Top positive review
5.0 out of 5 starsFits a D5/Full-Frame DSLR + 35mm Camera. Awesome Bag!
Reviewed in the United States on April 12, 2018
Outstanding bags for the price. I have three of these - two orange and one gray. One bag holds a full-size D5 or DLSR+Attached battery, plus a 35mm film camera, a GoPro, and all the accessories, cleaning, filters, and charging equipment. Each of my bags are setup as a fully self-contained "kit" for specialized uses. A bag will easily fit a D5 or D200+Battery Pack; GoPro + Spare Case & hot shoe mount; Nikon FM2 35MM Film Camera; Six rolls of film; Two hard memory storage cases; Full cleaning kit, chargers, filters, spare AA, AAA, and DSLR and GoPro batteries, etc... Attached pictures do not do them justice. One trick is I leave the lens attached to each camera. You can easily carry a camera and three full lenses if you wish. The best part of this bag is the "double top" the "outer hood" flips over and buckles shut. Under it a zipper lid stays closed over your gear, keeping it dust free. I use waterproof spray and either silicon or beeswax on the zippers because they will spend their fair share of time in the rain/mud/snow/whatever -- Expect to trash at least one of these a year if you are an active outdoor photographer. But that is more the abuse of the equipment than the equipment itself. The setup in the pictures works best for me - but there are a lot of other good examples shown by other reviewers. As for color - Orange is better than Gray in my opinion because gear is easier to see inside the bag with that contrast. I would buy more colors if Amazon sold them however, just because my kids are specialized for different use-cases. The way I have these bags setup is:
1) 35mm Film Landscape and Macro
2) DSLR+35mm Portrait and Street Photography
3) DSLR+35mm Generalized Travel Photography
I will convert my Nikon full-size bag to an Amazon bag when it wears out. I can't say enough about these bags from a functional use perspective. They are not pretty, or leather, or designer - but for a functional hardcore photographer, these are ideal.
Features I like:
1) Size Zipper Pockets on each side: Big enough to put charger, wires, and USB cables in one side; and batteries & lens/body caps in the other.
2) "False Pocket" inside the bag: You will notice a battery bank, hot shoe mount and hard memory case stuffed into the "false pocket" inside the case; Below that stuff are two filters in plastic cases -- it works absolutely brilliantly.
3) Front large external zipper pocket: I stuff the strap and a trash bag in here. It has what I consider to be a useless sewn-in pocket on the inside, but aside from that, I like the generous size of that front pocket for bulky cables and crap that just doesn't fit neatly in the case.
4) Netted pocket on inside of inner-lid: Perfect for wipes, DSLR sensor cleaners, thumb drives, extra eye-pieces/black-out eye pieces, etc..
5) Size above all. If they made this bag literally one inch wider and deeper it would be 1000% perfect, but that is also personal preference. Everything in this bag fits perfectly snug, and I can roll, twist, turn, and flip upside down and nothing moves. It is really a well-designed bag if you do your part and configure it appropriately.
Things I don't like:
1) The strap for the bag has a hideous "Maxi-Pad" looking shoulder pad that is essentially useless. The strap also has bulky plastic hooks. The strap is so useless it should go directly to the landfill from the manufacturing line. Because I am able to separate it from the bag and burn it, the rating of 5-stars is still appropriate for the bag itself.
2) "Tripod Retention Loop/Buckles" on the bottom - They are kind of useless. I used Velcro to stuck them in so they don't flop around like a ragbag. I tried attaching a tripod and a mono-pole to them at first, but it makes the bag awkward and other than the fact they can provide spare buckles if your primary ones break - they are nothing more than an example of what looks good on a whiteboard doesn't always translate into what works in real life.
3) Not enough rubber/feet/clearance on the bottom bag pads for what I do. My bags will be sitting in mud, wet surfaces and other unfriendly places. I don't think Amazon can really be at fault for this however - they did a great job with the bottom skids for 99.9% of consumers.
4) Plastic anchor loops for the crappy plastic and maxi-pad shoulder strap: These are sewn-in. No plastic should ever be used where a critical anchor point is needed. These should be metal, or just a heavy sewn-loop of canvas strap. Again - this will probably be okay for consumers, which this bag is made for - but plastic for an anchor point? Really? That said - they are pretty robust pieces of plastic crap.
Comments and Observations:
1) I would buy different exterior and Interior colors of this bag. They only come in black with choice of orange or gray interior. If Amazon made more color options, I think they would sell a lot more of these. I would buy them in different exterior colors without a doubt.
2) I think the way the straps come together with the Velcro handle could be improved. It isn't bad, but it isn't really great either. It is simply functional and unremarkable. This is being as hyper-critical as I can on the product - because it really is an amazing product overall, for the price, and the fact that it is designed for consumers and not professionals.
I hope this review helps you make your choice.
