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.