what a great deal on a lowepro flipside 400 !

Mine came today. Haven't had time to examine closely but looks genuine. Not much bigger than my 300 at least from the outside.

Have you ordered and received one?

Judsonzhao wrote in post #16188618
I'm pretty much sure they are knock-offs..

Judsonzhao wrote in post #16188618
I'm pretty much sure they are knock-offs..
These bags go around 150 Chinese Yuan on Taobao, the Chinese Ebay, which is around $25

Also there are lots of cheap Crumplers, but IMO, nicely made....

It seem so but would like those who have received it to post some closeup pics of these bags

BamPhoto wrote in post #16188849
Have you ordered and received one?

When I was back in China.. I've touched some of these and I also knew they were from Qingdao.. I even talked with some shop owners and they admitted.
Lowepro is way too easy, do yo want LV Gucci? Rolex can be done easily too..

I have a pro runner 300 which is similiar in size and features and such. I will report back when mine comes in. I have a lowepro fastpack 100 also. I don't know if it's legit or not but i'm a big supporting fan of "Meike" products. which are knockoffs. My EM-F to EF adapter is a meike and works fine.

Okay, here's my take on the bag. And mind you, I had my daughter take a careful look. And she's a self-styled counterfeit expert as she was a major buyer of knock-off pocketbooks in NYC's Chinatown over the years, from LV's to Gucci, and on and on.

1. I care and I don't care if it's a knockoff. Allow me to explain.

I think artists and companies should make the money they are entitled to without cheap knockoffs draining their profits.

That said, I don't care if it's a knockoff as it's a third of the price of a new one and seems to be well made.

Hate to be redundant, but that said: The inner Velcro is completely different than on my flipside 300 which I paid full price for and purchased at B&H. I'm speaking of the Velcro that is attached to the inside of the bag. The sewing is completely different, the thread is a different color, the lines are different. The Velcro is much softer and pulls away from the bag when grabbed. I'm not saying that's a bad thing, just different than what I know to be the genuine article.

The inner label has no "inspected by" stickers on it, while the purchased at B&H bag has two. The font on the inner label is also different, larger. But I don't know if Lowepro has changed that. I also don't know if they've changed the inner Velcro or if it's just different on the 400 than on the 300.

An outer seam on the part of the bag that would face the "public" while carrying appears to have a kink in it. Another hint, but not a big deal.

All in all, I'm no expert but there are enough differences to lean toward it being non-genuine. Again, not sure I care from a construction point of view.

So when you were in China you went to the Bluessky and touched these bags???

Judsonzhao wrote in post #16188919
When I was back in China.. I've touched some of these and I also knew they were from Qingdao..

BamPhoto wrote in post #16189146
So when you were in China you went to the Bluessky and touched these bags???

haha.

MDJAK wrote in post #16189123
Okay, here's my take on the bag. And mind you, I had my daughter take a careful look. And she's a self-styled counterfeit expert as she was a major buyer of knock-off pocketbooks in NYC's Chinatown over the years, from LV's to Gucci, and on and on.

1. I care and I don't care if it's a knockoff. Allow me to explain.

I think artists and companies should make the money they are entitled to without cheap knockoffs draining their profits.

That said, I don't care if it's a knockoff as it's a third of the price of a new one and seems to be well made.

Hate to be redundant, but that said: The inner Velcro is completely different than on my flipside 300 which I paid full price for and purchased at B&H. I'm speaking of the Velcro that is attached to the inside of the bag. The sewing is completely different, the thread is a different color, the lines are different. The Velcro is much softer and pulls away from the bag when grabbed. I'm not saying that's a bad thing, just different than what I know to be the genuine article.

The inner label has no "inspected by" stickers on it, while the purchased at B&H bag has two. The font on the inner label is also different, larger. But I don't know if Lowepro has changed that. I also don't know if they've changed the inner Velcro or if it's just different on the 400 than on the 300.

An outer seam on the part of the bag that would face the "public" while carrying appears to have a kink in it. Another hint, but not a big deal.

All in all, I'm no expert but there are enough differences to lean toward it being non-genuine. Again, not sure I care from a construction point of view.

The main thing to me is the durability of the stitching of key parts... like the shoulder straps to the bag itself. The soft velcro doesn't tell me much. My crumpler bag has the same type. I don't think its 100% fair to compare it to another model. When I get mine I will go to the camera shop and compare it to the one they have. Only way to be certain.

I wasn't drawing any conclusions with certainty, only reporting what I found in comparison to a very, very similar bag, the flipside 300. And I didn't say the soft Velcro was bad, just again pointing out a difference.

BamPhoto wrote in post #16189146
So when you were in China you went to the Bluessky and touched these bags???

Well I know you guys may say what I touched were different from this seller.
Yeah, believe or not, this seller is selling GENUINE producs at one thirds of the price.

The seller is located in Shandong, and the counterfeit factory making Lowepro is in Qingdao, a big city in Shandong.

Well, you will get high quality stuff, but absolutely no way a genuine.
And I'm Chinese, I know those tricks.. They sometimes also claim theh use materials from OEM factory, even on the same working flow, they do all these in a STEALTHY way to make thousands of these bags!

i got mine today and I thinks its less than genuine.

1) The zipper clasps are completely different from the bag on the lowepro website (and every legitimate vendor).

2) The tag at the top of the back that says "Flipside 400 AW" should say "Flipside 400," and the font on the "4" is wrong.

3) The SKU on the tag is for a black bag, mine is green.

It's a nice copy, but I don't think it's legit. Still not bad for $57.

pdrober2 wrote in post #16189198
i got mine today and I thinks its less than genuine.

1) The zipper clasps are completely different from the bag on the lowepro website (and every legitimate vendor).

2) The tag at the top of the back that says "Flipside 400 AW" should say "Flipside 400," and the font on the "4" is wrong.

3) The SKU on the tag is for a black bag, mine is green.

It's a nice copy, but I don't think it's legit. Still not bad for $57.

Interesting. Thanks for the heads up. Some items I will check on mine.

pdrober2 wrote in post #16189198
i got mine today and I thinks its less than genuine.

1) The zipper clasps are completely different from the bag on the lowepro website (and every legitimate vendor).

2) The tag at the top of the back that says "Flipside 400 AW" should say "Flipside 400," and the font on the "4" is wrong.

3) The SKU on the tag is for a black bag, mine is green.

It's a nice copy, but I don't think it's legit. Still not bad for $57.

Damn. I bit the other day despite some reservations. It's not like I care about the branding, but I hope it's as physically sound and unlikely to rip, zippers break off, etc. during hikes.

the zipper clasps are identical to my flipside 300. The metal to which the loops and rubber ends are attached is different, in that the 300 metal is shiny, this is matte.

MDJAK wrote in post #16189438
the zipper clasps are identical to my flipside 300. The metal to which the loops and rubber ends are attached is different, in that the 300 metal is shiny, this is matte.

Does it look sturdy though? Like it will stand up to some hard use hiking? Doesn't have to be genuine to be built well.