Camera-Bag Reviews

The Lowepro Rover Plus AW is a dual compartment, all weather photo backpack with Technical Harness System. Let's take a look at what that means. The Rover series of bags have always been two compartment bags, with an upper "daypack" compartment for your lunch, light jacket and miscellaneous items. The lower compartment is for your camera gear. The two are separated by a removeable padded insert secured in place by hook and loop fasteners (velcro). Access is gained via unzipping YKK zippers and unsnapping a clip. There are two square sized mesh pockets at the side. There are two smaller triagular accessory pockets that flank the keenly located hideaway tripod harness and bungee cord straps - more on this later.

The interior of daypack has a mesh pocket that runs down the center of the front flap (directly behind the tripod harness). The rear has a zippered laminated accessory pocket Behind that is a thin folder like pocket that will accomodate a thin 8.5x11 pad but not much else.

Your camera gear is safely stowed below in a gray cloth reconfigureable padded insert. Deep enough to support a 70/80-200 f/2.8 lens attached to pro body. I don't have this lens, so I can't tell you for sure how accessible it is. I can tell you that I do carry the following, with room to spare: N70, SB-28, 24mm, 50mm, 28-105 (attached to body), 70-300 and 20-35 f/2.8, plus hoods.

The camera insert can be removed and the padded separating insert that serves as the floor of the daypack can be removed or folded out to make for a large day pack or make room for a larger lens (is you retain the camera insert below for padding).

The tripod harness tucks away underneath the bungee webbing and in held in place with more hook and loop fasteners. Behind this is another pocket! The tripod strap can accomodate a Bogen/Manfrotto 3021/455 sized tripod. The Rover AW is sized to carry a smaller Bogen 3001 (sorry, forgot the Manfrotto designation) tripod. There are bungee straps top and bottom to help secure the tripod.

The Technical Harness System is inherited from Lowepro's larger Photo, Nature and Super Trekker bags. The back of pack will well padded for comfort for the long haul. The shoulder straps feature an ergonomic S-curve and small chest strap to help balance the load. Also attached are Slip Lock loops for accessories. The shoulder strap can be adjusted to fit just about any person, and are held in place with A LOT of hook and loop behind the back padding; there is a neat tool (a thin white piece of plastic) included that allows for quick adjustment by inserting it inbetween the pad and harness and adjusting it to the appropriate height and sliding the tool out). There are two height ajusting clips so that you can fit it comfortably to your body. Did I mention that the harness was OH SO COMFORTABLE?

The waist strap is also thickly padded and has Slip Lock loops for more accessories (water bottle, lens cases, film case...whatever). Due to the size of the pack (and the amount of weight it can carry), this harness makes sense. It is comfortable after a long day of trekking and photographing.

The only negative comment I have about the waist strap is that it is so darn bulky when you don't have the pack on! It DOES NOT fold away conveniently. I think this could be made thinner while still being able to support the bag.

Other miscellantous stuff: Neat carry rubber carry handle on top. It also has Lowepro's patented AW cover but it does not work in you have a tripod attached.

Like the Ford Model T's you can have it in any color you want as long as its black.

Besides the thick waist strap, the only other negative that I found with this bag is that accessing the gear can be difficult with the daypack filled with items - and the fact that the pack padding does not bend readily (it seems to need a seam sewed into it to allow it fold easier). Or it could be that this bag needs to be "broken in" more.

If you don't need a larger bag, you will probably be happier with the (current) Rover AW II. Most of the limited reviews I read for that model wanted a few inches here and there. This bag provides it at a cost: size and weight - it's bigger, bulkier and holds more and we all know that camera gear ain't light.

Hope you found this helpful and informative.

I have larger bags than this but when you're on vacation and you want to travel a little lighter, not carrying all your gear and all your lenses, this is a great little bag. I have a Nikon N-70 with a Tamron 28-200mm zoom lens on it. The bag holds this nicely and has room for 3 rolls of film inside and a pouch for more outside. I loved carrying it around.

this case pure and simple is light easy to cary and save for your camera

If you're looking for an SLR bag that will hold 1 body and several lenses, as well as film, cleaning kit, filters, etc, but don't want to take out a second mortgage to do it, this is the bag for you. It's sporty looking and attractive, easy to organize, and easy to get in and out of quickly. If you your equipment collection is still pretty small, it makes a good main bag, otherwise, it's a great extra bag to carry around smaller amounts of equipment (a body, several lenses, etc). I am very pleased with my bag!

You get a mini-DV camcorder and immediately you have a small collection of necessities, including power cord/charger and remote. Add a few extra battery packs, a few cables, a lens extender and the pile grows. There's your challenge.

The promotional photos of Podzilla make it look like it can swallow it all, no problem. Lots of wings and pockets and stuff. Ok, sold.

Maybe I need to give the bag some time to break in, you know, "loosen up." But as it stands now, I still don't have as much room as I expected.

Maybe I just expected too much. The advertising gives measurements that I assume are accurate. I know how to assess sizes pretty well -- I'm an engineer who does a lot of home projects. But when the bag came, I was still faced with a session of "triage," trying to figure out which item or item that I wanted to haul along with me were going to have to stay behind and clutter up the landscape. Turns out that those items are my Firewire cable and the camcorder's manual (which, printed in three languages, is a different story altogether. Why can't a manufacturer recognize that (1) users, at least at first, want to carry and use the manual, and (2) most users really only need the manual in one language. C'mon -- print three separate manuals so we can at least throw two of 'em away and not have to haul around the other two). So now these items stay behind. Maybe I need to get a carry bag to hold my Podzilla and my other items that the Podzilla won't hold!

OK, I'm grousing. Maybe when the bag breaks in, I'll be able to stuff it with the leftovers.

If you've been patient, here's the good news. The materials and construction are durable. There is a cooch for just about every size and shape trinket you could carry. Lenses are a challenge, but just about everything else is positively stored in a way that both protects the item and keeps it just where you left it. There's also a "secret" pocket for things like small amounts of cash, credit card, driver's license and the like. Lots of elastic "pockets" and a few bungee cable restraints. Each side flap is equipped with little nylon restraints that keeps it from flopping all the way open (that way, you can drop things in there as a little tray when you're changing tape or lenses) and keeps stuff from drifting away in the process. The back of the pack has two sets of loops for attaching to a waist or shoulder belt. The carrying handle is very comfortable, the top cover is fastened both by a velcro strip for temporary security and also by a Delrin snap-latch mounted on an elastic loop. This allows for some "expandability" when the case is really stuffed.

And mine is really stuffed!

I bought the Podzilla as my primary camera bag for day-long hikes, when I wanted a fair amount of accessories but didn't want a full-size camera bag (too heavy) nor a standard holster style (only 1-2 pockets).

The Podzilla's build quality is excellent: tough stitching, heavy materials, water resistant, all-metal fittings. There's enough pockets to easily lose a lot of stuff, but the different internal attachment systems - velcro, pockets, loops, elastics - are great. It's big, but in my opinion not TOO big.

But, there are a few things that could use some work.

The podzilla's box-shaped upper comparment opens up and towards you, not away, not allowing you to get a clean draw on your camera like with LowePro bags (which open up and away from your body). The top cover is also hard to pull over and latch with its primary velcro strip once you get a full-sized SLR in the middle.

The camera supports in the middle compartment are provided by a single padded strip; it needs either two more creases/ articulations, or to be split into two pieces, to be really configurable.

The shoulder strap has no padding, nor do I think it's long enough (competes with a slim camelbak when slung over the shoulder and neck). The metal fittings, though, will keep me using it for a while. Scavenging a shoulder pad from another bag is suggested.

The only way to carry a lens is in the elastic bands in one of the side pockets; that's fine, but the pocket's not long enough to carry a big lens. It's now holding my external flash, for which it's perfect.

My final nitpick would be the addition of a couple of external side straps for hanging lens bags or carabiners for the odd things that might not fit in the pockets. This improved modularity would really be a huge plus.

Overall, though, the podzilla is a GREAT road-worthy bag. Nitpicks aside, I am very happy with this purchase, and Adorama was a great vendor!

This camera case from Samsonite is one of the best camera case for digital cameras or SLR cameras. It is lightweight, sturdy, and waterproof. The pouches are not too big, so you plan on stuffing all kinds of accessories, think again. The inside major compartment is also not too big. But for a simple, reliable case to safely house your camera, this is an excellent case.

A fairly nice bag. There is plently of space for most of your photography equipment like lenses, flashes, film, filters, and more. Several comparements and pockets and strong material. The dimensions are about 12" x 9" x 8". Overall, a great camera bag for those serious photographers, one of the better camera bags yet.

Well-manufactured, high quality item.

Pros:
-Internal material is soft and good quality;
-Inside bag is "L" shaped and Sony camera fits perfectly (for 717 it is little too much space left);
-Top, sides and bottom are covered with thick soft material protecting camera;
-Tight but expandable side pockets;
-Excellent product materials and labor.

Cons:
-No top handle;
-Strap hooks and bag rings (where you attach hooks) are from plastic. Not cheap plastic, but it is plastic. For price range paid metal would be expected;
-Top of bag is from synthetic material, so it puts on doubt about heavy weather conditions;
-There is no zipper under cover so taking bag to beach or other dusty/sandy place when it is windy is not recommended;
-Front pocket is way to small, regular leans cleaning book will not fit there;
-Enough space just for one extra battery;
-For my 717 (same as 707 in terms of size) there is way too much space inside;

Conclusion:
This item is good if you have few filters, one extra battery, mini (pocket size - smallest one) tripod and few memory sticks. And there is no more space for anything else. I would rate bag as 'easy pick bag' rather that 'take it all bag'.

The top has both a zipper and a velcro, and can be a little awkward to use and/or come loose. Other than that, a great lightweight bag with lots of room. VERY good for midsize digital cameras.