Lowe Pro vs. Thinktank

Yesterday I was lucky enough to win a Retrospective 20 shoulder bag from ThinkTank Photo.  I have been using a Lowe Pro Messenger 200 AW bag for about 6 months so far, but I was still really excited to get the ThinkTank Photo bag. I have heard a lot of great things about ThinkTank, and I can see why they have such a good reputation.

I was very impressed with how many internal pockets I found inside the ThinkTank bag. Seriously, I never expected to find a pocket for just about everything you would need to stash. It had room for a flash, room for filters, lens cleaning supplies plus a camera with a tall lens attached.  I was also pretty impressed that it had multiple zipper compartments, including room for an iPad.  The bag was a great color and the material was really pretty thick and well padded. Also included was a rain cover in a small pouch. The shoulder strap was also really well padded.

My Lowe Pro bag is longer, but not as tall. It also would not hold the iPad very easily. When I need a smaller bag for a short trip, I will be using the ThinkTank Retrospective 20 bag. When I want to take just about everything, I will use the Lowe Pro.

LowePro Pro Messenger 200AW

I picked up a Pro Messenger 200AW shoulder bag today. It is a big bag, almost as big as my LowePro backpack but the layout makes it look smaller.

The shoulder strap had a super thick pad and the inside is full of so many little pockets to store gear, I would never have trouble filling it up.  I was super impressed.  Without a doubt this was a great purchase. I will post photos in a few days when I get some more time.

With my LowePro backpack, I have to set it on the ground to change my lens so I wanted a bag I could hold while changing a lens. The Messenger 200AW can hold my 70-300mm lens on it's end and I could easily swap lenses in a crowd with this bag.

I don't see a little dedicated memory card pouch like in my LowePro backpack, which so far is the only downside I can come up with.

Highly recommended.

Kata 3N1-35 PL Backpack Review

I bought a Kata 3N1-35 PL to replace my LowePro Fastpack 350 camera backpack.

A few key points

1) The padding of the LowePro around the arms and back is much softer and thicker compared to the Kata bag

2) Inside space is about the same actually although the upper storage space in the LowePro is much larger. The lower camera storage space might be slightly larger on the Kata. It does seem deeper.

3) Inside padding is about the same on both bags.

4) Access to the inside of the bag is better in the Kata with openings on both sides

5) The Kata offers many more configurations for shoulder straps

6) Kata comes with a tripod mount. This is a big plus.

7) Kata comes with a rain cover

The last few points are the main reason why I bought the Kata bag. Overall I bet I use both bags at different times.

The LowePro comes with a nice little internal zipper bag as well as memory card slots.

Which bag is better? Very hard to say. I lean slightly toward the LowePro but they both have pro’s and cons overall.