Pentax Sling VS. Lowepro 200 Slingshot (Many Images) - Page 2

Nowhere Matt · 10-01-2008, 12:13 PM

Originally Posted by vagrant10

Hi mel, I have that bag also and generally have found that the way it came is ok, but perhaps I could learn something from your setup. Would you mind posting a pic of how you have your lowepro interior arranged?

I think this is how another forum member suggests arranging the dividers but any additional images from others would be interesting I think as well.

Originally Posted by mhertel

Here is the pic with the reorganized dividers as promised..

Leaf Fan · 10-01-2008, 01:17 PM

After reading this thread and many others about bags (aside from LBA I think I'm a male bag whore)... I decided to get the Pentax Sling. I have a Tamrac backpack that holds EVERYTHING but it's obviously big and heavy, so on day trips or just for everyday I got the Pentax Sling to carry the essentials only. It's great. I love that the openings are a little smaller, prevents stuff falling out if I just want quick access, it holds my K10D or K20D with the DA*16-55 and lens hood on properly for quick access and shooting. It's light, it's small, and I find it perfect for times when I don't need the whole kit (ie. don't need battery charger, full size tripod, or other longer term accessories).

Nice bag.

Nowhere Matt · 10-01-2008, 02:05 PM

Originally Posted by Leaf Fan

After reading this thread and many others about bags (aside from LBA I think I'm a male bag whore)... I decided to get the Pentax Sling. I have a Tamrac backpack that holds EVERYTHING but it's obviously big and heavy, so on day trips or just for everyday I got the Pentax Sling to carry the essentials only. It's great. I love that the openings are a little smaller, prevents stuff falling out if I just want quick access, it holds my K10D or K20D with the DA*16-55 and lens hood on properly for quick access and shooting. It's light, it's small, and I find it perfect for times when I don't need the whole kit (ie. don't need battery charger, full size tripod, or other longer term accessories).

Nice bag.

I still cannot forgive you for allowing Mike Foligno be such a pest to Curtis Joseph and the St. Louis Blues in the finals of 1992.

Six people just got that reference. Kidding.

Leaf Fan · 10-01-2008, 02:13 PM

Originally Posted by Nowhere Matt

I still cannot forgive you for allowing Mike Foligno be such a pest to Curtis Joseph and the St. Louis Blues in the finals of 1992.

Six people just got that reference. Kidding.

I hated CUJO when he stoned us in the playoffs with St. Louis (one game we lost we had over 60 shots.....), but LOVED him when he was wearing the Blue and White. Glad to see he's back as an elder statesman with our boys to lend some leadership to the younguns.

I admit, it's going to be tough sledding this year for the Blue and White.

I digress.....

mel · 10-01-2008, 04:02 PM

Originally Posted by vagrant10

Hi mel, I have that bag also and generally have found that the way it came is ok, but perhaps I could learn something from your setup. Would you mind posting a pic of how you have your lowepro interior arranged?

I have it arranged so that the lens pockets face up if I have the bag on it's side and just the small part of the opening is unzipped. Going from the bottom of the bag upward there are two slots, two slots, then the top third is for the camera. When the bag is on it's side, the camera goes in back first. When I'm wearing the bag the camera is sitting on it's bottom on top of the box made by the lens compartments.

I use the leftover dividers to make flaps that cover the lenses. Then I have a large filter wallet that can sit right over the top of everything. I can fit in way more than I ought to be carrying around. Fully loaded it's heavy and I'm not a real large person.

Bottom line, I can get to everything from the small part of the opening when the bag is swung around to the front. I really never need to fully unzip the opening.

If I had the battery thing on my camera it would not fit. I'll try to take and post a decent shot later tonight when I get home from work.

Hope this helps

alohadave · 10-01-2008, 05:49 PM

Originally Posted by mel

I have the lowepro and I rearranged the dividers so that when I bring it around to front (or having it lying on it's side on the floor/ground) everything is facing up. I don't have it arranged like in the pictures or like in the product pictures. It's quite a bit different and works well for me. And I think everything fits better. I can get a LOT of stuff in there. My small primes get doubled up. If I had the battery grip for my K10d however, it wouldn't work in this arrangement.

My arrangement makes it so I don't have to undo the clips and open the hatch all the way to get to the lenses.

I'm glad to hear that you can set it up that way. I like being able to reach into my bag for lenses though one hole. I was afraid that I would need to set the bag down or try to support it on it's back.

mel · 10-01-2008, 08:39 PM

Here's some shots of it with my Sony p&s. I used it so I could leave the K10D in the bag, so the shots are not so great and there is no editing to brighten them up or anything.

From top with flaps down:

From top with flaps up:

Hatch all the way open with flaps up to show side view (but not very well focused):

And here's everything that I had in there:

mtngal · 10-01-2008, 09:17 PM

I'm also looking for a new sling bag and considering the Kata 3N1. I have the Lowepro 200 and really like its functionality, but it's not quite big enough for what I carry - the zipper stitching is coming loose on one corner. I've got the dividers organized so that I can get at 3 of 4 compartments without opening the clips - the 4th one is pretty much too small for a lens so I keep my rocket blower in it. The only time I've had a lens drop out of the case was the one time I forgot to zip up the bag when I rotated it back on my back.

A couple of pictures of how I have my bag organized:

The camera normally sticks out more as it usually has the DA*50-135 mounted.

With the camera removed:

Easy access to two lenses, they are about the same length which makes this easy.

The DA12-24 is an awkward lens and doesn't work well when I have the dividers like I have above. So it's easily accessible like this:

When the DA*50-135 is mounted on the camera, there's just a bit too little room and there's too much strain on the zipper - you can see my problem in a couple of pictures. If the bag were a bit bigger, it would be just about perfect.

I've been looking at the website about the Kata bag, and another bag made by M-Rock. I had never heard of this company until last month on vacation. I happened to wander into a camera store in West Yellowstone and there were a number of bags and lens cases made by this small company. I thought they looked pretty well made, and seemed to have a bit more padding than the comparable Lowepro bags. There wasn't a sling bag, but they do make them. The larger one looks like it might be a bit bigger than the Lowepro, so I've been considering it also, or really any other bag that would hold everything.

*Canada_Rockies* · 10-01-2008, 10:06 PM

Originally Posted by ryno

Thanks Matt, great photos. I tried the lowepro and found it very comfy, but ended up selling it. I felt that when you undid the buckles and opened up the bag to access additional lenses, everything became unstable and lens droppage might be easy. Looking at your photos, I might have to try the pentax, I like the zippered lens storage. Do you think you could get a dSLR with grip in the small opening on the pentax? I have the lowe pro inverse 200 right now, nice, but I kind of like the slingbag idea.
Thanks again, Ryan

I have the LowePro 100 AW, and you do not need to undo the buckels to get the camera and lens out. That way, everything else in the main compartment stays put. Just unzip as far as the buckles, and open the flap. The hole is on top of the bag when it is slung around to the front of you. I have not had anything fall out yet ... oops, tempting fate there!

Arpe · 10-02-2008, 02:47 AM

Mel's pictures not showing for me?

mel · 10-02-2008, 03:25 AM

Originally Posted by Arpe

Mel's pictures not showing for me?

Did you try again? Somehow (maybe I hit a button accidently or something), my reply posted itself while I was working putting in the images and I had to add them after the fact. They show for me now and I have the world's worst computer with the world's slowest connection.

Arpe · 10-02-2008, 04:01 AM

"This photo is currently unavailable"

mel · 10-02-2008, 04:36 AM

Originally Posted by Arpe

"This photo is currently unavailable"

hmmm. all four of them? any suggestions? they show up for me so i have no idea. they're posted from my flickr page and i have the images there as private but i've posted them here with them like that. maybe i should try to reimbed them? i'll try imbedding the smaller sized ones and see if that works.

mel · 10-02-2008, 04:46 AM

Arpe, here are smaller versions of the same 4 images in my post above. Maybe you can see them this time? They're in the same order as the previous post so the descriptions still apply.

Arpe · 10-02-2008, 05:22 PM

Thank you, the last ones are there, but still all 4 flickr ones aren't, at home and at work.

I will have to investigate my bag and see if I can do anything similar.