Tenba 637-302 Discovery Shoulder Bag Sage/Khaki Review

Customer Ratings:

I had read on various photographer's blogs that Tenbas were high quality bags. After purchasing this bag. I would have to agree. I loved everything about the bags build, accessability and design. But the description of the bag's size is inaccurate in my opinion. I currently have two full body size Canon DSLR cameras, two lenses, one Canon 580EX II flash head, CF card pouch, a light meter, some AA batteries and this bag is stuffed tight. I was expecting a bag that would "easily" fit two DSLR. I have a 50mm attached to one of the cameras, and the other packed without a lense attached, then I have 24mm-70mm, and an 85mm packed tightly. I really like this back and decided to keep it for when I need to pack light. But I would not use it as a my main compartment for toting my camera about.

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I was looking for something to hold my camera body (Canon Rebel T3) with a zoom lens attached, at least 4 additional lens and my other accessories. This bag comes with 6 dedicated lens pockets with 2 thinner slots to hold additional items such as filters, chargers, etc.

Inside the bag:

The inner compartments are all separate velcro walls so you can move them into different layouts. Two of the walls are a little longer so you can have them reordered to suit the size of your camera /lens to really place things where ever you want. I don't have a battery grip, but I am pretty sure it would fit just fine if you had it attached to the camera. The bag is long enough and deep enough that you can put 6 or 7 lens and put two camera bodies facing each other on top of the compartments (you would have to have no lens or very short ones attached for 2 bodies). The top cover has an inner pouch in which you can store cables or a filter pouch...anything flat. The only thing is that I have an extender eyepiece so I need to put very flat items like cables so that the top of the bag doesn't push on the eyepiece.

Outside the bag Side pouches:

There are two side compartments which zipper along the top (as in from front to the back along the side with a single flap). The pouches are lightly padded so you can't put a lens there. I do wish they had put more padding there because they are perfect size to put a lens. I guess you could probably put in your own padding if you really wanted to carry additional lens. However, you can put so many things there like cables, chargers and you can temporarily put a lens there if necessary. You can fit lens hoods in them as well or anything you know isn't extremely delicate.

Outside the bag Front pouches:

There are two front zippered pouches. One opens out (2 zippers that can meet in the middle). This one has an additional zippered pouch with netting. So it is great for smaller items such as memory cards or flat items like cables, batteries or items for which there is no dedicated area. There are 2 holders for pens...although a lens pen fits extremely tightly it just isn't worth using for the lens pen (I like being able to just take my pen out quickly if I want to and wouldn't be able to do that with either pen holder). Personally I think that is a flaw, but you can put the pen in the thin pockets or in the outside side pouches or on the thin inside slots. There are 4 thin pockets that for papers, cables, and other items about the size of cellphone. There is an "if item found" card holder along with a clip (I would assume for keys).

The 2nd front pouch has 2 thin pockets again for papers, cables and cellphone sized items and one larger pouch/pocket. It is about 10" so I was hoping to fit my tablet there, but I have an Acer A500 in a carrying case which is one of the wider tablets out there. I would guess you could fit an ipad or any other tablet less than 10". Mine will fit but I can't close the zipper...again though you can fit a variety of items here.

Misc:

The strap is big and really comfortable. It is designed so the strap won't twist and it is very nicely padded. There is an additional strap to use an a handle so you can just lift it up. The part that lays against you is padded really nicely also so it feels comfortable despite being kinda big. It is also amazingly light even with my gear in it which was another big selling point for me.

The top opens out completely and opens away from you so you can grab your camera quickly.

The bottom is ok, but I wish it was a hard bottom like the case logic bags. I would have also liked to see a little more padding on the bottom just to give me that extra level of mental comfort.

It comes with a rain-cover which covers the bag completely and has snaps to hold it in place (it is not attached to the bag though).

Overall I like the bag because you can hold a lot of items, it has a good amount of internal padding and I think it is perfect for storing or transporting all your stuff with you. What I really like is that you can reconfigure the bag in different ways and store so many different items. It took me a few hours to feel comfortable with how and where I wanted to store my items, but now I feel that my items have their own dedicated spots which I really like.

I wouldn't use it as a walking around bag as it is bit obvious that it is a camera bag but if you are buying a bag that holds this much it is probably more for storing or travel anyway.