My Filipino wife introduces me as “the Imelda Marcos of the camera world”. Okay, so I have a few camera bags, and I believe the old adage of “the right tool for the right job”. Not all bags are created equal. Almost every bag has its designed purpose and, as a result, I have quite a collection. I have one for shooting while trekking in the Himalayas (I lead tours in these historic peaks), one for urban use, a big one, a small one, and the list goes on. I have two holes in my collection; two bags I “need”-one for air travel and one for urban use after a long flight. And as far as air travel goes, I am not alone. If you have read any of the debate about carry-on size in my Lexar blog, then you know there seems to be a great need these days for an international carry-on size bag.

It goes without saying – airlines need to make money. I am all in favor of people making money. But why take it out of our luggage allotment? I guess it’s because it is all that is left. They have already taken our leg space, our meals and now it is our luggage allotment, weight and size. British Airways, and others who will follow suit, is now limiting “World Traveler” customers to one, one, bag apiece for checked-in luggage on most of its routes. If you want another bag, you are going to have to pay for it. But I digress; there was quite a stir last August when BA limited travelers traveling via England to one piece of luggage-and that piece was limited to 7 inches. Well, BA has relaxed a bit and now allows a standard piece of carry-on luggage, meaning 56x45x25cm (22x18x10in). But I have found after the big BA scare last August, all airlines are much more sensitive as to the size and weight of a carry-on. So when I saw that Think Tank Photo produced a gear trolley that met international carry-on regulation size, I was delighted. I called them up and within a day or two they sent me the “Airport International”, as well as a box of low-profile dividers.

Even before opening the box, I was impressed by the size, or should I say, lack thereof. Once I opened the box, I was even more impressed. What I saw was a very well-crafted, nondescript, trolley bag. I quickly grabbed my 17″ MacBook Pro, slipped it into the Incase neoprene cover and nervously brought it to the bag to size it up. It easily fit into the stretchable outer pocket. But I don’t really want my $3,000 laptop readily accessible to anyone walking by. So I tried it inside. The size was a match, but the dividers were too tall to lay the computer on top of the gear inside and still close the bag. Thus, enter the low profile dividers provided by Think Tank. I quickly ripped out the Velcro dividers and replaced them with the low profile ones. At first I was concerned, as they were not really made to accommodate a 17″ laptop. But I soon found that if I replaced some of the dividers at the top of the bag, which Think Tank said to leave in, it all worked well.

This bag is well thought-out. But then, you would expect that from a company named “Think Tank”. I like the small attention to details, like: a stow-away cable to secure the bag to an immovable object. You might ask, “Why would anyone leave a bag full of camera gear alone someplace?” If you travel from Austin, Texas, to Bangkok, Thailand, there is a good chance that while you are in an airport along the way you will want to grab some much needed rest in a lounge area, as I did this trip. I slept well knowing my gear was locked up tight with the rather large cable to the bench I was napping on.

They put a TSA-compliant lock on the main compartment. So if, in a pinch, you had to check the bag, it is as secure as it can be made. Remember, in the US, if you don’t have a TSA lock on your checked bag, security can break the lock and check your bag if you don’t leave it unlocked!

Think Tank even added a small cloth handle on the bottom of the bag. I didn’t notice the handle till I was lifting the bag into the overhead compartment and grabbed the bottom of the bag. My hand naturally fell on the handle which made lifting the bag very easy and natural.

The bag not only fit in the overhead, but got lost in it. On the international flight there was tons of room around it, no issue of size here. On the domestic route, the space was less but still not an issue. It really did not fit well under the seat as you can see from the image, it never really when fully under the seat ahead. But, then, I never use that space if I don’t have to. I like to save it for my feet.

Another small-but well thought-out-detail is the length of the trolley’s telescoping handle. I can’t stand trolley bags with short handles; it seems that so many are made for short people. Not this bag. It extends in four stages, making pulling the bag easy. Even the handle is rubberized and gives you a secure grip when pulling a fully-loaded bag through the airport. One concern I have about the trolley handle is that it seems a little wobbly. With the weight of my camera gear inside and the normal abuse a bag like this will take traveling the world, I am wondering if, over time, it will hold out. But given Think Tank’s reputation, my guess is they will stand by the bag if something were to happen.

While checking in at the airport in Austin on my recent trip to Bangkok, I wore my photo vest, thinking that if I needed to remove a body and some lenses, I would keep them in the vest to lighten the load of the bag. (This is an old trick and it can be a lifesaver at times.) But on this trip, no one even looked twice at the Airport International. For one reason, it was not on my shoulder screaming, “Look at me! I am a huge and heavy photo bag! Weigh me!” The Airport International is as big as most trolley bags and smaller than many. No one would ever know this is a photo bag just by looking at it. It is very nondescript; nothing on it identifies it as a photo bag.

The inside of the bag is like most other photo bags: removable Velcro dividers and a few pockets for light storage. I am a freak for pockets. This bag has just enough for most folks, though I could do with a few more. The front of the bag has a large stretchable pocket, ready for large items such as a computer or, as in my case, file folders and a book. Behind and above that pocket is a zippered one with organizers in it. This pocket is very tight to get into. I wish it was easier to access, but it is still nice to be able to use it for pens and tickets. Then on the top of the bag next to the trolley handle, is another small pocket which can hold a passport and other small, flat items. The bag was more than perfect for my kit-a Canon 5D, 50/1.8, 17-40/4, 85/1.8, 70-200/2.8 IS and various cables and lens hoods. I was even able to include my Jobo 180GB digital storage device. I do wish it had some sort of lashing points. I see no way to tie on, or hang on the bag any extra items like a jacket or, if need be, a tripod.

The wheels look like they will stand up to a great deal of abuse. No flimsy plastic stuff here; they look like high dollar rollerblade wheels. Plus, they are replaceable. One last thing, there is even a rain fly included for the bag.

Pros: Just about everything. Very well thought-out and the functionality of the bag shows it.

Cons: All minor points. The trolley handle might be a tad flimsy, although this may not even be an issue; only time will tell. I wish it had lashing points.

Conclusion: I can honestly say I am very impressed with this bag. The price is hefty, $319, but you will be hard-pressed to find a better carry-on photo bag. My only concern with the bag was the trolley handle which seemed a tad flimsy. Yet this may not even be an issue. Would I recommend this bag? Without reservation!

Now if I can just fine that perfect bag I can stick in my checked luggage and pull out for urban use.

Photo Trekker AW II (As with any blog entry, if you want to see larger versions of these images, just click on them.)

Just about a month back Lowepro sent me the Photo Trekker AW II. My first impressions were “Wow, its big!” It is big, about the size of what we used to call a Day and a 1/2 pack. The size of the interior is: 12W x 6D x 19H in. / 30.5 x 15 x 48.5 cm. The size of the exterior, tripod holder attached: 14.5W x 15D x 21.5H in. 37 x 38 x 54.5 cm. Lowepro lists it’s capacity as:

• 1–2 large 35mm or digital pro SLRs with lenses attached, (up to a 400mm f/2.8); plus 5–7 more lenses
• medium format system, including large 6 x 7 camera (like the Mamiya® RZ); or
• 4 x 5 field camera system

But quite frankly, if you were to max this bag it would be too heavy to carry and you’d not have room for any other of the necessities of a trekking trip.

One of the first things I did was to adjust the suspension. This is very easy. Why don’t more backpack companies use this suspension system? The Photo Trekker AW II has a frame sheet in the back of the pack that transfers the weight of the pack onto your hips through the waist belt. Adjusting the suspension is easy; you just remove the Pack Jack™, this is a hard plastic sheet that wedges or sort of slices down between the padding and Velcro to release the shoulder harness. Once the shoulder harness is positioned properly, you remove Pack Jack™ and press against the back of the pack to secure shoulder harness with the Velcro, very simple.

All of the Trekker AW II series come with a very cool daypack called simply the DayPack II . What makes this cool is the DayPack II fastens onto the Photo Trekker by locking four oval catches on the front of the daypack into the corresponding rectangular clips on the Trekker AW II. Again, a very well thought out design. It would be helpful if at least the DayPack II was designed with organizer pockets. Small pockets for small loose items. Why? Because this is a big photo pack made for trekking means you won’t be carrying anything else on your back, so you need space for the little things like lip balm, a pocketknife, car keys and other items you would carry with you camping.

Now I wanted to give this monster a try. I wanted this pack because I have been trekking with the CompuTrekker. The name may infer that this is for trekking but it is not. It does well traveling around the globe any way but on your feet. The Photo Trekker, however, was designed for just the kind of wilderness trekking we do. A week after receiving the Photo Trekker AW II I had an opportunity to put it through its paces.

We loaded up a trekking team in the Sumos (an Indian SUV type vehicle, but uglier than anything you have seen before) and headed to Kolahoi Peak, in the Indian Valley of Kashmir. The bag did take up some significant room in the back of the Sumo but that was ok. When we got to the trail head I loaded this up on my back and headed out.

I did not carry a lot of photo equipment this trip. All I had in the pack was:

1. Canon 5D with the 85mm f/1.8 on the body
2. 50mm f/1.8
3. 17-490mm f/4 L
4. Sigma EF-500 DG Super Flash unit
5. Manfrotto 190DB with the 484 ball head
6. A few filters
7. Rocket Blower for the lens
8. Katadyn Water filter
9. Colombia rain shell
10. REI rain pants
11. Lunch
12. 1 ltr water in held onto the waist belt by the Lowepro’s SlipLock™ bottle bag.

The only think I was missing was a heavy telephoto, like a Canon 70-200 f/2.8 IS L (coming soon). But even so this bag weighted over 35 pounds!

I used the main compartment to carry all the photo equipment, my rain pants and the Katadyn water pump. I used the large outside pocket for my rain shell. In the daypack I had my lunch. My water was fastened on to the belt of the Photo Trekker. Some times I found it a little hard to get to but it wasn’t that bad. The only other option I had was to carry the water in the daypack or by hand, none of which were something I wanted to do. I carried the tripod on the side of the pack using the Tripod Mount™. This was a small problem. The mount did not fit my Manfrotto 190DB. Kind of hard to believe, but apparently the double wing locking knobs used by the190DB are so antiquated that Lowepro doesn’t design the Tripod Mount™ to fit them. So I had to force the two legs into the mount. That was uncomfortable, to say the least, but they did fit eventually.

The trek went very well and I got to shoot many fantastic portraits of the locals along the way. The bag proved to be very comfortable to carry and I have no complaints so far. Along the way we had to cross a locally made bridge, meaning three logs thrown across a raging river. It was a little hairy, not too bad, but with several thousand dollars of equipment on my back it got considerably scarier. This is where I wish it was water proof. It is not, but what it does have going for it is a set of waterproof zippers on the major compartments. So where this bag is not like the DryZone bags, my guess is it could (though I don’t want to try it) stand up to a quick dip in a river. Lowepro does not guaranty anything like this, so don’t try this next time you are out and about!

On the last day, literally the last hour or so, it rained on us. We had just made it to the trailhead of a small village in Kashmir called Aru. I ducked under the eves of a house pulled out the AW rain cover and smiled. Not only did it cover the bag it also covered the tripod, something the Computrekker AW cover did not. Within a few minutes later it stopped raining. I credit the AW cover for that to. You see; it is kind of like washing your car on a sunny day, within an hour or two after you finish it is bound to rain. So the next time it rains while you are out trekking, pull out your AW cover from under your Photo Trekker AW II and smile, even if it doesn’t stop the rain, it’ll still keep the equipment as dry as if there wasn’t a cloud in the sky.

Along the way we had to cross a locally made bridge, meaning three logs thrown across a raging river. It was a little hairy, not too bad, but with several thousand dollars of equipment on my back it got considerably scarier.

Pros:
1. This bag is big. It can carry a lot more equipment than you can put on your back.
2. The suspension system is better than most backpacks I have used. It is a dream to wear.
3. It is a good looking bag and well designed.
4. It has plenty of straps and loops for Lowepro’s SlipLock™ attachment system of accessories.

Cons:
1. This bag is big, it takes up space. This is not really a con, but an advisory. If you are looking for a bag that you can toss around, even though this maybe carry-on size, it is bulky.
2. With the size is the weight, it is heavy.
3. I wish there was more organized storage for smaller items. The Photo Trekker has three small pockets in the internal main compartment, these are designed for CF card, cables and the like, and large one outside pocket and then there is the DayPack II.
4. My tripod did not fit into the Tripod Mount™.

Conclusions: This is a great bag and well worth the price tag, $229 at Amazon if you need a bag that you need to take to some rough areas. This is not the bag for around town, if you want that, get the Computrekker or one of the smaller backpack like it. This bag had the great outdoors in mind and with the exception of a few very small issues this bag perform well. It did everything I wanted it to do, heck it even stopped the rain!

This is full frame. Click to enlarge.

Here is a shot that all my readers will know. It is of a little Gujjar girl in Kashmir. One of the fun things about this image is it is so very, very sharp. Here is the EXIF data from the image:

Camera: Canon 5D
Exposure Time: 1/500 sec
F-Number: f/3.5
Exposure Program: Aperture Priority
ISO Speed Rating: 400
Exposure Bias: -1 EV
Metering Mode: Pattern
Focal Length: 85.00 mm

I was, if I recall correctly, a good 6 to 10 feet from her. Below you will see that this image is so sharp, that you can see the scene behind me, when I photographed her, reflected in her eyes.

Click to enlarge.

So what is all this about? Why blog on how sharp digital images are? We all know they are sharp. Is it because this makes me better than Steve McCurry? Ha! If only that were true! No, it is because I bet you have started doing something that I have found myself doing. That is tossing away images that are not razor sharp. Any slight softness, slight movement and out it goes. I found I get so obsessed with sharpness that I loose sight of the beauty of an image. I don’t see the moment in the image for the slight blur. For an image to work it doesn’t have to be this sharp. Maybe even sometime it shouldn’t be. Let me show you some images that I almost tossed, but I have now changed my mine and feel they are worth keeping even though they are not all that sharp. I will compare a nice sharp image with a soft or even blurred image taken at the same time, but a different “moment”.

Click to enlarge.

Here is a shot of a man clutching his Qu’ran. It is a nice image. Sharp. Yes, there is glare in his glasses. But, even with out the glare there is emotion missing here. It is not a bad image and technically it is perfect.

Click to enlarge.

Here is the same man a few seconds earlier. His head is bowed and he is not looking at the camera. But the look give much more emotion, a since of thoughtfulness, or contemplation. You don’t get that in the previous image. The soft focus or movement as it is here, work to make this a stronger image. Let’s look at an even more stark example.

Click to enlarge.

Here is a similar shot. A Ladakhi woman sitting looking off to the left of the frame. A nice shot, right? But look at what the much softer shot below communicates.

Click to enlarge.

Here she is holding the beads to her head and there is real emotion here. Yet, this image is soft by all account. Not with movement, just soft focus. Now I admit, I should have been better at nailing the focus, and I think this might have been a better image had it been in focus. But does this make this image unusable? Not in the least! In fact this image is fast becoming one of my favorites.

I want to make sure you understand me. I am not talking about accepting sloppy camera work. But none of us get it right 100% of the time. I have known I am capable at getting razor sharp images like above, so I have not even looked at some of my more emotional images if they are soft. Of if I did, I cursed under my breath at my bad luck and tossed the image out.

All I am saying is we need to not forget what is good art. I cannot continue to throwout soft images just because I know I can get razor sharpness and didn’t get it. You cannot say that McCurry’s images are any less impressive or beautiful because of the softness of film or camera movement. So, if it is good enough for a Master like McCurry, I think I need to stop and realize technology has, dare I say, blurred my vision. I am missing the art for the mechanics and in danger of trashing some real jewels.

I received my Hardigg Storm Cases and they are sweet! Heavy, but indestructible. I also got the 12-piece Pro Modular belt system from Think Tank Photo today. I wanted something to protect the lens and camera in the Storm Case and still have room for other items. I could have bought lens wraps like David Honl’s. But I thought, what if my checked bags don’t make it, I’ll have all my gear with me, but no bag to carry it in. So the idea of putting everything in the Pro Modular system pieces seemed like a good idea. True, it made for a less space than the wraps would have. No worries, it looks like everything fit…so far. Here is what I have packed in it:

All the Camera items are in the Think Tank Modular pieces.

1. MacBook Pro 17″ With cables.
2. Canon 5d with battery grip
3. Canon 28-200 f/2.8
4. Canon 24-70 f/2.8
5. Canon 85 f/1.8
6. Canon 17-40 f/4
7. CF Card reader
8. Zoom H4 Digital Recorder
9. Cell phone
10. Power Converters
11. 1 Micro Fiber Pants
12. 1 Shirt
13. 1 Underware
14. A Magazine or two

Not bad, and all in a case that if for some reason I had to check, I would have no fears other than the airlines loosing it. Now if I can just lift it over my head once on the plane. Ouch!

Just about a month back Lowepro sent me the Photo Trekker AW II. My first impressions were “Wow, its big!” It is big, about the size of what we used to call a Day and a 1/2 pack. The size of the interior is: 12W x 6D x 19H in. / 30.5 x 15 x 48.5 cm. The size of the exterior, tripod holder attached: 14.5W x 15D x 21.5H in. 37 x 38 x 54.5 cm. Lowepro lists it’s capacity as:

• 1–2 large 35mm or digital pro SLRs with lenses attached, (up to a 400mm f/2.8); plus 5–7 more lenses
• medium format system, including large 6 x 7 camera (like the Mamiya® RZ); or
• 4 x 5 field camera system

But quite frankly, if you were to max this bag it would be too heavy to carry and you’d not have room for any other of the necessities of a trekking trip.

One of the first things I did was to adjust the suspension. This is very easy. Why don’t more backpack companies use this suspension system? The Photo Trekker AW II has a frame sheet in the back of the pack that transfers the weight of the pack onto your hips through the waist belt. Adjusting the suspension is easy; you just remove the Pack Jack™, this is a hard plastic sheet that wedges or sort of slices down between the padding and Velcro to release the shoulder harness. Once the shoulder harness is positioned properly, you remove Pack Jack™ and press against the back of the pack to secure shoulder harness with the Velcro, very simple.

All of the Trekker AW II series come with a very cool daypack called simply the DayPack II . What makes this cool is the DayPack II fastens onto the Photo Trekker by locking four oval catches on the front of the daypack into the corresponding rectangular clips on the Trekker AW II. Again, a very well thought out design. It would be helpful if at least the DayPack II was designed with organizer pockets. Small pockets for small loose items. Why? Because this is a big photo pack made for trekking means you won’t be carrying anything else on your back, so you need space for the little things like lip balm, a pocketknife, car keys and other items you would carry with you camping.

Now I wanted to give this monster a try. I wanted this pack because I have been trekking with the CompuTrekker. The name may infer that this is for trekking but it is not. It does well traveling around the globe any way but on your feet. The Photo Trekker, however, was designed for just the kind of wilderness trekking we do. A week after receiving the Photo Trekker AW II I had an opportunity to put it through its paces.

We loaded up a trekking team in the Sumos (an Indian SUV type vehicle, but uglier than anything you have seen before) and headed to Kolahoi Peak, in the Indian Valley of Kashmir. The bag did take up some significant room in the back of the Sumo but that was ok. When we got to the trail head I loaded this up on my back and headed out.

I did not carry a lot of photo equipment this trip. All I had in the pack was:

1. Canon 5D with the 85mm f/1.8 on the body
2. 50mm f/1.8
3. 17-490mm f/4 L
4. Sigma EF-500 DG Super Flash unit
5. Manfrotto 190DB with the 484 ball head
6. A few filters
7. Rocket Blower for the lens
8. Katadyn Water filter
9. Colombia rain shell
10. REI rain pants
11. Lunch
12. 1 ltr water in held onto the waist belt by the Lowepro’s SlipLock™ bottle bag.

The only think I was missing was a heavy telephoto, like a Canon 70-200 f/2.8 IS L (coming soon). But even so this bag weighted over 35 pounds!

I used the main compartment to carry all the photo equipment, my rain pants and the Katadyn water pump. I used the large outside pocket for my rain shell. In the daypack I had my lunch. My water was fastened on to the belt of the Photo Trekker. Some times I found it a little hard to get to but it wasn’t that bad. The only other option I had was to carry the water in the daypack or by hand, none of which were something I wanted to do. I carried the tripod on the side of the pack using the Tripod Mount™. This was a small problem. The mount did not fit my Manfrotto 190DB. Kind of hard to believe, but apparently the double wing locking knobs used by the190DB are so antiquated that Lowepro doesn’t design the Tripod Mount™ to fit them. So I had to force the two legs into the mount. That was uncomfortable, to say the least, but they did fit eventually.


The trek went very well and I got to shoot many fantastic portraits of the locals along the way. The bag proved to be very comfortable to carry and I have no complaints so far. Along the way we had to cross a locally made bridge, meaning three logs thrown across a raging river. It was a little hairy, not too bad, but with several thousand dollars of equipment on my back it got considerably scarier. This is where I wish it was water proof. It is not, but what it does have going for it is a set of waterproof zippers on the major compartments. So where this bag is not like the DryZone bags, my guess is it could (though I don’t want to try it) stand up to a quick dip in a river. Lowepro does not guaranty anything like this, so don’t try this next time you are out and about!

Along the way we had to cross a locally made bridge, meaning three logs thrown across a raging river. It was a little hairy, not too bad, but with several thousand dollars of equipment on my back it got considerably scarier.

On the last day, literally the last hour or so, it rained on us. We had just made it to the trailhead of a small village in Kashmir called Aru. I ducked under the eves of a house pulled out the AW rain cover and smiled. Not only did it cover the bag it also covered the tripod, something the Computrekker AW cover did not. Within a few minutes later it stopped raining. I credit the AW cover for that to. You see; it is kind of like washing your car on a sunny day, within an hour or two after you finish it is bound to rain. So the next time it rains while you are out trekking, pull out your AW cover from under your Photo Trekker AW II and smile, even if it doesn’t stop the rain, it’ll still keep the equipment as dry as if there wasn’t a cloud in the sky.

Pros:
1. This bag is big. It can carry a lot more equipment than you can put on your back.
2. The suspension system is better than most backpacks I have used. It is a dream to wear.
3. It is a good looking bag and well designed.
4. It has plenty of straps and loops for Lowepro’s SlipLock™ attachment system of accessories.

Cons:
1. This bag is
big, it takes up space. This is not really a con, but an advisory. If you are looking for a bag that you can toss around, even though this maybe carry-on size, it is bulky.
2. With the size is the weight, it is heavy.
3. I wish there was more organized storage for smaller items. The Photo Trekker has three small pockets in the internal main compartment, these are designed for CF card, cables and the like, and large one outside pocket and then there is the DayPack II.
4. My tripod did not fit into the Tripod Mount™.

Conclusions: This is a great bag and well worth the price tag, $229 at Amazon if you need a bag that you need to take to some rough areas. This is not the bag for around town, if you want that, get the Computrekker or one of the smaller backpack like it. This bag had the great outdoors in mind and with the exception of a few very small issues this bag perform well. It did everything I wanted it to do, heck it even stopped the rain!