Review of Precision Design PD-MBP ILC Digital Camera Mini Sling Backpack

Customer Ratings:

I totally love the design but I'd give it a zero star if it was possible.

Why?

It's gosh-darn mini that can barely hold my SONY NEX 6. Let alone a flash or lens. I am extremely disappointed with the description. They are selling some toy bags to people. Steer CLEAR of this thing if you're looking for a camera bag. If you're a SLR user FORGET about it. It's one of the worst products I have ever received on Amazon.

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It's TINY. More so than I expected. But I was able to get a real camera in it, and my keys, and a parasol, and a few other sundry items. It is built well, as far as I can tell. The "hidden" pocket is a nice feature for ID and CC. I didn't want a big pack in my way, just something to hold the essentials while I explored. I added a little chest strap myself to keep it snug so I could climb over rocks and trees without it moving, but it's pretty comfy without that, too.

No complaints on this one, but do make sure it's the size you want. It really is teeny tiny.

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It is exactly what I've expected, a very compact and confort way to carry the camera with a long lens and many small accessories. There is room even for your purse, but not more. It is not big on the shoulder.

Honest reviews on Precision Design PD-MBP ILC Digital Camera Mini Sling Backpack

This is perfect for a small camera. More than I expected. Would recommend. Not too big. Just perfect and love it

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Okay, okay, so i bought it BECAUSE it was small. i bought a small mirror-less camera and a ton of old SLR lenses to trick it out, and saw this advertised as exactly what i needed: a camera bag for a compact mirror-less camera system. The thing is, it doesn't seem like anyone thought about how the tetris of it was all going to work out. In other words, this doesn't seem to be made by someone who was interested in how it actually functions in the field. There are tons of little pockets and compartments, all so cute and miniaturized that you can barely fit anything in them (a 3 foot USB cable barely fits in the side pockets), and in the pockets that are potentially large enough to hold battery chargers, remotes, cleaning stuff, filters, etc. little thought was given to how much volume they will have to accommodate once you put them ALL in there at the same time. There is also a clever zipper on the backpack straps to make it into a should bag, on its face a brilliant idea, but in practice, making for a sling bag that you can't sling in part because the length that the straps have to be in backpack mode are 10 inches longer than they need to be in sling mode, but mostly because the ergonomics of the 2 bags don't really compliment each other. There is no grip to the underside of the double duty backpack straps, so you can't even just sling one strap over your shoulder while in back pack mode. The front part unzips and the front panel folds out, but they've sewn gussets (word?) onto the sides so that the front won't open all the way, especially if you have the bag lying on its back, this is really weird, i suppose it is to keep your bag from opening all the way up when it's upright, but i would have appreciated some snaps instead of stitching. There is no top handle, which is pretty much the most egregious oversight besides not understanding that pockets eventually contain things.

So the bag is just too small. This is the petite version for someone who plays at photography and wants something to replace her purse. The small backpack doesn't sit in a good place on one's back, or at least mine, but i'm not petite, i'm medium. Which is what these guys really need to make. This is a good start, but it needs a mark II, something that's 25% larger, ditches the transformer straps, adds that handle, puts some pleats in the pockets, longer more useful side pockets, lets the bag have more front to back space, especially the storage inside the front flap. Most importantly, send some designers out with a handful of lenses and some cameras and learn how the bag needs to function.

Why 4 stars if it's so too small? Even though this bag isn't as awesome as it could be, i can still use it to cruise around with my NEX-7 fitted with a 40mm Hexanon and still stash a Nikon 85mm with tilt adapter, an FD 20mm with rubber lens hood, and if i'm really sneaky, i can get the FD 50mm f1.4 in there for good measure. i can't fit much else in there besides sliding the charger into the front pouch, and extra SD cards in the zipper pocket on the velcro flap. Construction quality seems solid, not problems so far, and the bags padding, though not bulky or in your face, inspires confidence in its own tiny way.

This small bag is one major revision away from finding the medium sized format that would better suit its purpose.