Previously I had blogged how I thought I had found the ultimate camera bag in the form of the  Lowepro Urban Reporter 250. Sadly, although this is a very adequate camera bag in many ways, it was not for me simply because the added weight of carrying a laptop (even though a relatively light one in the form of a 13″ MacBook Pro) was too much for my shoulder to bear for more than a couple of hours carrying. Though a great bag it was quickly destined for an ebay auction therefore!

This time, learning from my experience, I decided to focus on backpacks in the hope these would distribute the weight better across two shoulders rather than one. The challenge was in finding the right size. When I was a Canon user I had a Lowepro backpack that was large enough to take those cameras and lenses however since moving to Micro Four Thirds format in the shape of Olympus I need something a little smaller (though still big enough to hold my MacBook).

Happily the answer seems to have arrived in the form of the Manfrotto Advanced Active Backpack I. The problem I have always had with backpacks in the past is that they were too deep and were bulky to carry. This Manfrotto seems to be the optimum size for the kit I want to carry regularly. It easily holds an OM-D E-M1 with up to four lenses as well as a 13″ laptop. Whilst even an Olympus outfit like this is not exactly lightweight, experience so far tells me this bag is adequate to carry this amount of gear for a days shooting.

The camera and lens carrying space handily pulls out a bit like a tray and has reconfigurable dividers. So far the default layout works perfectly for me.

Being a Manfrotto bag there is also the option of attaching a tripod on the side however I have not tried this yet.

There’s a front zipped pocket handy for carrying a notebook and business cards.

The top storage area is great for additional items such as power cables, maybe a flashgun and memory cards etc.

The laptop slides down the back of the bag by pulling forward a tab.

Additionally there is a rain cover which you can wrap around the bag for those days when the heavens really do open. For light showers I think the bag itself should offer sufficient protection.

Finally the bag has a chest strap that helps pull the bag in a little and even out the weight a bit more.

So far I’m really impressed with this bag and have no real gripes apart from the zip on the lower camera compartment sometimes snags a bit as though one of the teeth is slightly misaligned. This is not a problem so far however. The bag cost me £54 from Wex Photographic here in the UK which I think represents great value for money (and was covered by what I sold my Lowepro for on ebay).

So, for now at least, the bag search is over. Time to concentrate on making some (hopefully great) images and blogging about those.

camera bags gear lowepro manfrotto