The Best Camera Bag I've Ever Owned
“Hey what’s that?” was how it began. My friend (and fellow Preon) Brad was sporting a cool new backpack today. It turned out to be a very interesting and well-designed LowePro camera bag. It hangs like an ergonomic messenger bag across the body, and with a quick movement, slides around the front to sit horizontally. This model is called the “Slingshot” and it certainly fits. Brad happens to have the same model camera as I do, so it’s clear this is a good fit. he bought it as a local camera store yesterday. Fifteen minutes later we were headed down to that same camera store so I get buy one as well. It’s the perfect size for traveling with my camera, and one of the really nice benefits of this design is that it doesn’t look like a camera bag. To the casual observer, this is just a small daypack, which is hugely important for security.
No wonder Digital Photo named it “best camera accessory” in their Practical Photography Gear of the Year issue.
Mere hours after buying it one of my co-workers asked me what it was. Maybe I had it coming since that same initial reaction resulted in my own purchase. But likely this is because it’s a little unusual to be sporting a backpack in an office building.
I’ve already discovered that it’s perfectly balanced for my needs and provides a safe home for my camera and an extra lens along with my cell phone and sunglasses. I’m heading to Florida next week on vacation, and this will be the perfect all-purpose carrying bag.
After five days of use in Florida, I am happy to report that my new camera bag performed admirably. It’s very comfortable, even when it’s 90 degrees and 90% humidity. I wore it for several full days in the sun and found it was very easy to swing it around to quickly deploy my camera, then return it to backpack position. Absolutely worth the price.