I have been using this bag for quite awhile… I think since early this year until now to be precise. Initially I’m looking for a bag to replace my daily working bag, preferably a camera bag, since I would like to kick start my habit of bringing out camera with me (though I still need more consistency in this regards… still need to cultivate further on this habit…). I’m looking for a bag that’s comfortable for daily use, able to carry my company laptop, some other stuffs like memo, power bank and etc. After some search, I have shortlisted a few bags, and in the end settled with this ThinkTank Perception 15 Backpack.
As a camera bag, it’s a backpack that holds up to 15” laptop, top loading of mirrorless camera body with lens attached, top loading of additional lens, accessories to be placed at the bottom of the bag, and tripod can be secured on the outside of the backpack. the material used for the bag is like nylon-canvas hybrid, it feels good with touch, and though it is not 100% water resistant, it does holds well against drizzle. I have been using this bag in the rain and though it does get wet as time goes by, the inside of the bag remains dry. Having said that, I’m not advising you to use the bag in a downpour as I doubt it will be able to withstand that amount of moisture. Not to worry though, as the bag came with a rain coat just when you need it. I travelled to Japan with this bag, and I managed to stuff the following items into my bag:
Fujifilm X-T1 Camera Body
Fujifilm X-Pro1 Camera Body
Fujinon XF10-24mm F4 R OIS lens
Fujinon XF23mm F1.4 R lens
Fujinon XF56mm F1.2 R lens
Fujinon XC50-230mm F4.5-6.7 OIS lens
Additional 2 batteries
Cleaning kit consist of blower, lens wipe and cleaning cloth
Manfrotto Pixi Mini Tripod
Small umbrella
Power bank
7” Tablet
Full size tripod secured on the outside
Filter pouch with 6 screw on filters inside
Sounds like a whole lot of stuff? Yes indeed! I could have stuff in a Macbook Pro, but I choose to bring along a tablet instead for casual trip. I just selectively bring along camera and lenses that I need for the day, put into the bag and ready to go out and shoot for my trip. The padding on the shoulder straps are extremely comfortable, it makes me focus on my shooting instead of worrying the pain of the weight over my shoulder.
As a daily bag, it does what it does as a… bag. It carries laptop, charger, mouse, memo, umbrella, water bottle, power bank and so on. Due to the design of the bag as camera-loading-from-top, there’s only limited space at the bottom. Sometime I would like to stuff in thick documents and laptop at the same time, but I just couldn’t fit both into the laptop compartment. So if you carries a lot of documents, this may not be a good choice of bag for you.
As for the downside of this bag, first come to my mind will be the material used. Yes, I mentioned that I do like the material of this bag just now, but I do wish it is fully rain resistant without the need of a rain coat. And then is about the design of the bag. Since camera and lenses are loaded on the top, the bag tends to get top-heavy easily. Hence, the tendency for the bag to topple down is high. You can counter this by filling up the bottom of the bag to improve stability, but I have just get used to it and will place my bag with care to ensure it won’t topple over.
All in all, I’m very satisfied with this bag from ThinkTank and would highly recommend you to take a look at it if you are considering a camera bag that can carries a laptop for you. Now, I just need to get myself to start carrying camera more often in my bag… lol… Head over to their website for more information on the available sizes and colours. Till then.
Nice review. Is there any reason why you are not getting the Pro version with the amount of gear you have?
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I don’t carry all my gears out at the same time, the pro version is really huge, so as a daily work bag it will be overkill and less portable.
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