Photo Backpack Recommendations

I need a soft-sided, lightweight backpack that will:

a) fit into airline carryon-luggage

B) carry the following

-- 2 dSLR bodies

-- 3 lenses

-- 2 strobes (Ike DS-125)

c) would be nice if it had a laptop computer compartment as well.

Can someone recommend something, please?

Rick Colman

I need a soft-sided, lightweight backpack that will:

 

a) fit into airline carryon-luggage

 

B) carry the following

 

-- 2 dSLR bodies

-- 3 lenses

-- 2 strobes (Ike DS-125)

 

c) would be nice if it had a laptop computer compartment as well.

 

Can someone recommend something, please?

 

Rick Colman

I highly recommend the Lowepro Computrek 17.

I second that.

Do you have an experience both with the Computrek and a Rolling Cases?

What I mean is, are there problems to go onboard with both bags? The Computrek as the laptop personal bag with the rolling case as the main bag.

Do you have an experience both with the Computrek and a Rolling Cases?

What I mean is, are there problems to go onboard with both bags? The Computrek as the laptop personal bag with the rolling case as the main bag.

Well, I do it all the time. I worry about it every time, too. There are two Computrekkers. I own both. The smaller one doesn't look overly large, so I am ready, willing and able to argue that it no bigger than any other computer bag. On the other hand, the big Computrekker....well, I've loaded it to well over 30lbs. It really should have it's own ticket. I let the little woman carry it along with her monster "purse". She hates me while we are traveling.

....well, I've loaded it to well over 30lbs.... I let the little woman carry it along with her monster "purse". She hates me while we are traveling.

lol. that is so mean in sooo many levels.

Anywho, the computreker 17 is quite large. Its not a backpack I would use as a day-backpack. I used it more as an alternative to packing my gear into a regular 22 carry-on.

btw. 17 means it can fit a 17inch laptop, not the size of the bag.

HI,

I use the smaller lowepro computreker, I put my housing, ports,strobes,2 lenes,

& my 14" laptop loaded it weighs in at 7-8kgs. Up till now not to many problems

carry on & I also carry a small camera bag with bodies, lens, & my S45 SeaCam

view finder. I always am very polite & friendly when checking in. Most times I go

away now I also arange extra baggage allowances. It is cheaper than paying at the

checkin.

Andy

I have the bigger Lowepro computrekker Plus, I think it's called. Technically it fits within dimensions. It weighs 5 lbs, 6 oz empty by the way, I might as well tell tell you since I just weighed it. That's less than my lightest wheelie - if anybody knows a lighter wheelie please chime in!

Carrying it as a "personal item" might be problematic, on certain airlines anyway. Forget about it on TACA for sure. Airlines in my experience tend to interpret anything with backpack straps as "not a personal item" for some reason. Go figure.

You can probably fit all that into the smaller lowpro backpack. You might look for the smallest possible shoulder bag that will fit those items though - from my forum reading on the topic, airlines tend to look more favorably on a crammed "laptop bag" (that's actually shaped like a laptop bag) than on a nice light, but bulky, backpack, as a "personal item".

Good luck and have fun on your trip!

lol. that is so mean in sooo many levels.

 

Anywho, the computreker 17 is quite large. Its not a backpack I would use as a day-backpack. I used it more as an alternative to packing my gear into a regular 22 carry-on.

 

btw. 17 means it can fit a 17inch laptop, not the size of the bag.

A Tamrac CyberPack 6 has been working great for me so far. Bodies, lenses, all the computer stuff, chargers, etc. Weighs in at about 25#.

I would heartily recommend anything made by ThinkTank Photo that might be about the right size. I bought one of their Airport Addicted backpacks and love it. It comes with a laptop sleeve that fits into a compartment on the back. Also deep enough to hold a 400 or 500 2.8 attached to a camera body with no trouble. It might be too big for you, however, and it doesn't have wheels. No kidding, I had a guy in line behind me at the store to buy it if I didn't -- lucky I got there right when they opened. Of course it was partly my fault for waiting until the last minute and going bag shopping the Saturday before I left for Indonesia! They also make one with wheels but you lose the laptop area to the pull handle. They do make another couple models that are smaller. You might take a look at the Airport Acceleration or the Airport Antidote. Each comes with a laptop sleeve that fits into a stretch pocket on the outside.

If you want to take a gander at something different, they have a really cool new one called the Rotation 360º that has an integral belt system and a rotating sub-pack you can access to by spinning it around your waist. The top of the pack stays on your back the whole time you are wearing it. It does have a bit of hard-sidedness to accommodate the spinning feature, however. As an added bonus, you can also use their other belt accessories with the pack to expand should you need a bit more room for other stuff.

The company was started by two guys that left LowePro to think more freely and make something of even higher quality. I have been very impressed with my bag, though it sure wasn't cheap (but then again, neither is anything from LowePro . . .)

here's a link to their site -- haven' seen much written about them here but thought it was worth mentioning . . .

http://www.thinktankphoto.com

Mike

Thom Hogan has some good recommendations on his site. I haven't used the Think Tank gear, but Thom's assessments are very considered and normally reflect my experiences if I have used the gear.

I would second the recommendation for anything ThinkTank - the quality is extremely high (even better than the excellent products that LowePro makes) and they are slightly more compact. The Airport Addicted is an excellent bag - I carry it on with 3 bodies, assortment of lenses (including a 400/2.8) and all accessories (macro port goes in the carry-on), and a Pelican 1510 case with my housing, strobes, and other housing accessories (dome port, arms, etc). I've never had it questioned. Just carry it yourself over to the tabel if they want to inspect it - you have that right, and that way the TSA agent doesn't have a hernia trying to move the bag (I've weighed mine at over 60 lbs before when I've really packed a lot of glass and batteries into it!)

I just bought a Tenba Backpack for my winter trip to the islands.

http://www.tenbagear.com/products/2000_02.asp

I got the medium one, was able to fit:

Sea & Sea DX200 housing w/ Nikon D200

2 Sea & Sea YS-90 Strobes

Macro Port

UCLS Arms and Clamps

2 Strobe sync cords

16mm

18-70mm

60mm

External hard drive (notebook type)

Very thin laptop (very thin)

My wife carried on my Dome Port (in 2 aluminum cake tins) in her carryon.

Overall weight: 38lbs

It's a backbreaker, and I know that it's bad form to travel with the camera in the housing, but I'm more scared to check luggage than risk carrying on the camera in the housing.

It fit in all airline overhead compartments, including the small comuter flights.

It's very similar to lowepro, but with out the bulky straps, so it fits in small compartments better.

Take care,

John

I'd like to wave a flag for the Kata R-103 backpack. It's much more stylish and the padding is fantastic - these guys also make bulletproof vests. I've had mine for almost a year now and use it every day as a photojournalist. Its still as good as new and the padding hasn't worn out like the padding in my lowepro.

Its smaller than others mentioned, like the lowepros, tenbas and tamaracs and much less "boxy" and much more sexy. It would just squeeze the 2 strobes, 2 bodies, 3 lenses and has a laptop sleeve. Kata also has some bigger back packs.

Another great feature is the ability to switch the bag to fit an 8 inch dome, spare lenses and housing support gear for the boat in 2 secs. You just move 1 section of the big divider.

I just bought their CC-195 video shoulder case which is perfectly designed to hold a full dslr housing, 2 ports, 2 strobes, arms & stuff and is carryon size. These guys make good stuff (and I have no affiliation to them). Cheers,

Chris

It's a backbreaker, and I know that it's bad form to travel with the camera in the housing, but I'm more scared to check luggage than risk carrying on the camera in the housing.

Hi John,

I'm putting togethre a similar solution and I've got two 5D bodies to fit in, so I was going to keep one in the housing, where it live much of the time anyway. I was wondering why it was perceived as bad form to travel with the body in the housing, so long as it does get "baggage handlered" in this configuration.

Cheers,

Martyn

Hi John,

 

I'm putting togethre a similar solution and I've got two 5D bodies to fit in, so I was going to keep one in the housing, where it live much of the time anyway. I was wondering why it was perceived as bad form to travel with the body in the housing, so long as it does get "baggage handlered" in this configuration.

 

Cheers,

 

Martyn

Hi Martyn,

I have no idea where this myth originated, but I am convinced that (as long as you are hand carrying it) the safest place for a camera to travel is inside the housing. I travel extensively, and my D2x is always inside my housing.

There were arguments like "imagine traveling with your camera attached to the tripod and dropping it", well, if you drop it there will be damage, attached to a tripod or not. But I think there will be a lot less damage if the camera is inside the housing. Lots of people are afraid of bending the tripod connector, but inside the housing, the camera has many other points of support, not just the tripod mount.

I have always traveled with my cameras inside their respective housings, starting back in 1996 with my N90, and never had a single problem.

Luiz

One camera travels in the housing in one of my carry-ons. No port attached. Why waste the space?

I travel with the camera in the housing with 50mm lens and macro port all assembled. That way if the TSA ever want to examine it, the whole setup is a camera. I can take photos with it. So far no one has ever asked to look inside my carry on.

I think the conventional wisdom against carrying your camera body inside the housing is that you don't know what forces and pressures are exterted on the housing. The housing's and camera's buttons are meant to be pushed, but I'm sure there's a limit for the force applied to the button and a limit to the duration for that force on the button. How much is too much is anyone's guess, but to err on the side of caution some folks (including me) don't transport the camera inside the housing.

Of course, I'm beginning to think I need a better way to pack other than my Lowepro Orion and Pelican 1550.

I would heartily recommend anything made by ThinkTank Photo that might be about the right size. I bought one of their Airport Addicted backpacks and love it. They do make another couple models that are smaller. You might take a look at the Airport Acceleration or the Airport Antidote.

The Antidote is a really nice bag for the times when your travel will include small planes and jets. It is smaller than carry-on regs require and will fit both in the overhead bins and beneath the seats of the smaller planes. In these planes your regular carry-on size will not fit in either place and they will make you gate check the bag. It is not large enough for housings and ports (I check that kind of stuff anyway), but I get my laptop, 2 -D2x's, 10.5, 12-14, 17-35, 60, 105 lenses, chargers, batteries and a bunch of other accesories in mine. At the very least, when flying small planes, I am certain my most costly gear is safe and close at hand.

If I know my flights will be jets with regular sized bins and seats I take something closer to carry-on regulations, but when I know the bins and seats will be small the Antidote is perfect for securing the most precious of my gear. It weighs in at less than 3 pounds, so the bag itself doesn't eat up much of the carry-on weight allowed these days.