Lowepro Photo Sport BP 200 AW II

Internal design

The BP 200 is a compact hiking backpack. As such, it is not expected to carry enough equipment for more than a short hike. Nonetheless, it has a few tricks up its sleeve.

The top compartment opens up towards the back, which is fairly standard. The top flap is somewhat rigid thanks to the pocket accessible from the back. This compartment is further secured by a drawstring, again a fairly common design choice.

Once open, the main compartment shows a few interesting elements. The first is the depth of this compartment. With the gray section extended all the way to the top, the bag is surprisingly roomy.

The bottom of the compartment shows the padding for the camera section. There is no separation per se between the two, only the padding itself.

The camera compartment does not cover the whole width of the bag. This opens up some possibilities, for instance for storing a travel tripod in there. Thin items (documents, an eReader or small tablet, etc) can be stored between the front of the bag and the padding, and it is even possible to reach underneath the padding to "hide" tiny items there. This could come in handy to store, among other things, a passport or some money. The insert is sewed to the back of the bag, so there is no access this way.

The back of the main compartment holds a thin zippered mesh pocked. It is large, but very thin.

The photo compartment is accessed from the side. This is the most common way to design a camera backpacks. It is a proven system which strikes a good balance between gear protection and ease of use.

The lid is closed by the standard zipper and covered with a strap and buckle. Dubbed “Ultracinch”, this strap serves two purposes. The first is obvious: when it is attached, it serves as added protection against spills of theft. More important is the hidden function of the strap. When fastened tight, it pulls on drawstrings hidden between the padding and the front of the bag. When pulled, these drawstrings compress the storage compartment and make sure the camera equipment is held tightly and securely, preventing unwanted movements and shocks.

This is a very clever idea, and one that requires no special care from the user. It will be welcome on bumpy rides and hard terrain.

There are two drawbacks. The first is that accessing the compartment takes a few moments longer since the buckle must be unfastened (users are always free to leave the cinch strap loose). The second is that the storage compartment is not an insert which can be removed to free up space; it is permanently attached to the bag.

The compartment’s flap opens away from the user when the bag is slung on one shoulder. This is ideal as it offers more protection against spills and drops. It is very well padded and features small pockets for extra memory cards. The size of these pockets means they cannot be used for anything other than very small items. There is no way to store a battery or even a small filter there. The padding can be removed from the flap, but this serves little purpose.

The camera compartment is made of light gray fabric. On the BP II 200 it comes with one divider only. The divider is soft and thick. Its only differentiating feature is that it has a sort of step instead of being linear. This is intended to work with the “Ultracinch” strap: when the camera is inserted lens-first and the compartment is cinched, this shape helps the padding hug the camera and lens more tightly. Note that this divider can be straightened if needed, to serve as a regular divider.

The divider attaches to a strip of soft fabric located at about two-thirds of the width of the compartment. There is almost no leeway in its positioning, especially when using the step; the soft fabric is less than two inches wide. The rest of the compartment won’t accept Velcro pads.

The depth of the compartment is adequate for a full frame body with a normal zoom attached. For instance, the K-1 with 24-70mm would fit, but nothing larger. A K-3 and 16-85mm is ideally matched.

The right side of the compartment is large enough to carry a flash, and the width is slightly larger at the bottom thanks to the shape of the divider, so flashes with a thicker lower portion will still fit. One or two small primes would also fit, but larger lenses will have to be left at home.

The lack of any extra dividers means that the right section cannot be separated vertically except by using a third-party small divider which would be difficult to attach, since there is no adequate surface for Velcro tabs. This limits the possibilities for carrying extra gear. Lowepro clearly made the decision to go with a minimalist approach, putting more value on their “Ultracinch” system than on the amount of gear carried.

Note that the BP 300 is roomier: 21 x 9 x 22.3 cm instead of 16 x 9 x 20.7 cm. There is still only one divider, but each section is larger, and the second one could hold a lens such as the DA 60-250mm.

Verdict

Lowepro gave a lot of thoughts to where and how the PhotoSport BP II would be used, and it shows. The small details are done right for the most part. "Ultracinch" is a neat idea, well implemented. The stepped divider is an added perk.

The camera compartment is on the small side. The larger version of the bag is roomier, but even then the amount of gear that can be carried is fairly limited. This is the only place where we might wish Lowepro had gone another way, but for some users this will be ideal.