Pentaxian Registered: March, 2008 Location: Quebec city, Canada Posts: 9,362 | | Review Date: December 17, 2010 | Recommended | Price: $40.00
| Rating: 7 |
| Pros: | Perfect fit, modular, well made and sturdy | | Cons: | No bottom padding | |
As en enthusiast hiker, I have long been looking for a photographer's hiking backpack. Many manufacturers sell camera backpacks with varied features. However, as many hikers will tell you, a backpack needs to be selected with care, and not all backpacks will suit every person. What's more, camera backpacks rarely offer features that hikers find useful, such as a hydration pouch, waist and chest support, extra-strong zippers and so forth.
Because of this, I much prefer to select a backpack in an outdoors sports store instead of in a camera store. I found a backpack that I love, and can't see why I should pay more than a hundred dollars for a dedicated camera bag that's not designed as well. This bag (like most hiking bags) has a pocket for a hydration pouch, the side pockets can hold my tripod, it has many smaller pockets which can hold accessories, it is weatherproof but lets air circulate, in short it's perfect... except that it obviously does not protect the photo gear. So after finding the perfect backpack for me, I now had to find an insert that matches it. Now an easy task, since not many manufacturers sell inserts without a bag. I finally decided on the "Domke digital SLR camera insert". It is the insert that best matches common 35 or 40 liters backpacks. I must confess that I was close to making an insert myself, but I prefer to have someone else doing the sewing for me
The Domke is 8 inches tall, which is just the right size for most DSLRs and lens combos (placed vertically). It has two square (3x3 inches) divisions, perfect for regular-sized lenses, and two small rectangular divisions (about 3x1,5 inches), which can hold smaller lenses, flashes, or accessories. The main division is shaped like a T, so the camera and lens can be placed either vertically or horizontally. The insert is flexible enough that it will adapt itself to the shape of your gear. It occupies about half the size of my backpack, leaving room for other things, like a jacket, food, etc. I can also attach a small P&S camera bag to my hip, and use it to store one extra lens that I might use often (no need to remove the bag to swap lenses that way).
The sides or the insert are very well padded, and the padding can be removed or replaced if needed. The internal divisions are more lightly padded but offer sufficient protection. The only flaw of the insert is that the bottom, for some strange reason, is not padded. This is an important flaw, but it can be solved easily by placing small foam pieces inside the divisions, or a larger foam sheet at the bottom of your bag.
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