National Geographic Backpack Review

Does the 100-400mm fit in the medium bag? Not on the camera body, but on the left or right side of the camera equipment compartment?

jaybird wrote in post #5603424
Does the 100-400mm fit in the medium bag? Not on the camera body, but on the left or right side of the camera equipment compartment?

Would most probably be an extremely tight fit.

The 100-400mm is said to measure 7.4" while the bottom compartment is 7.5".
You'd be better to find a store which has the bag and go try it out to see if it's satisfying for you.

Flapshots wrote in post #5607991
Would most probably be an extremely tight fit.

The 100-400mm is said to measure 7.4" while the bottom compartment is 7.5".
You'd be better to find a store which has the bag and go try it out to see if it's satisfying for you.

Check out the photos from Alexjkt on page 12 of this thread. He has a picture of the med NG with the Sigma 70-200/2.8. The Sigma is 0.1" shorter than the 100-400L.

I also have both the Sigma 70-200/2.8 and the NG medium pack, and there is at least 0.1" to spare, but not much more.

jjasc wrote in post #4184688
Hi. I have the small version and used it on a three week tour of china....

I'm little bit skeptical on getting the medium one due to my small body frame: 5'5" 135lbs. I think the small one will do a better justice as I don't own a lot of stuff just yet, a 40D, 28-135mm, 580EX II, Sigma 70-300mm, and soon a 50mm.

would appreciate if you could post pictures of it carrying on your back for sizing.

thanks.

Hi - does anyone have any real-life pictures of the 'large' version of this bag?

I need something for camera gear & clothes for a week of Safari.

Thanks - James.

Does your 5d fit in your pack well?

I have a 5d with Battery Pack - wondering if that will fit snuggly into that pack.

I am going to Italy in 4 months so I need something that can carry my 5d as well as my G9 but also act as my "Carry All" bag for the plane and walk around trips and tours ...

Do you all think this bag may do it for me?

I need to limit my luggage as much as possible, thinking of 1 backpack and 1 large suit case.

I "pondered" on only taking my G9 but man I cant do that going to Italy , I need my 5d !! ( Dont you all think? )

Take care all !

Dave

lmitch6 wrote in post #1624678
Just thought I'd share this with everyone. The back story is that I needed a backpack for day hiking with camera equipment. Most everything I looked at had some issue which broke the deal for me. The National Geographic line was mentioned here a few weeks ago, so I decided to revisit the idea. I looked them up and ended up ordering the 5162 model, the smaller one from Samy's Camera. I stopped in and picked it up this morning, so here go my impressions thus far....

1. I really like the design. I hate camera bags/electronics bags that give away what's inside, these have a nice 'rucksack' appeal. the material is really soft, it's just the right size for my height (5'8").

2. The bottom section holds camera gear, and the top will hold all the extras (first aid, sweater, etc....) The nice thing about the design is that the bag doesn't "fold in half" to open the camera compartment, like similar models.

3. There are a ton of small pockets for storage, Pens, paper, whatever, you can find a spot to put it.

4. 2 storage compartments are on each side of the pack. Sized perfectly for a water bottle, you could put a 70-200 in one for quick access in the field. When not in use, they stuff inside the pack.

5. Tripod straps are included also. You could put the tripod on the side or on the bottom, whichever is most comfortable for you.

All in all, it's a keeper. I'm taking it on this weekends shooting, so if there are any additional obeservations, I'll come back and post them here....

I cant believe how many great reviews I have seen on this bag. Thanks very much for the pics of the bag , wearing and all - I am 5' 8" so it is perfect. Also wanted somthing for my trip to Italy in 4 months and to my surprise , I found so many photogs that travel international that use this very same bag. Well for 150 bucks plus a 20 buck rebate I am sold....! Funny I have like 6 bags but they are all different and I use them all for different shoots and reasons ... plus I use them for storage of my goodies as I dont ever carry all my gear - no need. Different stuff for Different needs - tools of the trade I say

Take care all !

Dave

Ordered one yesterday, after reading this topic!

Can't wait to have it, just so I can finally get rid of my Canon shoulder bag. This way, I can bring it to school too! I know it won't fit my books, but it can certainly hold my 13" Dell as well as all my current photo gear. Now I have to find a patch to put over the NG logo. I was also looking at the Katas DR-457 and a Lowepro Fastpack 250, but decided on this bag because it can fit more stuff as well as be more discrete.

I need to see these in person to know if it will work for me. I have a Lowepro backpack right now and besides the fact that it's getting too full, it works fine. But, I only carry it on one shoulder. I never use it like a regular backpack. So, it's time to get a larger bag but I'm wondering if the large National Geographic shoulder bag would be a better choice. Again, I need to find a store where I can check them out in person...

Jon.

OCPickle wrote in post #3360472
Not too good of a shot. Me on the left. Tripod is a Dynatran CF 994

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That's the medium backpack?

Jon.

So, I just got the bag. I love it for the most part, but ran into the same problem I'm having with most bags but the biggest. The lens hood (and the lens itself, actually) of my 24-70 takes up more room than I'm happy with. However, I just threw my two lens hoods (Tokina's as well) in the main compartment.

But, if I bring only what's necessary for hiking or walking there's quite a bit of room for everything I need.

"Medium" backpack is also a bit of a oddball way of trying to see how big it is. I'm about 5'7", and it's just a little thicker than my normal schoolbag.

I just ordered the Large from prodigital2000 which seems to be the e-bay store for Carmen's photo, and they sold it for $169.99 US. This shocked me, as the closest price to that I could find was 260, with most going for $310

I'm a pretty big guy at 6'3" 200lbs, I think that this bag will fit me well.

I've been using the Kata 103 for over a year now, and I've been super pleased with it, except that I couldn't fit any non-camera items in it. I'm leaving first of june for three weeks in Nigeria where I'll want to carry food, water, and a change of clothing in addition to my camera gear, and the large NG pack looked ideal. I had been toying with the idea of buying this pack for ages, and with that price I couldn't pass it up.

The Kata bag will be hard to beat in terms of protection, it is amazingly tough, and I can carry it in any configuration with little effort, its a 2 second velcro change to carry my 70-200 in the bottle versus mounted. I'm a little worried that the NG won't be as tough, but even so I feel that it will be tough enough.

My main concern is carrying such a large pack on the airplane, but I figure that I can wrap a strap around the outside to "crush" the top down to a reasonable looking size. Does anyone have experience with traveling with this bag?

I'll post after the bag comes in and review it, and again after the trip.

Cheers!
-Marc

I've just purchased the medium bag for myself. My Sigma 50-500mm fits in fine (not mounted!) and my 40D w/ 24-105L w/ hood fits with about 1" - 1.5" of space to spare. I've got the 50mm 1.8 in its box as well as the battery charger, card reader, and a thin CPL in its case.

I had purchased the backpack hoping it would be enough to store camera gear and enough clothes for a 3 day period. It does, but just barely (and if you don't mind wrinkled clothes!). I have a separate shoulder carry laptop bag that holds my overflow gear (and laptop) which is what makes this bag work for my purpose. I wanted a bag that would hold a camera with a few necessary accessories and still have room for a 3 day outing and still work for carry-on. This bag isn't quite big enough but it's close, they could have made it slightly taller.

For me this bag has TOO much room for camera equipment and not enough room for storage. It would work great for one complete change of clothing, and ok for two changes. There is more than enough room for other odds and ends spread throughout the smaller pockets (deodorant, razor, toothbrush/paste and various small gadgets cellphones, batteries, binoculars, sunglasses, etc) even when the storage pack is full. Someone compared the top compartment to a car battery size... this is a pretty good but not perfectly accurate description. It is thinner and taller, but the overall volume is greater than a car battery if you pack it full. The top storage exactly fits two square boxes of tissues and one rectangular one.

As for the build, the bag seems incredibly durable and I have no fear of it being punctured or ripping. I wouldn't mind seeing a removable storage pack that attaches to the loops at the bottom for extra storage of clothing.

Short of it is: If you don't have much camera gear, stick with a separate shoulder bag for the camera gear and use a regular backpack for your personal provisions. But I'd recommend this bag heartily if you've got a good deal of gear and not many personal effects to worry about, or just as a weekender.

I wish I could find a store that carried these bags so I could check them out.

Jon.

I am selling mine..same exact one