Camera Bag

[bogleric]

I am looking into getting a new Camera bag to hold all my gear and am looking at a backpack style instead of the traditional shoulder strap bag.

I am currently looking at the Kata HB-205, R-103, and the Tamrac Expedition 5. The Tamrac is much less expensive and I believe the KATA qualtiy to be a bit higher but really pricey. I like compartments for memory cards, filters, etc.

Does anyone have any must have favorites, or don't buy bags. Insight and thoughts on the above would also be appreciated.

Thanks,

 

[Big Mike]

I've always been a fan of LowePro bags and recently bought a CompuTrekker AW. It's a backpack style bag with a space for a laptop. I don't have a lap top but it was $30 cheaper than a similar bag without a lap top area.

The bag is very well made and layed out. It could use a few more little pockets though. The AW is for 'All Weather'...so the fabric is water resistant and there is a built in rain cover.

I don't know the other bags you're mentioning, but I can attest to the quality of LowePro.

 

[maxxum]

I was on ebay the other day looking for the same thing, and was disapointed that I couldn't find anything nice under$180.00. Then I ran accross a company called Apollo for $50.00 so I said what the heck for $50.00 I will try it. Anyways it came and its super nice for the price and has plenty of padding. Anyways good luck.

 

[usayit]

I generally like the quality of Lowe pro ( my shoulder bag AW 200 light reporter ) and Tamrac ( Backpack - expedition 5 ). Don't overspend on the shoulder bag. If you look hard enough, a very well made one should be way south of $100.

The AW 200 is the second smallest lowe pro shoulder bag. That paired with an additonal lens pouch has always been more than I need. ( 10d w/ grip, 24mm, 50mm, 85mm, and medium zoom ) Most of the time, my spare lens case is carrying a bottle of water instead of another telephoto zoom. Can't imagine carrying any more without killing my shoulder. In fact, I have two shoulder straps on mine; one across my body to the far shoulder and another for the other shoulder. Helps balance out the load between both shoulders when I'm hiking around with a full load. Best of all, I still have quick access to the bag's contents unlike my backpack.

 

[woodsac]

I just received my first backpack type bag, a Lowepro AW 100. So far, so good. But it's small. I opted for the 100 over the 200 because of the overall size of the bag. I take my camera everywhere I go, so I didn't want to lug a full size backpack around.

I've got a Canon 350D with 17-85mm attached, 70-300mm, and 50mm snuggly inside the bag. Plus there's still room for the battery charger, battery, cards, cables and other goodies. If for some weird reason I needed another zoom, I could take out the 50mm and put my 28-135mm in there, but it would be super tight!!!

If you have a large camera or cary multiple lenses, I would recommend the 200. What I like about the bag is the convenience factor. I don't have to take the bag off to get to my camera. I just spin it around to my chest, pull a zipper, and pop out the camera :thumbup: It's designed so that you can take out the camera without anything falling out while it's open.

 

[Jakpro]

You might take a look at this:

 

[usayit]

That looks like the exact same backpack that I have. Unfortunately, backpacks are a pain to get easy access to your equipment. You always have to stop, remove it from your back, unzip, pull out the equipment you need, and then put all back on your back.

 

[bogleric]

Thanks for all of the info. I am still torn between the expedition 5 and the kata r-103.

 

[pursuer]

I also have to go with Lowe pro, I have one of their smaller packs and the quality is excellent. I also have a Lowe alpine hiking backpack, also top notch quality, you can't go wrong.

 

[usayit]

I was at BH the other day and noticed a used in good conditioned Kata backpack available the other day for $99. I know very little about it and didnt' have time to check it out but it looks to be similar in size ( if not slightly larger ) than the expedition 5. Check it out in the used section of bhphoto.com