Show me your camera bag

Rap Sizzle wrote in post #6068846
anyone with a Lowepro Nova 4 know if a 70-200 f/2.8L would fit inside it?

PicSniper wrote in post #6017011
For me, I love the idea of a "slingshot" style backpack that can give me quick access to my camera. Originally, I had purchased the Lowepro SlingShot 300 AW and loved everything about it, except for the unbalanced feel associated with a backpack that has only one shoulder strap. After a while, I felt like putting the weight on my other shoulder, but the nature of the design simply did not allow for this. Fortunately, my needs were addressed when I happened upon a magazine article that touted the Fastpack 350!

Since the Fastpack has the side access, it's considered to be in the "slingshot" family of backpacks. As you can tell by the pic below, its design is more square at the top, making it more spacious than the SlingShot. More importantly (for me), it has two shoulder straps, which balances everything nicely atop both of my shoulders, which allows me more comfort and, since the weight is distributed over more of an area, it feels like I'm carrying less weight.

After reading that the Fastpack is not a true "AW" (all weather) design, because of the missing tuck-away cover, I thought it would be something that I would miss. I'm happy to report that for the light rain that I'm accustomed to walking around in, it seems to repel water very well. I don't know if the fabric is different, but I'm inclined to think that it's either a different fabric altogether, a tighter weave or the fabric has some sort of ScotchGard coating built into it. I have not had the chance to test it under a deluge, but since I live in Florida, I'm pretty confident that I will be testing this heavy downpour scenario in the near future. Even then, though, I don't stay out in heavy rain for any length of time, no matter what backpack I might be carrying. Suffice to say that the Fastpack exceeds my personal needs relating to rainfall.

Finally, in my opinion, the only thing that Lowepro didn't get right on the Fastpack (however minor this may be) is that the memory card storage pouch located inside the Fastpack holds only two memory cards while the SlingShot's pouch conveniently holds four cards. Yes, I agree that there is a lot of extra room in the Fastpack to store as many cards as you'd want to take with you, but my preference is to have them where they're designed to be, in the memory card storage pouch. This way, they're all together, in the same place and out of the way from everything else.

Aside from this small omission, the Fastpack is truly the perfect backpack for my needs. If you have a SlingShot 300 AW and have the same unbalanced weight issue when carrying it for extended periods of time, give the Fastpack 350 a try. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised!

HTTP response: NOT FOUND | MIME changed to 'image/png'

digadv wrote in post #6073034
This is a great comparison and I've been looking at purchasing one of these two packs. Any chance you could take a photo with them cracked open, stuffed with a body and medium lens (say, the 70-200L )?

digadv wrote in post #6073377
So, is the bottom photo the 350? Looks like it may be tight fit with the 300mm mounted on the camera ... do you think it will be too long?

digadv wrote in post #6073440
Thanks very much for posting these. What I find is the hood for the 70-200/2.8 really jams thing up with its width. I guess I need to haul my gear down to the local shop and see if it all fits. Again, thanks for taking your time to post these.

Simoli wrote in post #6073868
"now accepting applications" - too funny

somethingsimple wrote in post #6075017
yeh lol @ the bag thats so awesome that lenses apply to get in...

(what did you say that bag was again?)