[jmdeegan]

Or, a continuation of my CBA.....

Could be either honestly.

So, to date and in less than 6 months, I have owned or tried:

Lowepro Slingshot 200
Lowepro Backpack (name escapes me, just a touch bigger than the slingshot)

Tamrac CyberPack 6

Today I went to Adorama, sold back the CyberPack6 (thing was frickin ginormous), and inspected the domke f-2 and tenba metro shoulder bags...and i think that i have found a good one for a change

figured i'd toss out some reflections on all of the bags thus far:
slingshot was/is nice. however, it's small, and if you own the 50-135 and expect to carry it in the slingshot, it either has to be always mounted, or you compromise the remaining capacity.

the lowepro backpack is nice, minus the weather cover. however, one of the reasons I was giving this bag a try, is because it had a tripod holding ability. however, it will not, in my experience, hold my manfrotto 190 tripod. and im not looking to buy another tripod to travel with, when i only need one to begin with. though, that holder will hold my monopod, and it does hold my umbrella nicely......the bag is presently my main bag

the cyberpack 6 is mammoth, to say the least. i was drawn in by its size, offering the ability to swallow all of my gear, hold my tripod and my laprtop. except, again, the 190 doesnt fit too welll in my experience, and more often than not i have no desire to carry everything i own...so back it went

the other issue with all 3? backpacks or similar styles. I can tolerate the slingbag because i have another daypack which is similar, so I am OK with that...but I haven't used a backpack in 10 years otherwise. so i could never get happy with the fit. not good.

so, i went to the store and checked out the domke f-2 and the tenba metro side by side, because i wanted to try a shoulderbag for now. i know the domke has gotten good praise and its been around, but having seen it and handled it, i wasn't in awe of it. the inside dividers did not really-to me-say "hey, here's a good recommended layout, but we are easy to change". maybe they got squished in transit or something, but it just looked like I'd dislike it. also, it was a bit smaller than the tenba. additionally, i liked the tenba nylon better than the domke canvas. just to me one looked tougher.

so yes, I went to the tenba. for not much more, it gives me enough room that i should be able to carry two bodies and all my desired lenses, it seems like it could deal with the elements better, and at least empty, when slung over my shoulder it felt good.

some observations from my bag buying experience:

1-really really think about how you intend to use the bag. Is it for walking around, or travel?
2-do you really need that tripod holder? i thought i did....but then realized a) i dont carry it out alot and b) most lower tier bags with those holders, cannot hold what i have.
3-make sure you buy from someplace with a decent return policy OR bring your gear with you and see how it fits. I tend to opt for the return policy so I can give the bag a test drive or two as well

sorry for the long post....ill let ya know how the tenba ranks, but I am definetly hopeful this will be a good bag!

[Jun Park]

I am a little biased but I agree with your choice of the Tenba bag. I own 2 Tenba MetroPak II P859 bags:
Tenba | P859 Metro Pak II Bag | 638302 | B&H Photo Video


and a Pro Traveller II P655:
Tenba | P655 Pro Traveler II Bag | 638403 | B&H Photo Video

The MetroPak II P859 bags will hold a ton of gear and works great for my style of shooting.

In the first MetroPak bag, I have the following:
K20D with battery grip and FA* 28-70/2.8
K20D with battery grip and FA 77/1.8
FA 50/1.4
FA 35/2
FA 100/2.8 macro
DA 16-45/4

In the second MetroPak bag, I have:
(2) AF 360 FGZ flash units
AF 540 FGZ flash unit
TR III battery pack
FA* 300/4.5
Sigma 70-200/2.8
Tamron 17-35/2.6-4
(12) C-cell batteries
(4) spare batteries for K20D
Giotto QU100 mini tripod

So that's a lot of words to say that the Tenba MetroPak bags will hold a lot of gear! I've had my bags for almost 3 years and they're still holding up after all sorts of abuse including rain, drooling dogs, careless children, and many other indignities.

[mike.hiran]

thanks for the reviews and your thoughts... I've become a bit of a bag junkie of late. any pics though?

[Jun Park]

I've uploaded some pictures of my MetroPak bags. This is the first bag with the bodies:






and this is the other, secondary bag:




I have been very impressed with the performance of my Tenba bags and they suit my needs just fine.

[aegisphan]

Wow, the MetroPak look pretty nice. I can probably can fit all of my regular shooting stuff in there. Damn now I have developed BBA because of you guys .

[jmdeegan]

your welcome

no pics yet. perhaps tomorrow or thursday.

first impressions are very favorable, thats for sure

[mike.hiran]

those are some very impressive pics. that bag looks very nice, especially with the very nice kit you have in it. Seems to be just about perfect for your gear too... I like the bi level packing you can do with it, especially since you have enough room to fit the bodies up top. Just curious, have you put these bags on a scale? You're either built like Arnold, or you're gradually getting shorter

thanks for posting your pictures... I'm getting close to the point where I need to think about upsizing my bag so you've been very helpful.

[Jun Park]

I'm glad to help. Yes, you're right. The bags are very heavy; I think they come in at close to 20 lbs each. That's the reason why the first thing I do when I get to a location is to find a place to set down the bags!

jmdeegan, I'd really like to get your opinion on the MetroPak after you've had a chance to play with it a while. And thanks for starting this thread!

those are some very impressive pics. that bag looks very nice, especially with the very nice kit you have in it. Seems to be just about perfect for your gear too... I like the bi level packing you can do with it, especially since you have enough room to fit the bodies up top. Just curious, have you put these bags on a scale? You're either built like Arnold, or you're gradually getting shorter

thanks for posting your pictures... I'm getting close to the point where I need to think about upsizing my bag so you've been very helpful.

[jmdeegan]

No pictures yet, but here are my current thoughts on the tenba bag.

1-I love how it feels on my shoulder--mind you, the real test comes tonight when I commute home from work, to see how I like it on the subways and walking between the train and ferry etc. But the initial feel, loaded with my gear, is very solid.

2-It was a smooth transition from my lowepro microtrekker 200. anything I had in one, fit into the other, no questions asked.

3-My first complaint, or at least, a con, I think....I got very used to the lowepro bags (and even my returned tamrac) having every lens compartment/holder thingie be customizable with the velcro. Unless I need a different divider module or something, as it is, the 4 slots for lenses and such are 2 different sizes. And I wish i could make 3 the same size at the expense of the fourth slot. Basically, my 50-135 took one of the large slots, and my 16-45 took the other, but then I had no room for the flash (which may ultimately be left out, as I don't use it for the bulk of my shooting). What I've done in the interim is take off the hood on the 16-45, and squeezed it in the smaller of the two compartments. The 4th has my 40 limited (sideways) and my cactus triggers.
What I may do is ultimately move the triggers and flash to the area under the camera, since right now its more or less wasted, just stowed a couple of lens hoods there.

one side compartment got my charger, the other got my filter wallet, spare SD card, memory card reader and the front pouches got my cleaning supplies and manuals.

-i think i am really going to like the zipper on top, allowing me to take the camera out without actually opening the bag
-i am happy to again have the all-weather cover ala my lowepro slingshot, even though i think in this case, it comes at the expense of a storage space (loved where the lowepro's was)

right now I think that my biggest change would be with the dividers. and possibly figuring out a way to hook a tripod on to the underneath of the bag, since this bag carries the same as my tripod case (though because of the similar over-the-shoulder-carrying, it may be a moot point).

[JJJPhoto]

Camera bags are as much an individual choice as the lenses you use. I've lost count of all the camera bags I've used over the years. I've sold most of the ones I don't use anymore but I still have seven cases setting at home right now (not including individual lens cases).

I just finished writing a review of my current bag:

Crumpler Whickey and Cox Camera Bag Review