The set up:
Was looking for a bag that would allow me to combine my top two hobbies: Biking (and/or hiking) and taking pictures. It had to be a low profile, waistpack/sling pack that was breathable and held firmly to my body. I road bike mostly (short 20-30mile trips 2-3 times a week) but also have a mountain bike that does little for me in this flat state. I only needed it to hold my K-x and 2 lenses, so capacity was not a priority.
Bag History:
My first bag was a
Tamrac Express 6. It was casual, nice looking, and held my original K-x two lens kit. The trouble was that
I hated wearing it. The strap was uncomfortable, it was too casual so the bag was always flopping around everywhere, and it very quickly couldn't hold my kit as LBA kicked in.
My Second bag was a
Lowepro Primus AW. I love this bag. I wanted a backpack with some extra room for snacks, a decent suspension/fit, and only back access for extra security. All things considered,
this is one the most comfortable backpacks, including all my hiking gear, that I've ever worn. It can hold all the gear I'd need for a long trip/vacation or I can take it to campus just in case I see a moment to shoot. The downside here is that it's pretty heavy and not good for quick shoots. Even taking it out in the country, I'd just pull out the camera and leave the bag in the car. So it's really not doing much for me as far as when I'm actually shooting. I needed something with even greater practicality for quick walk arounds, like going to the zoo.
The Solution (?):
The
Kata Lightri-312 DL. I think I've got something here. It just came today so I haven't had time to test it, but my initial feeling is that it's good. It is light, has a small footprint on my back and has breathable mesh on the pack and the sling strap. I thought about buying a waistpack, but many of them had bigger widths than this Kata and would have been like a sail when I was riding my bike. The close second was the
Clik Elite Seeker. I still may eventually get one of those because they look great, but the Kata was cheaper and looked like it would be cool enough to wear in a number of contexts beyond biking.
The bag is lightweight, but that comes at the price of padding and extra gear space. My K-x fits fine with room for 3 lenses at least, more if you should more primes. (Wish I had a 70-200 f2.8 to test in there, but that's a future plan.) I don't think a camera with a grip would fit. As for the padding, I would maybe be worried more about it if I was doing more mountain biking. On the safety of the road bike trails around here, however, I don't think it'll be an issue (............really hoping I don't crash for the first time now that I've said this). The bag can be fit pretty snug and doesn't move around once it is buckled in, which is exactly the fit I was looking for. Also, it's comfy.
I'm going to test this out on a ride in the next couple of days and give more feedback then. Just thought I'd give a heads up because I hadn't seen any info on this pack.
Amazon has a 20% off promotion on Kata bags going on also.