Bag for 10 inch pad and small m4/3 kit

Avotius

Avotius

Some guy
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Howdy. Another person looking for a bag.

I have been using a Matin Black Olive for the last 5-6 years, it has been my day to day bag and basic camera bag.

But its starting to go so it is time to look for something new.

I have the following requirements:

-Must be able to fit a 500ml water bottle in it or in an outside pocket without being ungainly.

-Must be able to carry a Olympus OMD, 20, 7-14, 45-200 lenses.

-Must by able to carry a Asus Transformer Infinity.

-Must have zippers on major pockets. Bags that have the top flap over the camera compartment without a zipper to close compartment is not ok. I have had too many problems with things falling out of such bags. My Matin was great because the camera compartment had a zipper.

-Big points for carry handle on the top, something my Matin is sorely missing.

-Would be nice if bag had area for wallet, passport, keys away from lenses and cameras.

-Would be nice if bag had against the body pocket with zipper that I could stash a little cash/boarding pass/misc stuff.

-A more "solid" bottom of the bag would be nice. Matin bag over time has developed a lot of sag and the padding has colapsed on the bottom, which sucks. My big camera bag, a Kata CS15 has a hard side and bottom, sorta nice but the Kata ribbed design takes up a lot of space.

-As small as possible, its a day to day bag afterall. The lighter the better.


I took a look at the Think Tank Retrospective 7 but its a bit pricey and has the open camera compartment design.
 
Nuts, Swiss Gear stuff is not for sale here in China.

I also saw the Lowepro Event Messenger 150 which hits all the right buttons except that you cannot zip up the inner compartment. Nuts. It really is important that it can zip up, too many hands in China that somehow end up in your bag.
 
I would take a look at the ThinkTankPhoto urban disguise 40. Fantastic baf in use! It seems to fit all your requirements. Your tablet may even fit in any of the three major document pockets. Very nice low profile bag with extremely durable construction.
 
It's a good bag. I never used it for photo gear, but I used it for a couple of years for my watercolor sketching kit. A place for everything! I replaced the built-in strap with a more practical strap attached to key rings, themselves attached to the webbing loops on the bag. Plus you can use it as a fanny pack if you don't overload it. Good suggestion.

Correction: I see this one is "new for 2012". But it looks a heck of a lot like the one I've had for probably 8 years.


FrozenInTime said:
Mountainsmith day bag

http://www.mountainsmith.com/products.asp?productId=317&categoryId=49&subCategoryId=0&subCategory2Id=0

ticks all your boxes - but it does look a bit touristy

I can walk around all day with this containing :
M9,12,35,50
E-M5, 12,25
600ml water bottle
wind jacket
light fleece top
sun tan cream
ipad
etc.
Click to expand...
 
mabelsound said:
Hey, Colin, nice to see you.
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Heyo, been lurking aorund a bit lately. So busy nowadays with photo projects that I rarely have time to do much online anymore.




I have checked around and as usual the mountain smith stuff is not for sale here either. China has a very limited supply of small company bags, otherwise they are all rip offs. Lots of Lowepro and Domke rip offs here. Still have my eye on the Event Messanger 150. Wondering if I can have someone sew in a zipper.
 
Avotius said:
Heyo, been lurking aorund a bit lately. So busy nowadays with photo projects that I rarely have time to do much online anymore.




I have checked around and as usual the mountain smith stuff is not for sale here either. China has a very limited supply of small company bags, otherwise they are all rip offs. Lots of Lowepro and Domke rip offs here. Still have my eye on the Event Messanger 150. Wondering if I can have someone sew in a zipper.
Click to expand...

Hmm...been looking around for you and haven't come across anything that fits all of your requirements. Even the ones I find with a zip main compartment don't have a handle on top. Does Think Tank come close?
 
GaryLH said:
Mountain smith or Timbuktu w/ snoop camera insert would work.

Gary
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My Timbuktu can hold up to a 15 inch laptop, two water bottle side pockets, a full length magazine size pocket in back, plus assortment of other pockets all over the bag.

The snoop camera insert is made by Timbuktu. Three compartments with zipper. Pictured is the small insert. They make a medium and large as well. The large can be used with their laptop messenger bag for 17 inch laptops.

This is my everyday carry bag.

Hope that helps
Gary
 

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GaryLH said:
My Timbuktu can hold up to a 15 inch laptop, two water bottle side pockets, a full length magazine size pocket in back, plus assortment of other pockets all over the bag.

The snoop camera insert is made by Timbuktu. Three compartments with zipper. Pictured is the small insert. They make a medium and large as well. The large can be used with their laptop messenger bag for 17 inch laptops.

This is my everyday carry bag.

Hope that helps
Gary
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Gary, I understand from your post that you have the small Snoop insert. But what size Timbuk2 bag are you showing with it in those pictures?

Thanks,
Randy
 
vrgard said:
Gary, I understand from your post that you have the small Snoop insert. But what size Timbuk2 bag are you showing with it in those pictures?

Thanks,
Randy
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I bought it a very long time ago... I think at the time it was a medium bag. The max size laptop is a 15 inches.

The Timbuktu dimensions are 16x11.5x6.. From a side profile, it is 6 inches at the bottom and tappers to about 2 inches at the top when I only have a laptop in the bag. The snoop bag is 4.5 inches thick and the Timbuktu will adjust accordingly...

Since this was designed as a real messenger bag, the is an optional waist strap as well.. U need this if u plan to use it on a bicycle, otherwise the bag will tend to slide forward on u when u carry a lot of stuff. Two d rings on the bottom back of the bag for this.

Hope that helps
Gary
 
Forgot to mention...

Not all models of the Timbuktu messenger bags have the side water bottle pockets. But on other hand, with the small snoop bag insert and medium bag, there is enough room for a water bottle inside.

Gary
 
That timbuktu seems a lot like my Kata bag which also holds a 15 inch laptop but is too larger as a day to day for me.

Right now I am leaning more towards the lowepro as it seems to push most of the right buttons but I hear the water bottle pocket is really tight.
 
On the high end of things, you could look at a Billingham Hadley Pro. I guess it's mainstream enough now that you can order it in China (they have an official dealer -in Hong Kong- and I guess several unofficial ones). I use it with a 12" laptop, a 10" tablet would fit, together with a water bottle and camera plus lenses. At the same time it's a relatively compact bag. Last weekend I flew with it with a laptop, a 5D plus four lenses and assorted goodies without it feeling too big.

It does not have a zipper over the inner compartment insert. If your worry is about things falling out, then the Hadley's inner insert has a cover that protects it. If your worry is about hands crawling in, then the buckles on the top flap are pretty good; alternatively you could easily have someone sew in a zipper for the insert cover.
 
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