Sure thing Tess, and great question! The Protactics are great bags, but they are rather heavy. I’d definitely recommend this one, as you said. If you’re on a tighter budget, the version I (here) is also decent too, although the access isn’t as good. Let me know how you get on, and how it compares with your old PD one ;-)

Thank you so much for the in depth review! It’s very helpful. I have a 20L Peak Design Everyday Backpack but I just don’t think its what I actually want in a camera backpack so I’m returning it and looking to get the Lowepro Protactic BP 450 Aw ii. I’m roughly your wife’s height, what did she think when the bag was fully loaded? Too heavy? Would I be better off opting for the 350?

Thank you again for all the time and effort you put into this.

Ah, glad you liked it Kerry! Thanks for letting me know ;-)

Thanks for the feedback, Josh – will take a closer look at that CL bag. Re. the Olympus, I think you’ll like it – it’s slightly heavier than some of the other backpacks on this list, but really well built, and can hold a lot of gear. All the best!

Thank you for this review, I spent a long time before Christmas looking backpacks and reading reviews for bags that included a laptop slot, and I thought I’d found the perfect one for me, and my wife ended up getting it for me! The Case Logic SLRC-206. I was so exited, it fit my Df and lenses, my 15.6″ Laptop and cables all so neatly and tidily, and securely.

Then I put it on. You see, I am 6’4″ 250lbs, and at it’s loosest it was a bit tight, but I figured I’d give it a shot, just have to get used to it, you know? But it seems like this bag was specifically engineered to fall off your shoulders, when I’m carrying it on one shoulder from my car to my front door, no matter how I contort my body, it falls off. Every. Single. Time.

After a month of fighting with it, I just don’t think this is the bag for me, and since it was purchased within the Christmas window, my return period is still open, so I’m going to be using your page here as my guide for getting a replacement, I do so like that you have included pictures of your 6’4″ self with each bag, so I can more easily gauge it’s size and fit, so thank you very much for that!

I’m still on a budget, so I’m personally leaning towards that Bagsmart Olympus, but we’ll see how it all shakes out in the end. I just wanted to say thanks, and warn against the Case Logic for any big and tall folk out there!

Hey Vic, thanks for the interesting comment! That Mammut does look nice, I agree, but styled like any other hiking backpack. I’m still more of a fan of how the Shimoda looks. That’s great you found the Mammut for a good price – let us know how it performs.

Can’t agree with you about the looks of the Shimoda Explora 60 backpack. Great pack but I reckon the looks are pretty agricultural – almost enuff to turn me off the pack. The harness system on the Shimoda is awesome – better than F-Stop bags methinks.

I’m in the market for a 50-60ltr camera backpack & I recently found out about a cheaper option for a large backpack for backcountry use or even maybe a couple of nights camping. It’s the Mammut Trion 50+7 Pro. It’s not a dedicated camera backpack but it has a panel opening on the back where the harness is to allow easy access to your camera gear, and it just fits a large ICU from F-Stop. It has an extendable lid section for carrying extra gear and has attachment points for a tripod.

Being a dedicated alpine hiking pack, the harness is 1st class, and Mammut gear is renowned for its rugged quality, and it has a removable hipbelt & an internal alloy frame. The hipbelt is adjusted from the outside of the belt inwards just like on Osprey packs – this system works better than the conventional method of adjusting from the middle of the belt as it helps the belt hug the hips. The pack is quite weatherproof with a 5,000mm rating but doesn’t come with a raincover.

Of course you miss out on a few bells & whistles like numerous pockets that are found on camera bags, but it is about half the price of a large F-Stop or Shimoda backpack, so represents good value. I’ve sourced it online for about $260-$280 AUD.

Here’s a link to the Mammut website:

https://www.mammut.com/p/2510-02222-0051/trion-pro/

This is a link to a YouTube video where Canadian landscape photographer, Adam Gibbs, reviews the pack. Info about the Mammut pack starts at 11mins.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHQNtnPXnIo

Cheers,
Vic.

haha yeah those Wotancrafts sure are tempting! Thanks for picking up on the scoring errors – maths was never my strong point!!

Just a quick comment on your math though… Some scores as over 80, some over 90, and some over 100… ;-)

Hey Jan, I reached out to them and Think Tank (both excellent bag manufacturers), but unfortunately they couldn’t provide me with any backpacks for testing over Christmas. If I get hold of any from them, I’ll consider adding them to the review. Are you a fan of Vanguard?

Great feedback – thanks Clay! “suggested she could wear one of these packs to help me carry gear around” – made me laugh!! My wife was getting tired of me making her wear the backpacks for the photos, I can tell you that much! Thanks for the feedback on the sternum straps – I know exactly what you mean, and this is the case with several of the backpacks now I look closer. Let us know which backpack you end up going for!!

One extra bit of information that might be helpful is that I have owned both the Lowepro Photo Hatchback and the Lowepro Fastpack BP 250 AW II and have lost the sternum strap on both of them when they went through a security scan at the airport. It might be design flaw that makes them susceptible to catching and being pulled off inadvertently. Also, when I used the Hatchback as my main tote I could fit an 11″ Macbook Air in the tablet slot quite easily.

Thanks again for such a comprehensive review and I’m now currently researching what my next backpack will be.

Best regards,