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green ant

green ant

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Hi all
Ok please bare with me, I'm off to Australia/Tasmania in September and have been hunting for "the" right bag to carry all my gear, I'm taking a gripped Nikon D810 and the trinity of lenses, I want to use it as a carry on but I wont need to fill it with the usual junk and I'm not taking
a laptop, easy access would be a bonus as would a rain cover.
I have looked at Lowepro flipsides and can't stand them, has anybody used the Protactic 350 or 450? Or maybe the fastpack? Or what about the Hazard 4 photo recon?

Please bombard me with any suggestions that I can look into :)
 
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Thanks I didn't think about that type of bag, but tbh I'm more of a backpack person but I will take a look.
 
Have you looked at the Think Tank range? I have the streetwalker pro and found it holds my Nikon 7100 with 150-500 Sigma, my 70-200 f2.8 and a 70-300 and a flash. It has a rain cover and the lid has pockets on the front and inside for leads, cards etc. Worth a look and hope this helps!
 
jessica1 said:
Have you looked at the Think Tank range? I have the streetwalker pro and found it holds my Nikon 7100 with 150-500 Sigma, my 70-200 f2.8 and a 70-300 and a flash. It has a rain cover and the lid has pockets on the front and inside for leads, cards etc. Worth a look and hope this helps!
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Thanks! I will take a look.
 
I have the Protactic 350 and find it very comfortable to use although it's not a big bag.
 
I've had the Lowepro fastpack 350 for 5-6 years, maybe more.. it carries my 15" laptop all the time, never had any problems, feels secure and safe. The dividers are easy to change and remove depending what I'm doing. I've taken it on many flights as it allows me to carry on all my valuables and electronics. Most carriers allow it as a standard size carry one, some of the hopper carriers will deem it to be a large item.

I use it for pretty much everything, the laptop slot doubles up as a supermarket pizza pocket when I'm food shopping. It will take a lot of weight, and so far ive only broken the string big off one zipper. When flying it would often be pushing 10-12kg in weight, and it was comfortable to wear.

I've successfully cleaned it up when coke, beer has been split in it.. just gave it a good soak in the bathtub with warm soapy water!

It's pretty water resistant, and has a plastic cover too. The top section is good for the various junk I carry around everywhere. The only thing it lacks for me, is a secure pocket on the back for safely storing documents, passports and somewhere to attach my monopod.

There are times when it feels a little bulky, but I love it for its versatility and almost indestructible build.
 
Cant offer specific recommendations but personally would look no further than Lowepro - very well made and my orginal one has been alover the place and still in great condition.
 
So today I tried the Lowepro protactic 350, and there is no way in hell the D810 and lenses is going in that :(
 
green ant said:
So today I tried the Lowepro protactic 350, and there is no way in hell the D810 and lenses is going in that :(
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I have the D800 and a 24-70lens and a 70-200 lens, these fit in the protactic 350 along with my 2 flash guns lee filters and other odds and sods. I did not know that the D810 was bigger than the D800.
 
green ant said:
Hi all
Ok please bare with me, I'm off to Australia/Tasmania in September and have been hunting for "the" right bag to carry all my gear, I'm taking a gripped Nikon D810 and the trinity of lenses, I want to use it as a carry on but I wont need to fill it with the usual junk and I'm not taking
a laptop, easy access would be a bonus as would a rain cover.
I have looked at Lowepro flipsides and can't stand them, has anybody used the Protactic 350 or 450? Or maybe the fastpack? Or what about the Hazard 4 photo recon?

Please bombard me with any suggestions that I can look into :)
Click to expand...

What's so bad about the flip sides, all the reviews say they are good and I've ordered one.
 
green ant said:
So today I tried the Lowepro protactic 350, and there is no way in hell the D810 and lenses is going in that :(
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Mine is gripped and other than open the whole back there is no way it will go in or come out of the other holes, no real problem but even using it by unzipping the back the camera protrudes above the dividers so it's not really protected.

I might give the 450 a go as I did like the bag
 
nog said:
What's so bad about the flip sides, all the reviews say they are good and I've ordered one.
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I have one that I keep everything and just don't like it, just my own personal opinion, I'm sure they are a really good bag just not for me :)
 
green ant said:
I have one that I keep everything and just don't like it, just my own personal opinion, I'm sure they are a really good bag just not for me :)
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OK cheers, hope its just you then:) or no doubt there will be yet another bag for sale in classifieds:rolleyes:
 
Also tried a sling bag today, like the one Kodiac qc recommended, really didn't like it I'm afraid, think I'm stuck on a backpack or backpack sling, I really can't handle the bag strap just sitting on my shoulder.
 
Just a quick note, I have a grip on my 7100 and it fits in my think tank streetwalker pro without sticking up over the dividers, also it can hold my 150-500 and camera lengthwise with a small space at the end. I've put my spare raincoat in the space to act as a cushion!
 
I have just ordered a protactic 450 aw from amazon so I can return if it still doesn't work out, Then I will move on to the think tank, again thanks to everybody who has taken time to reply, the search isnt over yet lol
 
Just for another option, I use F-Stop Gear bags - one Loka UL and one Kenti - and like them both. The Kenti likely wouldn't work with a gripped body, but the others are all modular with ICU boxes to hold the camera that you can mix and match to suit your setup. I tried a few different LowePro bags over the years and never found one that quite suited me. I've been using the F-Stop bags for about three year now and love them. Downside - they're not cheap and they can be a bit of a bugger to get a hold of sometimes, but if they work for you they're well worth it.
 
I have a bunch of thinktank bags and used to loveLowePro; I have a 1Dx2 with a 100-400 mk2 which I use in a Speed Racer (think that is the biggest one) . I can usually get another lens in there with the converter as well. I guess this isn't the type that you were asking about but my point is that they make clever, ergonomic lenses.
 
For me it is the LowePro Vertex 200. It went to Alberta last summer with a 300 F2.8, 24-70 F2.8 and 16-35 F4 + a Canon 1 series body. I didn't put in many bits and bobs so with your small lenses there would be plenty of room for extra batteries, filter kit etc etc. It has a Laptop pouch (no use to me) and is very well padded for both your gear and you. Zero issues with carry on though the security guys did want to play with the 300 F2.8 .
 
I use a maxpedition fatboy versipack. It doesn't scream "mug me, I have an expensive camera!"
71gS6IsIsEL._SY355_.jpg
 
mjmountain said:
I use a maxpedition fatboy versipack. It doesn't scream "mug me, I have an expensive camera!"
71gS6IsIsEL._SY355_.jpg
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I have the jumbo! I can fit my D810 with battery grip Lplate and 24-70 plust the 14-24 in the side bottle pocket, bit of a squeeze but a great bag.
 
green ant said:
and have been hunting for "the" right bag to carry all my gear
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Such a thing does not exist, it is a conspiracy by bag makers, they deliberately make bags that are almost right but no quite so you keep buying new bags in the endless search for the "right" bag.
 
sirch said:
Such a thing does not exist, it is a conspiracy by bag makers, they deliberately make bags that are almost right but no quite so you keep buying new bags in the endless search for the "right" bag.
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Truth!
 
green ant said:
That I would be interested to see, I have thought about it, would prob involve something maxpedition or tactical...but I'm lazy lol
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It's on the drawing board. Will be leather, so probably heavy and impractical. But it will smell amazing, last forever, and be completely unique.
 
I'm in a similar position heading to tanzania but with restrictions on cabin bag size mean i need to review my bags. I use a fastpack 250 or vertex 200 as main backpack bags but have others but they are shoulder bags which id prefer to avoid as shoulder not great at mo. I'm taking a 120-300 on the trip which doesn't fit comfortably in the fastpack and unfortunately the vertex is too big for the internal flights in tanzania. I spent yesterday looking through bag specs and hand baggage and ideally a used fastpack 350 would have been a decent option but with lens off body, but again doesnt fit as hand baggage internally. I like the split of the fastpack arrangement

Going with mrs t taking the fastpack with one body and lens and her own p&s, which is ideal for her, not too big and plenty of room in the upper case for the day to day stuff and i pulled the trigger on a streetwalker pro which should fit the 120-300 fitted to the d500 in the bag plus another lens. No laptop so should be space for odds and ends incl a couple of portable hd's where i can borrow a computer and backup images on way through.

Fingers crossed that my calcs work.
 
I tried a mates thinktank and didn't like it so for the last few days I have been trying the Lowepro protactic 450, everything fits! so think I will keep it.
 
I have a Lowepro Fastpack 350 going cheap if your interested?
 
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