I may have to retire the old Billingham case. Still works well after a couple of decades but! After my hip replacement surgery I'd like a backpack style case to distribute the weight more evenly.
Has to be big enough to hold camera, 80-400, 24-120, 20 a few peripherals, hopefully fit under an airline seat rather than above. Stand up well to extreme cold and snow. And most importantly be easy to access.
Up here the selection isn't great, the local dealer has three LowePros all of which are too small. It means mail order!
Any suggestions from you southerners that have stores in the neighbourhood? :)
I had a similar situation here. None of my local stores carried a wide selection and I was forced to go with mail order through B&H. Sounds like you’re familiar with Lowepro which specializes in camera packs and they even have one that comes with wheels.
I needed something for hiking in desert areas so I went with the Lowepro DryZone Rover that also has a water system. $229 at B&H.
Since I live in the sticks, mail order is a fact of life. The gas I’d spend driving all over the county makes it more economical to just have UPS do the driving for me.
I recently went with a Lowepro Mini Trekker AW. I currently hold a Canon 20D, 100 - 400 L, 150mm Sigma 2.8, and a Sigma 10 - 20 lenses, + small binoculars, the lens shields, filters, etc and have some room to spare. It carries good + you can attach a tripod. You would be even be able to carry some day hiking material in it too. I've been very happy so far with it. It is a panel loader and comes with an All Weather cover. What you haul in your bag sounds similar in size, so you might check out this model. I bought mine off Ebay, brand new for @ $ 95 including shipping if I remember right
I'm using a Lowe pack (trekker?) That caries well. I put a Nikon D200, 7-200 f2.8, 17-35 f2.8, 105 Micro, and filters, meter, Gore-Tex shell, some food bars, GPS, compass, small binoculars, etc. in it. I don't like the straps on the bottom for carrying the tripod, so I'm using some Velcro straps to attach it vertically to the side.
Backpack preferences can be very personal, especially concerning the harness system. Make sure you order your stuff from a reputable dealer with a good return policy.
Discussion
4 repliesHas to be big enough to hold camera, 80-400, 24-120, 20 a few peripherals, hopefully fit under an airline seat rather than above. Stand up well to extreme cold and snow. And most importantly be easy to access.
Up here the selection isn't great, the local dealer has three LowePros all of which are too small. It means mail order!
Any suggestions from you southerners that have stores in the neighbourhood? :)
Dave
I needed something for hiking in desert areas so I went with the Lowepro DryZone Rover that also has a water system. $229 at B&H.
Since I live in the sticks, mail order is a fact of life. The gas I’d spend driving all over the county makes it more economical to just have UPS do the driving for me.
No doubt you have these links already but just in case, the pack section at B&H is:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=breadCrumb&A=FetchChildren&Q=&ci=167
And Lowepro is
http://www.lowepro.com/Products/Backpacks/
I recently went with a Lowepro Mini Trekker AW. I currently hold a Canon 20D, 100 - 400 L, 150mm Sigma 2.8, and a Sigma 10 - 20 lenses, + small binoculars, the lens shields, filters, etc and have some room to spare. It carries good + you can attach a tripod. You would be even be able to carry some day hiking material in it too. I've been very happy so far with it. It is a panel loader and comes with an All Weather cover. What you haul in your bag sounds similar in size, so you might check out this model. I bought mine off Ebay, brand new for @ $ 95 including shipping if I remember right