--
Well-known
Disclaimer:
My only connection with Ortlieb is as a very satisfied customer for quite a few years now.
“Are we there yet?”
I belong to the 100% of RFF members who are constantly searching for the perfect bag combination. Today I took delivery of the Day-Shot from Ortlieb and (perhaps taking “being naïve” to a whole new level) I think I have finally arrived at camera bag heaven with two Billinghams and three Ortliebs.
Ortlieb:
Many Europeans know the German company Ortlieb for their extensive range of bicycle panniers as well as messenger rucksacks for those daredevil bicycle delivery guys and gals that zoom around your car in big cities. I have used their “Velocity” rucksack for a long time and they are quite durable. I have also used a couple of their small, older camera bags which are very good albeit somewhat quaint.
“Das Camera Bag”
Apparently Ortliebs are sold in 38 countries worldwide but I do not know how common they are outside Europe. In general I find that their products are the VWs of bags. “Das Camera Bag” perhaps. Yet they do not seem to make it into reviews of bags in magazines or online and that is a shame!
What must a rucksack / backpack deliver?
To me it must be weatherproof, sturdy, yet as light as possible, not too wide, not too deep, and have an adequate length. Too many rucksacks made for photo gear are too short and thus do not distribute the weight over the whole body. It should hug your body but allow excessive heat to dissipate from your back. Obviously it should protect the gear and be easy to access, but only for the owner and not for pickpockets. A tall order? Maybe. Too tall? Me thinks not. I think Ortlieb just delivered precisely that.
Alternatives:
Once I found the perfect rucksack – the Lowepro Dryzone 200. It was wonderfully designed and both felt and looked the part. It swam better than me and had the typical Lowepro interior. It could have been just a trifle longer and a bit less deep and wide, but it did contain a lot of gear. I woz wrong and it was quickly sold because it just did not fit my back and it was quite cumbersome to get into. Also at over 3 kilos it did not leave a lot of weight for gear.
Then came Ortlieb Day-Shot:
You can see the product here.
All in a Day’s Shot:
Unable to make a comparison I do believe that the Ortlieb Day-Shot can fit less than the Dryzone 200. I have yet to pack the Day-Shot with stuff and try it out but the dimensions are: length 50cm, width 31cm, and depth 20cm. The weight without gear is just a candy bar above 2 kilos.
Ninety degrees off:
The design is a result of pure genius. The back is “turned” 90 degrees, so that you put in the gear from the left side of the rucksack instead of from the front, top, or rear which are all solid and cannot open. Thus the depth and width can be kept down and the risk that you swing into people when you turn around (and push them off the mountain ledge) is minimised. Also the design getting gradually bigger towards the base makes it hug your body and feel natural on your torso just like Ortlieb products usually do (not the bike panniers…). The biggest (and heaviest) things are lowest in the bag resulting in a comfortable wear. And the rucksack can stand upright on its own so that you can concentrate on taking stuff in and out. On Ortlieb’s website it is shown that you can have it at your waist and take things in and out but that is not for me.
Weatherproof or wasserdicht?
I once assembled a Deuter camel back style bottle wrongly and put it into my wife’s Ortlieb Velocity. The camel back split open and all the water poured into the Ortlieb. It was not until my wife put her hand into the Velocity we noticed. Waterproof in Ortliebian means waterproof. It does not mean you can swim with it, and it may not remain waterproof if you submerge it, but if I were escaping a bear I would take the risk and my heirs could probably use the camera anyway. With standard rain, sleet, or snow I would be shocked if even a single drop managed to enter the bag.
Waterproofing and access:
Since the design is waterproof there is not need to cover it with an additional rain cover that gets lost, nor is there an extra layer to open as in the Lowepro Dryzone. Theoretically someone could open the bag from behind but the Tizip is very tight and the evil person doing so would have to take things from your side. Your motif should be very pretty for that to happen unnoticed… You could lock the two Tizip points together with an additional optional chain though.
Looks:
Unbelievable sexy (sic!) for an Ortlieb product…. If you imagine the lower part of Mona Lisa that you cannot see you are close. To me it looks like an ordinary rucksack for someone riding a bicycle with a helmet (as I used to). It does not scream expensive camera gear. Put it may have a faint scent of Lomo…
It was made during Xmas lunch ;-)
Compared to other Ortlieb products it does seem a bit over-engineered which may not be a bad thing. There are feet in the bottom and an extra layer of rubbery thingy on the outside of the rucksack’s bottom as well for double protection. Two small zippered pockets are not that big and one of them is somewhat hidden. These pockets are quite possibly not waterproof. But there is a carrying handle (well, kind of two as the tripod mount does a double act) and a new version of the Ortlieb harness that I have come to love for its simplicity yet unequalled comfort (on my shoulders at least). There are also fixing points on the sides to add bags, but I am not quite sure what kind of bags fit. You can also attach a tripod – currently I am unsure how big it can be, but judged from the picture bigger than is comfortable to carry. The inside is a very bright yellow/orange for easy identification of objects and so bright that I think you can just open it if you are lost on a mountain side ;-) It is the kind of bag where you know you will find new small rooms or functions after months of use. I cannot help thinking they designed it during a wet Xmas lunch but actually delivered on their promises.
How much can you stuff inside?
Based on the info on Ortlieb’s website a semi-pro or pro DSLR with lens and 2-3 more lenses plus batteries etc. as well as a 10” laptop. To me it looks like you could put in a D4/1DX with a lens and a smaller DSLR with a lens mounted plus an additional lens plus a flash if you sacrifice the laptop. Also batteries and cards. It is called Day-Shot and I think it strikes a good compromise between enough and not too much. When I start using it I will post some pictures. For me it looks like the upper limit of what I would like to carry around. And I value Ortlieb products and their harness in particular because I have had a shoulder operation and cannot carry too much on my shoulders.
The small print (or not as it were):
Typically Ortlieb is comes without instructions. The logic, I think, is that if you can repair your own bicycle somewhere in Siberia by cutting spare parts from a rusty Lada Niva with your Swisscard while fighting back a pack of wolfs with you bicycle pump, you can easily find out how to mount your panniers. And I have a suspicion that all bags to Ortlieb are just variations of panniers. In Europe it comes with 5 years warranty and from my experience Ortlieb will not have to make many exchanges during that time.
Version 2?
This is not the first camera rucksack that Ortlieb has ever made. They made a hard case version some years back, but it was vastly different. The Day-Shot is the result of radical new thinking and honestly seems to be the answer to my rucksack prayers.
Price:
It usually retails for between €269 and €299. The Dryzone 200 is about €311 in comparison.
Colours:
With black trimmings the main colour is fifty shades of grey and another fifty shades of gray for the US market. Personally I am okay with grey. Maybe if it is successful they will deliver alternatives. Ortlieb’s usual range of bags comes in many strong colours, but their camera bags are curiously conservative. Also there are no Crumpler style naming. No “Oktoberfest mit Bratwurst”, no “Taking a bath in Baden-Baden”.
Recommended?
Too early to say, but the Day-Shot seems to live up to Ortlieb tradition and qualities, and the 90 degrees “turn” is just so brilliant that one thought remains: why didn’t anybody think of that before?
Updates…
More to follow – maybe many moons from now.
My only connection with Ortlieb is as a very satisfied customer for quite a few years now.
“Are we there yet?”
I belong to the 100% of RFF members who are constantly searching for the perfect bag combination. Today I took delivery of the Day-Shot from Ortlieb and (perhaps taking “being naïve” to a whole new level) I think I have finally arrived at camera bag heaven with two Billinghams and three Ortliebs.
Ortlieb:
Many Europeans know the German company Ortlieb for their extensive range of bicycle panniers as well as messenger rucksacks for those daredevil bicycle delivery guys and gals that zoom around your car in big cities. I have used their “Velocity” rucksack for a long time and they are quite durable. I have also used a couple of their small, older camera bags which are very good albeit somewhat quaint.
“Das Camera Bag”
Apparently Ortliebs are sold in 38 countries worldwide but I do not know how common they are outside Europe. In general I find that their products are the VWs of bags. “Das Camera Bag” perhaps. Yet they do not seem to make it into reviews of bags in magazines or online and that is a shame!
What must a rucksack / backpack deliver?
To me it must be weatherproof, sturdy, yet as light as possible, not too wide, not too deep, and have an adequate length. Too many rucksacks made for photo gear are too short and thus do not distribute the weight over the whole body. It should hug your body but allow excessive heat to dissipate from your back. Obviously it should protect the gear and be easy to access, but only for the owner and not for pickpockets. A tall order? Maybe. Too tall? Me thinks not. I think Ortlieb just delivered precisely that.
Alternatives:
Once I found the perfect rucksack – the Lowepro Dryzone 200. It was wonderfully designed and both felt and looked the part. It swam better than me and had the typical Lowepro interior. It could have been just a trifle longer and a bit less deep and wide, but it did contain a lot of gear. I woz wrong and it was quickly sold because it just did not fit my back and it was quite cumbersome to get into. Also at over 3 kilos it did not leave a lot of weight for gear.
Then came Ortlieb Day-Shot:
You can see the product here.
All in a Day’s Shot:
Unable to make a comparison I do believe that the Ortlieb Day-Shot can fit less than the Dryzone 200. I have yet to pack the Day-Shot with stuff and try it out but the dimensions are: length 50cm, width 31cm, and depth 20cm. The weight without gear is just a candy bar above 2 kilos.
Ninety degrees off:
The design is a result of pure genius. The back is “turned” 90 degrees, so that you put in the gear from the left side of the rucksack instead of from the front, top, or rear which are all solid and cannot open. Thus the depth and width can be kept down and the risk that you swing into people when you turn around (and push them off the mountain ledge) is minimised. Also the design getting gradually bigger towards the base makes it hug your body and feel natural on your torso just like Ortlieb products usually do (not the bike panniers…). The biggest (and heaviest) things are lowest in the bag resulting in a comfortable wear. And the rucksack can stand upright on its own so that you can concentrate on taking stuff in and out. On Ortlieb’s website it is shown that you can have it at your waist and take things in and out but that is not for me.
Weatherproof or wasserdicht?
I once assembled a Deuter camel back style bottle wrongly and put it into my wife’s Ortlieb Velocity. The camel back split open and all the water poured into the Ortlieb. It was not until my wife put her hand into the Velocity we noticed. Waterproof in Ortliebian means waterproof. It does not mean you can swim with it, and it may not remain waterproof if you submerge it, but if I were escaping a bear I would take the risk and my heirs could probably use the camera anyway. With standard rain, sleet, or snow I would be shocked if even a single drop managed to enter the bag.
Waterproofing and access:
Since the design is waterproof there is not need to cover it with an additional rain cover that gets lost, nor is there an extra layer to open as in the Lowepro Dryzone. Theoretically someone could open the bag from behind but the Tizip is very tight and the evil person doing so would have to take things from your side. Your motif should be very pretty for that to happen unnoticed… You could lock the two Tizip points together with an additional optional chain though.
Looks:
Unbelievable sexy (sic!) for an Ortlieb product…. If you imagine the lower part of Mona Lisa that you cannot see you are close. To me it looks like an ordinary rucksack for someone riding a bicycle with a helmet (as I used to). It does not scream expensive camera gear. Put it may have a faint scent of Lomo…
It was made during Xmas lunch ;-)
Compared to other Ortlieb products it does seem a bit over-engineered which may not be a bad thing. There are feet in the bottom and an extra layer of rubbery thingy on the outside of the rucksack’s bottom as well for double protection. Two small zippered pockets are not that big and one of them is somewhat hidden. These pockets are quite possibly not waterproof. But there is a carrying handle (well, kind of two as the tripod mount does a double act) and a new version of the Ortlieb harness that I have come to love for its simplicity yet unequalled comfort (on my shoulders at least). There are also fixing points on the sides to add bags, but I am not quite sure what kind of bags fit. You can also attach a tripod – currently I am unsure how big it can be, but judged from the picture bigger than is comfortable to carry. The inside is a very bright yellow/orange for easy identification of objects and so bright that I think you can just open it if you are lost on a mountain side ;-) It is the kind of bag where you know you will find new small rooms or functions after months of use. I cannot help thinking they designed it during a wet Xmas lunch but actually delivered on their promises.
How much can you stuff inside?
Based on the info on Ortlieb’s website a semi-pro or pro DSLR with lens and 2-3 more lenses plus batteries etc. as well as a 10” laptop. To me it looks like you could put in a D4/1DX with a lens and a smaller DSLR with a lens mounted plus an additional lens plus a flash if you sacrifice the laptop. Also batteries and cards. It is called Day-Shot and I think it strikes a good compromise between enough and not too much. When I start using it I will post some pictures. For me it looks like the upper limit of what I would like to carry around. And I value Ortlieb products and their harness in particular because I have had a shoulder operation and cannot carry too much on my shoulders.
The small print (or not as it were):
Typically Ortlieb is comes without instructions. The logic, I think, is that if you can repair your own bicycle somewhere in Siberia by cutting spare parts from a rusty Lada Niva with your Swisscard while fighting back a pack of wolfs with you bicycle pump, you can easily find out how to mount your panniers. And I have a suspicion that all bags to Ortlieb are just variations of panniers. In Europe it comes with 5 years warranty and from my experience Ortlieb will not have to make many exchanges during that time.
Version 2?
This is not the first camera rucksack that Ortlieb has ever made. They made a hard case version some years back, but it was vastly different. The Day-Shot is the result of radical new thinking and honestly seems to be the answer to my rucksack prayers.
Price:
It usually retails for between €269 and €299. The Dryzone 200 is about €311 in comparison.
Colours:
With black trimmings the main colour is fifty shades of grey and another fifty shades of gray for the US market. Personally I am okay with grey. Maybe if it is successful they will deliver alternatives. Ortlieb’s usual range of bags comes in many strong colours, but their camera bags are curiously conservative. Also there are no Crumpler style naming. No “Oktoberfest mit Bratwurst”, no “Taking a bath in Baden-Baden”.
Recommended?
Too early to say, but the Day-Shot seems to live up to Ortlieb tradition and qualities, and the 90 degrees “turn” is just so brilliant that one thought remains: why didn’t anybody think of that before?
Updates…
More to follow – maybe many moons from now.
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