Here are the gears I carried:
[Body: Situation #1]
Canon 5D Mark II with 70-200 F/4 IS attached
Canon 17-40mm F/4
Three boxes of filters
An air blower
[Body: Situation #2]
Canon 5D Mark II with 17-40mm attached
Canon 70-200mm F/4 IS
Three boxes of filters
An air blower
A bottle of water
[Body: Situation #3]
Canon 5D Mark II with 70-200mm F/4 IS attached
Canon Rebel XT with 28-135mm attached
Canon 17-40mm F/4
Three boxes of filters
An air blower
[Side pockets]
Small items such as key, wallet, phone, pocket size camera, remote etc.
[Outside]
Two hiking poles
Tripod
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[Comfort]
This backpack is better than the padded backpack used by college students (for carrying heavy textbooks to school). It is far from any standard hiking backpack like JanSport. After I hiked for 4 hours, I started feeling uncomfortable with it because it does not have enough padding on the straps.
Some backpacks put additional room in between your back and the backpack to allow more air flow from the side. This feature is especially useful when the temperature is high. Unfortunately, the air flow in this backpack is very minimal.
[Padding/Protection]
The padding is thick enough to protect my camera gears. However, I haven't tried to drop it, so I don't know what level of protection it will give.
[Tripod]
I have a standard aluminum (light weight) 58" tripod and it is very hard to secure it on the backpack. Since there is no way to secure the tripod, it just keeps falling down. See the pictures I uploaded for details.
[Access]
Comparing to the sling bag (one strap), it is not easy (and fast) to access the gears. However, you don't want to carry a sling bag for a long hike. In my situation, I carry my camera (rather than putting inside the bag) during the hike because I won't miss any special moment.
You will need to put on the "waist belt" in order to access your camera (for the rotations). The belt is just a nylon belt and it may scratch your waist. It is less comfortable comparing to other backpack with gel pad on the belt.
[Durable]
The material is okay comparing to other hiking backpack. The material in the front is a bit fragile. So don't put the backpack directly on the ground/rock. It can get scratched easily.
[Sealing]
This backpack is protected from light rain (without using the rain cover) and dust proof (main body only, as there is a big hole in the side pocket for water host).
[Rain Cover]
While I was hiking in the wood, I hit a rain shower. The rain cover worked very well. Keep in mind that the rain cover only works for medium rain only. While I crossed the river (the water level was at my waist, just a little bit below the backpack), I put my bag inside a dry bag for complete protection.
[Look]
Unlike other camera backpack, this backpack looks more like a regular backpack than a camera backpack, which is good. It gets less attention (crime) than the other popular camera backpacks such as Canon.
[Why this bag earns 5 stars?]
First, this bag does it jobs well, i.e., I can fit most of the essential camera gears and I can carry them to the destination without too much pain. Although the bag is less comfortable than other hiking bags, I think it is okay given that it is designed for carrying camera equipments. Second, it is very roomy and I can customize the pad locations for my own purposes. Although this bag is not perfect, I would say this bag is one of the best you can get with this price in the market today.
[Suggestions]
Solve the tripod problem.
More padding on the straps (ideally, use gel pad)
Make the waist belt more comfortable
Click Here For Most Helpful Customer Reviews >>
I carried this pack on a recent hike up Half Dome and came away very impressed with both the storage capacity and comfort of the pack. I've owned many photo bags over the years, and this one holds its own with the best of them. I will say the flipside functionality seemed a bit gimmicky when this pack is loaded up. Flipping it around your waist to access your gear causes the pack to invert itself, so you really need to stabilize the pack from a bent knee position to avoid spilling your gear everywhere. Maybe I didn't play around with this enough, but I think it's an area that could be improved in future versions by somehow stabilizing the waist strap.A list of my equipment carried in/on the pack:
Internal:
Canon 600D DSLR with battery grip
Tokina Pro 12-24mm lens
Sigma 70-300 macro lens
Olympus E-PL1 M43 body
M Zuiko 14-42mm lens
Summilux Leica 25mm 1.4 lens
Sony compact tripod (the tripod storage will hold a full size tripod)
77mm ND filter
77mm circular polarizer
58mm circular polarizer
46 to 58mm step up ring
Pelican SD card holder
2 extra Olympus batteries
Intervalometer
Microfiber cloth
2L Camelbak
5 or 6 energy bars
2 almond butter packs
2 beef jerky packs (1oz)
External
1L water bottle with caribiner
backup hiking boots(tied to side of pack)
Hand towel (secured by the trekking poles loop)
I questioned my sanity lugging all this gear up Half Dome, and was skeptical of the straps -they seemed a bit on the stiff/potentially uncomfortable side for a long hike. But I was pleasantly surprised at how stable and comfortable the pack was throughout the hike/climb. This pack will likely not work for more technical climbs as the waist strap is not padded. It wasn't too uncomfortable, but I alternated throughout the hike wearing the waist strap and not. We also encountered a sudden thunderstorm on a later hike that week, so the built in rain cover proved essential.
Best Deals for Lowepro LP36424-PWW Flipside Sport 15L AW (Lowepro Orange/Light
This is light well made bag with some nice features. I really like you can easily attach a full size tripod to the bag. Water blatter holder, great for the kids. Rain cover that pops out of the bottom have saved my d-800 several times. All in all looking for a light bag with big bag feature it is a must have.Honest reviews on Lowepro LP36424-PWW Flipside Sport 15L AW (Lowepro Orange/Light
I bought this bag for an overseas trip where I will be hiking a bit while taking landscape and other photos with my D800. The lenses and accessories I want to bring fit snugly in this bag and it is comfortable. The waist-band flip-down opening method is really clever and I feel like I can change lenses while standing with no worries of dropping anything. I had been looking for a smallish travel bag for a while and I think my search has ended here. This is a quality bag made of durable high tech materials and it seems to be very protective.Here's what I fit into the bag:
D800 with 28-300mm attached, hood reversed
14-24mm in a domke wrap
Mini tripod
Battery charger
2 extra batteries
77mm polarizer
Lens cleaning kit
Memory cards;
Body cap
Rear lens cap
FWIW, in this size range I also tried the lowepro flipside sport 10L, but it was noticeably too small and only the body and 28-300 with a few accessories would fit. Additionally, I looked at a crumpler enthusiast. It is nicely padded, and definitely a quality bag, but just wasn't my style with the single sling strap and side access zippers.
Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Lowepro LP36424-PWW Flipside Sport 15L AW (Lowepro Orange/Light
This is the 1st real camera bag I have bought. Choosing one was the most difficult buying choice I ever made. Finally, decided to go with the Flipside. I knew I wanted a backpack because I walk, bike and hike a lot with my gear. I think I made the correct choice for me. It is light and holds my Canon D5 with 16-35mm, 70-300, 24-70, 50mm, Satechi wireless remote a few filters, card reader, memory card holder, rocket blower, and some other items.Compared to digging in the day pack I used to use, my life is simple. Everything is in its place and I can reach it in seconds. The flipside actually does work if you want to slide the shoulder straps down, and swing the bag around to access your gear without taking the bag off. It is fairly water resistant and the built in rain cover can be installed in seconds to protect the bag from the rain or snow. It appears to be quality made and built to last. It has a great way to store a tripod on the side, and because it is on the side you can get to your gear without having to remove the tripod. That is also a nice useful feature.
What it doesn't have is a lot of pockets or a place to stick a notebook. I ended up deciding that is a good thing because I pack only camera gear in this bag, and will just have to put the other stuff in another bag, so when I grab this bag it has the gear I need to shoot and don't have to remove anything. Might have given it 5 stars but I haven't had it that long and don't have experience with other bags to compare it with.
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