
Since I most enjoy wildlife photography, when I bought my
camera, having a good way to carry it around was something I considered just as
much as which camera I wanted to buy. I ultimately settled on this backpack, and have been content with my decision ever since for a few key reasons.
The first is the actual camera compartment. It’s divided up
into five compartments of varying sizes by thick foam padding, leaving room for
two lenses and a camera body, as well as anything else you might put in (like a
remote shutter release or spare battery). It fits my camera perfectly, so I don’t
worry about damaging it via bouncing around too much when on my back.
Moreover, the location of the compartment – at the base of
the pack, accessible via a zipper you can only reach if you take the backpack
off is doubly useful. Firstly, it makes it so that if you’re walking in a
crowded city or area known for pickpockets, you don’t have to worry about
someone unzipping the compartment without you noticing. Secondly, if you use
the waist buckle strap provided, you can swing the backpack around to the front
and suspend it from your waist like a table, which makes it seamless and quick
to change lenses without needing to find a place to sit, put the other lens
down, or crouch on the ground.
The backpack has one other extremely useful feature for
outdoor travel – a hood that tucks into the base but can be pulled out and
secured via its elastic straps, ensuring that in heavy rain all of your
equipment stays dry.
The rest of the features – the other pockets, the water
bottle holders, etc. – are certainly nice to have, but it’s the unique camera
carrying compartment and its location that made me choose this bag over all of
the others. It serves one purpose: keep everything safe, even when changing
lenses – perfectly.