Equipment Review
I must confess to being bit of a camera bag junky. I’ve tried loads of bags and have so far failed in my quest to find THE prefect camera backpack. I guess the perfect backpack simply doesn’t exist as there is always something that could be improved, and personal tastes vary too. However, the Lowepro Pro Trekker 400 AW for me, comes seriously close.
By far the majority of my previous purchases have been bags by Lowepro as I've found them particularly well constructed, but I have also sampled bags from Kata, Crumpler and Tamrac. I’ve read countless reviews of bags too numerous to mention, and have scoured the net for useful user feedback, so with this particular purchase I took my time and did my research before I was ready to part with my hard earned cash.
The Lowepro Pro Trekker series comprises the 300, 400 and the 600 with numeric designation being related to the maximum size lens the bag can accommodate whilst attached to a camera body, thus you can fit a camera with a 400mm lens within the Pro Trekker 400 AW. It will fit the larger bodies too or those with battery grips attached.
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Great review. I was looking for more info on this pack before buying, but now I'm sold. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteNice review, thanks.
ReplyDeleteI wanted to buy the photo trekker bag, but that was out of stock, so went with the Pro trekker 300 AW. Which looks really great. This review really makes me confident that I have bought the right bag although being quite expensive.
I love hiking and carrying photo equipment together with lunch and drinks etc. The mini trekker I have as well is not so convenient for this kind of use.
Erik
A very nice review - and more important, a very nice bag ;)
ReplyDeleteMy 15.4" laptop fits fine in the cover!
But I agree, the outside pocket for it, is very very tight, a stupid mistake on an almost perfect camera bag..
I'm looking at purchasing this bag and reading your review has gone a long way to giving me the necessary information. This has been a very informative article.
ReplyDeleteThank you John
regards
Arthur Xanthopoulos
www.damagedphotography.com
Great review and photos of the bag. I am going to slip down to the 300, just think it is a more practical size for the amount of gear I have. With this great review as a guideline, I will try to get one of the 300 up on my blog when I get the bag and try it out on the our trip to New Zealand. Cheers!
ReplyDeleteJohn, thanks for this great and helpful review. After searching for hours information about different photo backpacks I finally made the decision to order the Pro Trekker 400. Important for me are following facts:
ReplyDeletecomfortable harness system / cabin baggage / easy tripod mount / enough space and the possibility to use my hydration pack.
Hopefully somehow my Notebook 17" will fit, according given dimensions it should. Anyway the need to store the Notebook I only have for flights and not for hiking.
Andreas
Finally got my pro trekker 300 backpack and my first thoughts are that it is a tight squeeze for the equipment I have. From the looks of it, comparing photos of the 400 against the actual 300 it looks like the 400 is only marginally larger in length. I am happy with the pack and can't wait to get it outside for some shoots. Unfortunately it is -40 with the windchill right now! Cheers!
ReplyDeleteIt looks like lowepro may have designed the laptop sleeve for the true HD format (16:9) screens. These are generally a little wider but not at as high as a standard format 15.4". My VAIO (FW series) is one of these and has a 1920 x 1080 pixel screen (superb resolution at 135ppi)specified at 16.4". I had been wondering if this would fit the 400 and from your photos it looks like it would fit better than a standard format 15.4" screen.
ReplyDeleteI think Lowepro's biggest mistake is not making a model between the 400 and 600. They need one the same internal size as the Vertex 300. The 600 has twice the gross internal volume of the 400 (38 litres versus 21 litres) but some of this comes from the 19cm depth. My biggest lens is just 10cm diameter and would rattle around in a 19cm deep bag! I really like a lot of the design features of these bags but the 400 is too small for me and the 600 is too big so I am reluctantly looking at other brands. A pity because, apart from an ancient Billingham, all my bags have been Lowepro.
Brendan Davis, county Tipperary, Ireland.
I just received my Lowepro Protrekker 400AW. Really amazing.
ReplyDeleteYour very good review helped me a lot to choose.
The laptop sleeve fits exactly a Macbook Pro 15". I didn't find other laptops that fits.
Thanks. Philippe.
Interesting read, thank you, would you still recommend this bag after a year using it?
ReplyDeletejay
Hi John,
ReplyDeletenice review that convinced me to buy the 400AW. My Airbook is 13" and fits but I intend to use this some trekking utilities. The first short walks where very comfortable and I can agree with all of your test results.
Thanks a lot
Klaus