Kathmandu Camera Backpack on Sale

[David]

Has anyone had any experience with these backpacks? The concept is great,
but I'm not entirely convinced I need one.
Can anyone post their impressons of this bag. It is currently on sale for
$94 reduced from $180. Personally I wouldn't pay $180 for it though.

For those who haven't seen it it has a camera compartment at the base enough
for one body a couple of lenses, cleaning kit and accessories. Above is a
small compartment to carry lunch, water, sunscreen etc. There are straps
for tripod and ice axes!! The padding feels very comfortable. Yeah it all
sounds good, just want to know other users impressions.

David

[M i c C u l l e n]

"David" <davidcpclayton@hotmail.com>, far, far away from here, appears
to have written:

[snips]

> Has anyone had any experience with these backpacks? The concept is great,
> but I'm not entirely convinced I need one.

In my experience, and in all my discussions with people, backpacks are
something you either love or hate.

I had one initially, but I found that I hated it, so it became my video
bag :-)

My Tamrac (TAMRAC 5612 PRO 12) is on the way here at the moment...
--

cheers, Mic (Reply address works...)

I have an answering machine in my car. It says "I'm home now. But leave a message and I'll call when I'm out."

[Dennis G]

I've got the Optex equivalent - around $85 from Camera House. Depending upon
the amount of gear that you have (I'm starting to get a lot so I need an
upgrade) it works well, particularly for travelling and hiking. The downside
of the Optex is the lack of a tripod carry attachment that some of the
Lowepro and the Kathmandu bags have, and the awkwardness of changing lenses.
If you switch a lot between telephoto and wideangle (like I do), then you'll
end up being frustrated rather quickly as you have to take the bag off to
get into the lower compartment. With a bit of practice and contortion, you
can do it while still slung over one shoulder, but it's not ideal. I usually
use the top unpadded section to keep the spare lens in for ease of acquiring
when on the move, placing the lenses back below at the end of the day.

In short, if the camera gear was top loading and not at the base, it'd be a
good bag for multi lens use. If you've got one lens and you're using the bag
to store filters, flash and cleaning gear, then you can't do better.

Dennis
http://www.uq.edu.au/~uqdgolc1

[Michael Clayton]

I went and played with one last night. I took along my Canon 10D and a few
lenses. Alas I could only fit the body with small lens attached and one or
two other medium size lenses (75-300mm) in it. It'd be ok for small kits
but if you've got more than 3 small/medium lenses you'd be better off with
something else as the camera sections isn't all that deep. You won't have
any luck fitting a flash or other accessories in either.

The padded camera section is removal and the middle partition can be
unzipped so it can be used as a dedicated backpack if you so desire. The
harness system looks comfortable.

So, back to searching for a decent pack for me....

Michael

[Warren Prasek]

if anyone is interested, i have a lowepro Phototrekker Classic backpack
which i've never used- literally not even once, because it is too big for my
needs- that i probably should sell.

Cost me $255- you can see the receipt- will sell for $195.

If in Brisbane you can view in person- tonnes of storage for eg. 10D/D100 +
battery grip, really big lens attached (eg 70-200 or 50-500) plus a half
dozen other medium sized lenses, pockets galore, really heavy duty
material/stitching and padding etc, waist and sternum straps etc.

PS Michael I still have your books... and i've just ordered a sigma 70-200
from hugo! woohoo


"Michael Clayton" <michaelc@REMOVEcheque.uq.edu.au> wrote in message
news:drOzb.39796$aT.22584@news-server.bigpond.net.au...
> I went and played with one last night. I took along my Canon 10D and a
few
> lenses. Alas I could only fit the body with small lens attached and one
or
> two other medium size lenses (75-300mm) in it. It'd be ok for small kits
> but if you've got more than 3 small/medium lenses you'd be better off with
> something else as the camera sections isn't all that deep. You won't have
> any luck fitting a flash or other accessories in either.
>
> The padded camera section is removal and the middle partition can be
> unzipped so it can be used as a dedicated backpack if you so desire. The
> harness system looks comfortable.
>
> So, back to searching for a decent pack for me....
>
> Michael
>
>

[AU Digital Photo Of The Day]

"Warren Prasek" <newsgroupspam at deletethisbit dot wprasek dotcom> wrote in
message news:3fcfb513$0$13968$afc38c87@news.optusnet.com.a u...
> if anyone is interested, i have a lowepro Phototrekker Classic backpack
> which i've never used- literally not even once, because it is too big for
my
> needs- that i probably should sell.
>
> Cost me $255- you can see the receipt- will sell for $195.
>
> If in Brisbane you can view in person- tonnes of storage for eg. 10D/D100
+
> battery grip, really big lens attached (eg 70-200 or 50-500) plus a half
> dozen other medium sized lenses, pockets galore, really heavy duty
> material/stitching and padding etc, waist and sternum straps etc.
>
> PS Michael I still have your books... and i've just ordered a sigma 70-200
> from hugo! woohoo


Hmmm?? I am tempted to come and have a look. I am not big on working with
backpacks, but I have been thinking they may be better for my trip on
Friday. What are the dimensions Warren? I want to make sure it's OK for
carry-on.

Russell

[Warren Prasek]

it's pretty big, i dont think it would be a carry-on item. you could easily
stuff a 10D with grip plus a bigma 50-500 or, i dunno, some big-ass tele
lens in there, plus heaps of other lenses too. i think it would take 2 or 3
70-200/2.8s with other stuff too...

the only way to really be sure with a backpack (i have 3 in total, plus 4
different sized shoulder bags!) is to try it out in person.

[AU Digital Photo Of The Day]

"Warren Prasek" <newsgroupspam at deletethisbit dot wprasek dotcom> wrote in
message news:3fd2cf24$0$14031$afc38c87@news.optusnet.com.a u...
> it's pretty big, i dont think it would be a carry-on item. you could
easily
> stuff a 10D with grip plus a bigma 50-500 or, i dunno, some big-ass tele
> lens in there, plus heaps of other lenses too. i think it would take 2 or
3
> 70-200/2.8s with other stuff too...
>
> the only way to really be sure with a backpack (i have 3 in total, plus 4
> different sized shoulder bags!) is to try it out in person.
>
>

thanks Warren, but it does sound a tad too big :-(

never mind, my Nova 5 will just have to do.

[David]

Well I wnet out and bought one ... and promptly returned it! It's a
brilliant bag with super comfortable harness. BUT the camera compartment is
almost useless. The internal dividers offer no flexibility in adjustment,
it was so shallow that I couldn't put my flash in. For what promised to be
a fantastic camera bag, it is rather dissappointing.

David

"David" <davidcpclayton@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:fPEzb.326$Se.7178@nnrp1.ozemail.com.au...
> Has anyone had any experience with these backpacks? The concept is great,
> but I'm not entirely convinced I need one.
> Can anyone post their impressons of this bag. It is currently on sale for
> $94 reduced from $180. Personally I wouldn't pay $180 for it though.
>
> For those who haven't seen it it has a camera compartment at the base
enough
> for one body a couple of lenses, cleaning kit and accessories. Above is a
> small compartment to carry lunch, water, sunscreen etc. There are straps
> for tripod and ice axes!! The padding feels very comfortable. Yeah it all
> sounds good, just want to know other users impressions.
>
> David
>
>