Camera backpack recommendations

cdryden

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Hello! I am looking for a backpack to carry my 70d and 3-4 lenses, a separate compartment for things like a charger, lees filter kit and other whatnots. I also want it to carry a normal sized tripod without the tripod sticking up over the top of the bag. ( it gets caught on branches and stuff)
I will be using this bag quite often and for extended periods of time, hiking and such. So it must be durable. I got a bag already that has torn at the straps due to poor stitching and design.

And I am trying to stay under 200$ if possible.

I would really like to hear from people that use the bag that they are recommending. I have looked at a bunch on Amazon and read reviews, but most of those reviews are written shortly after they have received the product. I want opinions from people that have used the product for several months at least. Thanks in advance for your time.
 
The best way to buy a backpack is to take the gear you want to put in it to a store that sells them. Try putting your gear in different packs and try them on.
 
While I appreciate your opinion, it's just not feasible for me. St. Louis mo has the best selection in my area and still only has 2 major brands to choose from. Which is why I came here looking for recommendations.
 
I've just purchased a Lowepro Flipside 20L AW backpack. I went with the bright orange version, as it's high visibility should help with be more noticeable on roads when riding my bike and also from the air, god forbid that I should run into trouble out in the wilderness. It will hold a big main lens (300 f/2.8, Sigma 150-600mm, etc) and 3-4 smaller lenses. It can be configured in multiple ways to suit. The centre part also removes completely, which is a nice feature. The tripod also fits to the side of the bag, helping to avoid getting caught on low hanging branches. There are compartments for laptop or tablet, as well as a water bladder. I was primarily looking for a bag to carry my 150-600mm contemporary, 105mm macro and 24-70mm, extension tubes/TC, tripod and a few ancillary items, without dragging my Lowepro Vertex 300 AW with me, which is a big bag.

Without knowing exactly what lenses you own, it's hard to give a definitive recommendation, but unless you have 2 big lenses in amongst that lot, the flipside 20L AW should tick most, if not all the boxes. I think they are out of stock on the Lowepro site (probably as they just launched a brand new flipside bag range) but, I got mine brand new from eBay for £50 ($64 currently). It takes a while to arrive as the seller was located in China, but if you're prepared to wait, you can save a lot of money. I bought my Lowepro Toploader 75AW from the same vendor a couple of years ago. Great bags! If you want the sellers details or a link to the bag on eBay, drop me a PM and I'll find it for you.

Flipside Sport 20L AW Camera bags, backpacks and rolling cases
 
I've just purchased a Lowepro Flipside 20L AW backpack. I went with the bright orange version, as it's high visibility should help with be more noticeable on roads when riding my bike and also from the air, god forbid that I should run into trouble out in the wilderness. It will hold a big main lens (300 f/2.8, Sigma 150-600mm, etc) and 3-4 smaller lenses. It can be configured in multiple ways to suit. The centre part also removes completely, which is a nice feature. The tripod also fits to the side of the bag, helping to avoid getting caught on low hanging branches. There are compartments for laptop or tablet, as well as a water bladder. I was primarily looking for a bag to carry my 150-600mm contemporary, 105mm macro and 24-70mm, extension tubes/TC, tripod and a few ancillary items, without dragging my Lowepro Vertex 300 AW with me, which is a big bag.

Without knowing exactly what lenses you own, it's hard to give a definitive recommendation, but unless you have 2 big lenses in amongst that lot, the flipside 20L AW should tick most, if not all the boxes. I think they are out of stock on the Lowepro site (probably as they just launched a brand new flipside bag range) but, I got mine brand new from eBay for £50 ($64 currently). It takes a while to arrive as the seller was located in China, but if you're prepared to wait, you can save a lot of money. I bought my Lowepro Toploader 75AW from the same vendor a couple of years ago. Great bags! If you want the sellers details or a link to the bag on eBay, drop me a PM and I'll find it for you.

Flipside Sport 20L AW Camera bags, backpacks and rolling cases
The flip side was one of the bags that I was considering. What do you think of the durability? The lens I will be carrying are a 16mm rokinon, 8mm fisheye rokinon, 90 mm tamron and maybe my canon 18-55 kit lens.
 
Size wise, I think it would be more than ample for your requirements. You could even look at the 15L if you wanted a slightly smaller bag, although having the extra certainly can't hurt, as it would cover future lens purchase or other equipment/clothing you may need. Lowepro stuff is always very well made in my experience. The material and stitching holds up to repeated use in the field. I took my Toploader and Vertex 300 with me to Canada for 6 months in the extreme cold and scorching hot summer. A hole did develop in the top of the Toploader recently but, only because a damn mouse climbed in through my window 3 weeks ago and chewed its way to the bag of bird seed I had in the top compartment.

For $64, the price point and features make it very hard to beat in my opinion.
 
While I appreciate your opinion, it's just not feasible for me. St. Louis mo has the best selection in my area and still only has 2 major brands to choose from. Which is why I came here looking for recommendations.

Well, you'll get lots of recommendations, but I doubt any will help you make a decision. This is like asking what car to buy. What works well for me may be an utter failure for you.
 
If you're going to be using this as a way to take your camera hiking I have found that using a regular hiking pack from REI works best. I have a bunch of small tamarac individual pouches I can place lenses and accessories within. I even have a plastic cylinder tupperware that I can place a bigger lens in. the benefit is a pack that wears much better than a photo pack, one that doesn't scream photo gear in urban settings and I have extra room for a jacket, lunch, water bottle etc.

If you're only using it as a camera bag, not for hiking, then yes one from LowePro or ThinkTank will probably work better. Of course if you thought REI was ridiculously expensive look at ThinkTank - the Zacuto of nylon
 

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