensions:
7” D x 13” W x 19” H
16.5 x 33 x 48 cm
External Dimensions:
8.5 ” D x 14 ” W x 20 ” H
21.6 x 35.5 x 50.8 cm
A 500mm f/4 plus a camera can easily fit on one side of the camera bag. You can see a photo of a comparable Canon 500mm and attached (or detached) lens here:
For those of you who are as cynical as I might note that the bag is the only product that Gura Gear has. Additionally if its too good to be true then it's too good to be true, especially with all those pages and pages of endorsements.
MarkW: yea I'm a little sceptical too, but mainly because there's no store where I can see and touch the product.
And with the way it's priced, I'd hate to fork out for somethng that doesn't meet expectations.
Satine: I do have some reservations about weight distribution too. Given it is arranged in two halves, I'd thought a large lens would weigh significantly more than all else combined making the bag unevenly balanced. Lucky for me tho I don't own any large lens.
Again, the lack of availability of an actual demo puts me off a little.
My go to bag for bush walking is the Tamrac Velocity 10. It takes a 1dMkIII with 100-400 + 5D with 24-70 with hood fitted. The front pocket takes spare batteries flash & 50mmf1.8. Being a sling bag access is speedy when cycling or walking.
Shooting with a single lens I have a variety of Lowepro Top loaders.
When travelling I have all the gear in a Seal Tight case which is securely tied down in the boot of the car & I then access gear a bags as per requirements.
I picked up a LowePro Primus AW in black today from Jb Hifi for $250 (ticket price was $299). So far I find it very comfortable.
I have shoved my 70-200 2.8L USM attached to my 5D2 into the main padded compartment along with 430EX and a 50mm 1.4 lens. I always carry a 600ml bottle of water so that easily slots into the side pocket.
Nice comfy padded shoulder straps.
I got it based on looks then functionality.
Can't wait to really test it the bag when I go to NZ and lug along a 13" MBP and quite literally a snow jacket.
Has anybody used a Kata 3N1-20?
Some time back after posting up my question I purchased the Lowepro Classified 250 AW. Very pleased with it so far, though my camera gear hasn't seen much use in the last 8 weeks. Definitely worth considering as a shoulder bag.
For traveling I now tend to carry two bags...a bit of a luxury but in transit i have all my gear in a backpack and for days out I have a much smaller bag that allows me just to take the gear that i want for the day. In my checked luggage this bag has all my leads etc neatly together.
I have looked at so many bags...still looking for the perfect bag for the day out that doesn't give my should a hard time.
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