Customer review from the Amazon Vine Program I recently reviewed the Tenba Roadie II HDSLR/Video Backpack 638-333. Then I was able to review the Thule Perspektiv. The contrast in design and purpose between the two bags is amazing. The Thule is clearly designed as an SLR daypack for wilderness adventurers who need to move fast with agility; compared to the Roadie II, which is more geared toward urban day adventurers. As you would expect, the Thule bag is quality made. Though I did not hear of them much before, my research shows the company is very well regarded as producing high quality products with great customer support. Interestingly, I read some product reviews putting down this bag. I am not sure if they were accurate because I checked this bag and found all the complaints of other reviewers to be largely unfounded.
Upon opening the box, I was impressed with the sleek outer design of the bag. Clearly the design of the bag was conceived with the purpose of avoiding entanglement in the wilderness. Construction and design was done with great detail to include overlapping flaps to keep out rain, interior seam sealing, double walled construction, quality heavy duty zippers, compression straps, heavy padded shoulder straps. I particularly like the quick release buckles to drop the pack in a split second, clearly designed to help you in emergency situations. The entire bag is made of water repellent material and a rain cover is included. All zippers are self sealing and water proof with interior seams. The top loading component of the pack uses "cloudburst technology," relying on welded and taped key seams, and a self sealing zipper to prevent water entry. A key failing of the bag, in my opinion, is the bottom construction. It is constructed of hard waterproof plastic with no padding. I would have preferred to see special non-skid reinforced and padded construction. I could not find any decent padding that would adequately protect against a major fall. But, I can overlook this aspect since the bag is clearly designed for ultra mobility.
Compared to more traditional day packs, exterior pockets are limited. A nice feature is the exterior tripod/monopod holder, which you will find incredibly useful. The limited number of pockets provide fast access to memory cards, batteries, and smaller gear. The interior compartment is easily accessible in a sling manner like the Lowepro Fastpack 250 Camera/Laptop Backpack or Lowepro SlingShot 202 AW. In fact, the bag designs are very similar. The interior compartment can be modified with included dividers though I found it somewhat limiting compared to larger and heavier bags, but it will fit a Nikon D300s with battery pack and a 70-300 f2.8 with plenty of room for Speedlights and additional lenses. Just keep in mind you will be forced to make gear carrying choices to maintain that mobility that caused you to buy the bag. The top loading compartment is padded and can be removed. In fact, the entire interior of the bag can be removed to convert the pack into a regular backpack. The straps on the bag, just as the bag itself, are ergonomically designed to be worn under intense conditions all day.
This bag is high quality across the board and designed for adventurers. It is worth comparing the LowePro products I mention if you are looking for a little more versatility. But either way, this bag is a pleasure to use in conditions that other bags would be too bulky or heavy.
Click Here For Most Helpful Customer Reviews >>
Customer review from the Amazon Vine Program Picture a sling pack, but with a standard pack design. The camera slips in the side pocket, large accessories in top, extra lenses in the same compartment as the camera. The latter is one of the more clever features. Most camera bags with the cradle design waste the space under the camera. Not here the space is available for lenses, flashes, etc. The top pocket has almost zero padding and no way to attach dividers. The bottom is actually hard, like plastic covered in material. You'll need to use the lens bag that came with the lens, a towel something for padding if you use this area for delicate equipment.
I personally find compartments for batteries and cards useless. I use dedicated CF and SD card pouches that provide organization and protection. Same for batteries. The pocket for these is basically a narrow pocket with a water resistant flap. It may hold a lens pen and cleaning cloth, but not much more. There are also two more narrow pockets that are so small, I don't know what you'll use them for. No padding just like putting something in your hip pocket. Yes, they are water resistant, but anything that's not FLAT will be a problem.
The bottom, again, feels like material wrapped plastic. In my opinion this is a failing there is no protection. Every pack I own has rubber feet, a bumper, rubber strip, heavy coating something here, there's nothing. If you treat this rough, it will wear. I also found the tripod attachment system to be pretty useless. For a monopod or Gorilla tripod, yes. Anything else, forget it. I tried two different travel tripods. The top is a strap with a very narrow base the tripod rocks back and forth like crazy. The bottom is just a loop.
All the zippers are weather proofed, either by being water resistant or with a flap. For heavier weather, there's an included water-proof cover that's hidden away between the pack and rear portion of the waist belt.
It's a solid four stars everything is quality, the pack is rigid, the waist strap nicely padded, the check clip can be positioned nicely, and the camera/lens compartment has plenty of padding. I'll add a bunch of photos shortly.
Best Deals for Thule Luggage Perspektiv Daypack
Customer review from the Amazon Vine Program This "backpack" for photographers/videographers is quite handy for those times when you need to carry lots of gear into distant/remote shooting locations. It's very comfortable and designed to be weather resistant. The shoulder padding is good and there's also padding for the upper/lower back and on the waist strap. There's also a chest strap which does not have any padding.
Inside there are two main internal compartments...one on the top and one on the bottom. The bottom one can be completely removed from the main backpack, while the top one cannot. The bottom compartment has dividers for a couple extra lenses, external flash unit, light meter, batteries etc and one camera/lense combo. This compartment has its own carrying handle for when you want to remove and carry it from the main backpack. When left inside the main backpack access to this sub-pack can be accomplished via an external zippered flap on the main body of the backpack. In other words you can remove your camera from the backpack without having to completely remove the bottom compartment. The top compartment has enough room for other equipment, however it does not have dividers so care must be taken when storing easily damaged items there.
On the outside there is a side pouch for quick access which can be used to hold a cellphone, flashlight etc. There are also several separate storage areas for small items such as memory cards. Finally a top strap and bottom loop for a tripod is located on the center of the backpack. Stowed away in a secret compartment is a waterproof cover that looks like a large shower cap which can be used to cover the backpack for a double layer of protection. Overall this is a fairly nice quality backpack for the photographer/videographer who needs to carry a good amount of equipment comfortably. It's lightweight, weatherproof and looks good as well.
Honest reviews on Thule Luggage Perspektiv Daypack
Customer review from the Amazon Vine Program Thule Perspectiv SLR Day pack lets you carry your camera gear in protected style. This camera bag made by Thule is exactly what you would expect, great construction, padded shoulder straps, reinforced seams, sturdy zipper pulls and quick release clips that let you out of the backpack faster than you can click a shutter.
The exterior pockets allow you to gain easy access to your gear while traveling. A sturdy tripod holder has a quick release clip and a lower loop to keep the pod from swinging. Under that, a flat moisture proof pocket to hold extra gear, like, a light meter. One zippered side flap opens to reveal a moisture proof see thru zippered pouch, and slots for extra SD cards and batteries. There is one roomy expandable exterior pocket. The top of the day pack makes use of "cloudburst technology", welded and taped critical seams, and a sealing zipper to shed water, which helps keep your gear dry. Below that a roomy interior for a secondary camera or other gear that is held securely with Velcro edging and can be reconfigured to fit your gear or removed if necessary.
The main compartment of the bag houses a separate, well-padded unit and removable pod providing a modular option that can be stored in a hotel safe. Large enough to hold up to a DSLR body with attached ultra wide angle lens. It allows for additional lenses and filters.
Thule Perspectiv SLR Day pack is ergonomically correct to let you integrate photography into your active lifestyle. The bag is made of attractive durable water repellent (DWR) treated fabric and in the bottom back of the bag is a hideaway rainfly with taped seams, attached so that it won't get separated from your bag. This bag is really top notch quality.
Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Thule Luggage Perspektiv Daypack
Customer review from the Amazon Vine Program Packing: Comes in a standard Amazon box with a plastic sleeve and some of that crumpled paper on the inside.
Quality of Construction (close up pic of weatherized zippers posted):
What I expect from Thule, which is superb. The seams are well done and clean. Stress points are reinforced. The weatherized zippers are an extremely nice touch. Weatherized zippers are definitely not a common find on camera bags/backpacks. Most camera backpacks do one of two things to protect from the zippers from water entry: 1. flap over the zipper. 2. raincover over the whole bag. This Thule weatherizes EVERY outside zipper (4) save one (1) which is the top zipper to access the top compartment. In this case, it just uses a fairly deep flap over the zipper. While you could put a camera in the top compartment, it's not the padded camera case, it is more for snacks/stuff.
Storage (See picture posted for backpack with compartments removed/deconstructed, pic of allowable camera dimensions also posted):
Plenty of storage for a full size SLR camera and a couple of midsize lenses (no space for a long full size telephoto, but for most people, I don't think you'd want to hike around with one of those). For a 4/3 camera, Olympus, Panasonic, Sony NEX, the padded camera storage area is cavernous and can pretty much handle any lens. You can remove the padded camera bag and tote it around with two handles. However, the bag is not easy to remove and not easy to put back in, and that's with the padded bag empty. Also, the padded bag by it self looks ugly and only is padded, but has no other protective fabric on it. Just leave it in. ** Again, I find the SD (3) and CF (2) card slots to be sewn with fabric. (I will reiterate, as I usually do in my reviews, to be wary of residual static discharge that can easily destroy data on the memory card. The reason I like to harp on this is because I have personal experience dealing trying to retrieve lost pics on a card in the middle of winter (when the air is driest) and it was a major PITA. Even with the recovered pics, the corresponding data for each pic (like date) was lost.) While the top strap for the tripod holder is cinchable, I don't know why the same couldn't be done for the bottom holder, which would be better to accommodate all sizes of tripods/monopods/walking sticks.
Comfort:
The bag is is about the appropriate weight for the quality of construction. The shoulder straps are comfortable and the backpack is added for BOTH shoulder blades and lumbar area. There is an elastic chest strap, which can be moved up and down around 4 inches on the shoulder straps , which is a thoughtful touch since people come in all different sizes and proportions. The waist strap is padded and small, which is also good in my book since this bag is only for camera EQ a modest amount of hiking essentials; it's not like I'm carrying bunch of camping supplies in here.
Overall:
Quality of construction, thoughtful features, plenty of normal camera storage = 5 stars. I've developed high expectations for Thule backpacks, and this one doesn't disappoint. So for a serious hiking trip with a moderate amount of camera gear, this backpack should work just fine. You can check out REI for their selection of camera backpacks, but I didn't really find anything that I liked as well as this one.
