Buying Guide: Camera Backpacks for photographers

Buying Guide: Camera Backpacks for photographers

Whether you’ve invested in one camera or several cameras, any professional photographer will likely want to protect that investment by investing in a quality, durable camera bag. Camera bags are available in a variety of materials, styles, and sizes to meet the style requirements and professional needs of the buyer.

They’re available in everything from hand luggage bags to backpacks, but for now, we’re going to discuss camera backpacks. Hopefully, this buyer’s guide should provide you with some assistance when shopping around for a new camera backpack, especially when shopping around for a Manfrotto or Tamrac backpack.

 

Reasons to Consider a Camera Backpack

Camera backpacks are beneficial to the professional photographer for one of the most obvious reasons – they’re easy to transport. Simply load up your camera or cameras and equipment into your backpack and all of its featured pockets and compartments, slide the shoulder straps over your shoulders and you’re ready to go. It’s easy to explore when you''''''''re in search of the perfect shot with a camera backpack.

When you’re ready to take that shot but have yet to find it, get your camera ready, zip up the bag with the remaining unused gear and put it back on while you wander around in search of that shot. You’ll have nothing weighing you down and your hands are free to handle your camera. Mobility is the biggest benefit and reason to consider this type of camera bag.

Other reasons and benefits include capacity and comfort. Weight is distributed evenly and travelling with the backpack provides more comfort compared to other types of camera bags. When it comes to capacity, you have plenty of space for everything you need depending upon your personal and professional needs.

 

Disadvantages of a Camera Backpack

With the advantages of any camera bag also come disadvantages but that’s to be expected. However, when considering the disadvantages of various types of camera bags it’s important to take into consideration that some photographers may view these as disadvantages while others may not. Again, it depends upon preference. Disadvantages include difficulty accessing equipment without removing the backpack.

 

Things to Take Into Consideration

When choosing a new backpack for your professional camera equipment, here are a few important variables to take into consideration. 

 

Durability and Design

Choosing a backpack for your camera and equipment made of durable materials is a given if you want to protect your investment. You’ll want a backpack made of materials that can withstand the weight of all of your equipment and that can handle all of the travelling you plan on doing with your gear.

When considering durability of materials, it’s important to consider both the interior and the exterior of the bag. Remember that you’ll be inserting and removing your camera and equipment frequently, so the interior of the backpack is just as important as the exterior. 

 

 Size and Capacity

Camera backpacks are available in a wide-variety of sizes to meet the needs of everyone. You may even wish to pick up a few backpacks in various sizes that way you’ll have a backpack for every need and every occasion. When considering a larger backpack which has a larger storage capacity, it’s important to remember that this will mean more weight to lug around.

So if you can handle the extra weight, then go for the larger bag but if less is more for you when it comes to toting around your camera and equipment, then you may opt for a smaller versatile bag. One important variable to remember with larger backpacks is air travel.

When transporting your equipment and camera through the airport, you may not make it on the airplane because many airlines actually have restrictions in place preventing these types of large bags from boarding planes.

During these types of trips, you’ll want to travel with a smaller or moderate sized backpack for convenience and to reduce the possibility of any type of hassle at the airport when you’re ready to get on board.

 

Features and Protection

Backpacks for photography equipment are loaded with many great features to meet the needs of all of your gear. Backpacks like the Manfrotto and Tamrac bags include features such as pockets for a laptop, storage for your tripod, interchangeable dividers, and space for your camera(s) and lenses. Some backpacks only have room for 2 lenses while other bags have room for more.

Additional pockets can be used to safely transport other important accessories such as your camera’s memory cards, filters and tripod. Depending upon the capacity of the bag, there may even be room for your cleaning kit to keep everything neat and clean when on-the-go. When it comes to the protection of your valuables, you’ll want to consider a bag with waterproofing and rustproof capabilities.

You’ll want the bag to be made from materials that can protect your equipment and camera when out in any element. If this is a feature that is important to you, tread carefully when making your selection as there are different levels of waterproofing. For further protection of your valuables, you may opt to invest in a protective rain cover for your backpack.

This helps to ensure that regardless of your bag’s featured waterproofing capabilities, you’re guaranteed extra optimum protection when out in the rain. To keep your bag’s zippers sturdy and long-lasting, you’ll want to select a bag with rustproof zippers. Not only are bags available with rustproof zippers, but they’re also available with zipper flaps to provide further protection from the rain.

For interior protection of your equipment, consider a bag with additional padding and elasticised internal mesh. The padding clearly provides additional cushioned protection while the elasticised internal mesh helps to keep your camera and equipment in place when on-the-go.

 

Strap and Zippers

When it comes to strap selections, you’ll discover bags that include single-strap sling or double straps like the Tamrac Evolution Sling series or the Manfrotto Pro Light 3n1 backpacks. And if you want a larger bag but worry about carrying a lot of weight around, you’ll be glad to learn that many of the larger bags include waist straps to help provide you with more security for your back and neck when transporting large loads.

Additionally, some backpacks include a featured integral camera strap that provides storage room for your camera to keep it handy and ready for action when you’re ready to get that shot you’ve been searching for. These integral straps may or may not be removable depending upon the bag that you invest in. Each backpack is made differently and has its own unique benefits and features.

When it comes to zipper selections, backpacks are available in the following zipper types: front zip, back zip, side zip, whole photo backpack, and half photo backpack. With a front zipper, when you’re ready to remove the backpack to access your equipment, you’ll likely get the back of the bag dirty when you place it on the ground, which will then get you dirty when you place it back onto your shoulders.

With a bag that zippers in the back, this is an issue you’ll avoid for obvious reasons if that is a concern for you. With side zippers you have the ability to access some equipment that you may require immediate access to when on-the-go in search of that perfect shot without the need to remove the backpack all together.

With a whole photo backpack you’re able to open the bag with just one zipper whereas with a half photo backpack your camera and equipment are stored in a special compartment in the lower half of the bag. When you’re ready to access this equipment you’ll need to unzip the bag and lift the top of the special compartment where your gear is safely stored.

 

Types of Camera Backpacks

There are two types of backpacks for cameras and those include the whole photo backpack and the half photo backpack as mentioned above. The type that you choose will depend upon your personal and professional needs. If you’d like space to transport other gear while transporting your camera and equipment, you may wish to invest in a half photo bag. However, if you’d like to devote all of the space within your backpack strictly to the storage of your valuable camera and equipment then you’ll want to invest in a whole photo backpack.

New versus Used

When choosing between any new or used purchase, this decision always boils down to the personal preferences and needs of the individual buyer. If you enjoying shopping around for a good deal on something in excellent condition that’s used and at a price that you can afford then go for it.

But if you’d prefer to make sure that your investment is a truly solid investment with the purchase of a backpack that’s never been used, worn, or damaged before in any way, then you’ll want to invest in new. If you decide to purchase a used bag just make sure that the seller is reliable and that you do not get ripped off with a faulty bag.

 

Buying Online versus Offline

This is another decision that depends upon you and your personal preferences. These days, more-and-more consumers are shopping around online for everything and anything due to the privacy and convenience of shopping online.

When shopping online you can browse for a new bag in 7 stores at once in 7 different tabs on your web browser whereas if you attempted to shop around offline in 7 different stores, this would clearly become a time consuming and bothersome task.

Additionally, when shopping online you can shop within the privacy and comfort of your own home. However, when shopping offline, it’s a bit quicker to bring your bag back to the retailer for exchange or a refund.

In the end, you’re buying decision should reflect the careful and thorough research of camera backpacks while taking into consideration all of your personal and professional needs.

If you have any questions on our backpacks or any other camera bags, Please call us on 02 8021 3444 or send us an email to sales@camera-warehouse.com.au or visit our store at 689 Princes Hwy Tempe, NSW 2044. You can also checkout our website 24/7 - http://www.camera-warehouse.com.au/camera_backpack