Buying from China. (Backpack advice)

mdjchat

mdjchat

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Mathew
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Hi everybody,

I'm looking for a good backpack for lugging my medium format kit around (the shoulder bag I'm currently using isn't doing my back any favours). I think that the Lowepro flipside sport 20l aw or the flipside 400 aw might fit the bill. Unless anyone else can suggest better? I like the security of the flipside and would be carrying a Bronica ETRSI with 3 lenses and 2 or 3 film backs plus a few filters and tripod. Might be handy if it can fit a packed lunch too. Until now I've mostly used Lowepro so don't have much experience of other manufacturers. I bought their Rover AW (either 1st or 2nd edition) just over 10 years ago and it's still in great condition.

My main question is whether or not you would risk purchasing from a Chinese seller on a well known auction site. I've found that they are selling the same bags for much less money (even after possible customs costs). My only worry is whether or not these are legitimate or if I'd be likely to end up with a counterfeit product? The sellers I've looked at all have good feedback.

Thanks, Mat.
 
Personally I would not touch them.
For such expensive equipment I would want to handle it before I bought.
A local shop would be the best bet. A bit more expensive, but you know what you are buying.
 
Well it's likely to be fake for starters, so although you can get good quality, it's a gamble...bound to be some genuine used on the go, either in the classifieds or the bay/tree
 
I have the flipside 400 aw and can't fault it
 
I would definitively suspect the Flipside Sport 20l wis a fake as Lowepro don't make it anymore. I have the Sport 15L and love it. Wish I'd got the 20L as my 120-300 is a bit of a squeeze
 
ive bought one before and the quality is great and no import duty
 
Thinking about it, I could be tempted to sell my 15L (blue) as I've got my eye on a FStop Loka. If you're interested, let me know and I'll put a post in the classifieds.
 
I picked up a LowePro Hatchback 22L AW from AliExpess for under £30 :eek: No idea if it's genuine or not, if not then they've done a good job with the tags etc. From my perspective it doesn't really matter as I'm not going to stress the bag to its limits. It's well put together and it's the design that I wanted.

I'd be more wary if I wanted the bag to stand up to harsh conditions or was carrying a weightier setup (My Fuji gear is pretty light!).
 
Thanks for your help everyone. As you have mentioned the flipside sport is no longer in production (as are some other bags I've seen) and I wondered if they might just be selling discounted old stock. Obviously not though.

Chris thanks for the offer but I'm not certain that the 15L will be big enough. And I can't view the classifieds yet anyhow.

The used option looks a good idea though! Thanks.
 
Security wise i think the flipside 400 is good because I use one of them myself. My problem with that bag is the flip doesn't fully open (base on my experience), so grabbing a lens body or lens at the bottom is pain sometimes. If you don't change gear often, the bag is good.
 
I love my Flipside 400 - I have a sneaking suspicion it's a fake though, despite buying from a UK dealer. Fake or not, it's a damn good solid bag that has never let me down and puts up with a lot of abuse. :D
 
We have had a 1 or possibly 2 from them and the first (lowepro flipside 300) seemed good, definitely fakes but still fine and look the same. The last one we had, the stitching looks weak and shoddy, the tripod strap comes undone with just a small Mefoto Roadtrip attached & i can't see it lasting too long.

I'd go for the real deal in the future for the bigger bags. I am looking to get the Lowepro Toploader and £25 is appealing, won't really need to hold much weight like my full on bag as it will be just for camera & 1 lens and a spare battery :)
 
Yeah my knock off flipside 400 isnt great. I put all my stuff in for the first time and picked it off the floor with one arm strap, and I heard all the stitching stretch and pop.
I'm sure it will last a while but not great.
On a side note.. thing I don't like with the flip of the flipside is due to the weight of your gear when it's open, it's quite tricky to do up again cos it's pulling the zips away from each other.
 
i have a lowepro flip 400 from jessops its a good bag before that i bought one of the cheap lowepro 400s off ebay obviously it was a fake and looked and felt like one,anyway the seller said it was the real thing we went backwards and forwards so he got it back and i had a refund! trust me you do not get what you dont pay for!
 
Bought a lowepro slingshot 202aw from a Chinese eBay seller last year who advertised it as being genuine. It was only £25 so I was of course dubious, but took a punt anyway. It arrived and to be honest was very shoddily made. Stitching was all over the place and after close examination I decided that I wouldn't risk transporting my equipment in it. I use it just to store accessories in. I'd always recommend paying full price and getting the real thing when it comes to bags.
 
Diamonddec said:
Bought a lowepro slingshot 202aw from a Chinese eBay seller last year who advertised it as being genuine. It was only £25 so I was of course dubious, but took a punt anyway. It arrived and to be honest was very shoddily made. Stitching was all over the place and after close examination I decided that I wouldn't risk transporting my equipment in it. I use it just to store accessories in. I'd always recommend getting the real thing when it comes to bags.
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How about an ordinary rucksack? You could put inserts in it to hold all the photographic gear and have plenty of room for food, drink, waterproofs etc. Loads of different sized sacks around that will give good support; just a matter of getting inserts to fit, also an ordinary rucksack looks "ordinary" and doesn't advertise the what is inside.

Dave
 
I bought the Flipside 400 AW from a chinese seller on eBay and it's the genuine article, complete with the Lowepro "cards".

Had it 3 years and still looks new.

£35 well spent.
 
Peter123 said:
Personally I would not touch them.
For such expensive equipment I would want to handle it before I bought.
A local shop would be the best bet. A bit more expensive, but you know what you are buying.
Click to expand...
The problem I've encountered is the local shops are often unwilling to stock the better backpacks.

I think the best approach is to buy from somewhere you can easily return like Amazon to have an opportunity to see how things fit/examine build quality etc.
 
Tringa said:
How about an ordinary rucksack? You could put inserts in it to hold all the photographic gear and have plenty of room for food, drink, waterproofs etc. Loads of different sized sacks around that will give good support; just a matter of getting inserts to fit, also an ordinary rucksack looks "ordinary" and doesn't advertise the what is inside.
Click to expand...
I've been exploring this possibility but yet to commit to making a purchase.

Some that seem likely contenders include Mammut Trion Pro 50+7 or the Gregory Targhee 45 both of which have a fully opening rear panel like F-stop bags, though the Gregory is available in different torso lengths.
 
If you went for Targhee in yellow it should be pretty safe. If someone ran off with it you be able to see them for miles :)

Dave
 
mdjchat said:
Hi everybody,

I'm looking for a good backpack for lugging my medium format kit around (the shoulder bag I'm currently using isn't doing my back any favours). I think that the Lowepro flipside sport 20l aw or the flipside 400 aw might fit the bill. Unless anyone else can suggest better? I like the security of the flipside and would be carrying a Bronica ETRSI with 3 lenses and 2 or 3 film backs plus a few filters and tripod. Might be handy if it can fit a packed lunch too. Until now I've mostly used Lowepro so don't have much experience of other manufacturers. I bought their Rover AW (either 1st or 2nd edition) just over 10 years ago and it's still in great condition.

My main question is whether or not you would risk purchasing from a Chinese seller on a well known auction site. I've found that they are selling the same bags for much less money (even after possible customs costs). My only worry is whether or not these are legitimate or if I'd be likely to end up with a counterfeit product? The sellers I've looked at all have good feedback.

Thanks, Mat.
Click to expand...


As the saying goes, You get what you pay for, if you want a Genuine one buy it from Wex or Jessops. Love my 400AW got from Wex and it is great :)
 
Dave70D said:
As the saying goes, You get what you pay for, if you want a Genuine one buy it from Wex or Jessops. Love my 400AW got from Wex and it is great :)
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Yeah I've decided to do just that. It isn't worth risking my gear for the sake of a few quid. And I know that whatever I choose it will more than pay for itself over a good few years based on previous experience.
 
GreenNinja67 said:
I bought the Flipside 400 AW from a chinese seller on eBay and it's the genuine article, complete with the Lowepro "cards".

Had it 3 years and still looks new.

£35 well spent.
Click to expand...
yes mine came with labels attached but they fake those as well, anyway i had the fake and the real one from jessops side by side before returning the fake and that when you really see the difference in built quality
 
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