( 56 reviews )
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Posted: Aug 12 2009
This backpack is very well designed for its purpose: casual travel or street photography. It keeps one camera easily accessible, looks like a regular backpack, and safely holds a moderate amount of gear. I've previously traveled for weeks at a time with a traditional Domke shoulder bag (J-1 or J-3). Here are the pros and cons of the Fastpack compared to a traditional "journalist" bag: Pros -- More comfortable to carry for long periods. -- Doesn't look like an obvious camera bag. -- Once zipped up, your gear is well padded on all sides; it can sit sideways, go in an overhead compartment, etc. -- Leaves plenty of extra space for your water bottle, guidebook, sunglass case, lunch bag, whatever. -- Can fit work materials like a laptop, file folder, or even a box of 11x14 paper (barely). Cons -- Obviously less convenient during a shoot. Your camera is pretty easy to get to. You could get to one more lens with the bag still on your shoulder by unbuckling one of the safety straps. But that's it. -- Layout of the main compartment is not very flexible; the dividers can only be positioned pretty much as shown in the photo (though they can be removed). -- No D rings or straps for a tripod, etc. In size, the 250 model is a good fit for a Canon 5D (or 50D) without battery grip. A 5D with grip or a 1D would barely fit (look at the 350 model instead). An XT or similar would move around too much (look at the 200 or 100 models instead). Regarding lenses, a 70-400 f/4 will fit mounted on the camera or in the space below, barely. For smaller size L zooms (such as a 25-105 f/4 IS) you could fit four (one on the camera, one next to it, two below) and still have room for a flash. Regarding weather proofing -- I keep a plastic bag in the backpack, weighs nothing and is sufficient to protect the camera if it rains hard.
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Posted: Aug 12 2009
This product works exactly as advertised. It carries all my necessary camera equipment ( Nikon D90, with 18-200 vr lens, extra 300mm lens, chargers, extra battery and filters. It also has room for a few extras as well as a small laptop or magazines. The best part about it is the fact that the camera is so easy to take out without taking off the pack. It is well constructed and comfortable. I used it on an all day excursion in San Francisco and had no problems.
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Posted: Aug 7 2009
I've had this backpack for several months now and can say it is a great bag. It is comfortable to carry, reasonably tough and most importantly easy to access all my gear, which is the main reason I purchased this bag. My standard load in the lower camera compartment: Canon 40d with the 17-55mm attached(filter 77mm) with the hood reversed. 70-200mm f4 (filter 67)with Kenko 1.4 teleconvertor attached or seperate sigma 24mm 1.8 (filter 77) with hood reversed, tucked into hood for the 70-200 if not in use canon 50mm 1.8 (filter 52) set of 3 kenko extension tubes Canon 430ex flash. The 40d can be carried with the 70-200 f4 attached but it is a tight fit. I also think that there is plenty of room for a grip as well. The upper compartment carries a few odds and ends, wireless remote, off-camera flash cord, right angle finder, pens, filters and filter holders and so on. I can carry my tripod, manfrotto 190cxpro4 by tucking it under the front flap. It is held fairly securely in the way it seems. It is still possible to easily pull anything out of the camera compartment from the side flap without needing to remove the tripod. This way of carrying the tripod does mean you cant access the small pockets under the flap, but I store my ND filters and ND grads in these pockets since I usually am using my tripod with this filters anyway. Fully loaded with a laptop the bag will fit in the overhead compartments on larger planes, but will need to go under the seat in smaller regional jets, but it is a tight fit. The bag seems to provide adequate protection to all the equipment, and the upper compartment can hold plenty of odds and ends. My biggest complaint is that the waist belt seems a little thin, and rides up higher above my waist than I would like, but I am 6'2" so that could be why, but it is still fairly comfortable and I have no problems hiking all day (or running through airports). All in all it's a comfortable, durable and well-designed bag which I would recommend to anyone.
