Looking for feedback on Lowepro packs (Orion and Rover)

[gdanmitchell]

<p>I'm trying to come up with a better system (or systems?) for carrying camera gear than

what I currently use. On day hikes I normally use a large Mountainsmith lumbar pack for

lenses and small stuff, a small Lowepro or Tamrac bag for the camera (350D), and I carry

my tripod in a bag over my shoulder. What a mess... but it works.</p>

 

<p>Typical gear for hiking includes:</p>

 

<ul>

<li>Canon Rebel 350D with Canon 17-40 f4 attached</li>

<li>EF 70-200mm f4</li>

<li>Canon 50mm f1.4</li>

<li>EF-S 17-85mm f4-5.6 (it has IS)</li>

<li>Velbon carbon fiber tripod with Acratech Ballhead</li>

<li>A few filters and miscellaneous small gear</li>

</ul>

 

<p>I'm looking for a better system for those times when I'm out on a longish day hike and

need to carry non-photo gear as well: warm/dry clothing, food, water, etc. I might also

use a pack for travelling by car or air with the photo gear and my Mac 15" laptop. Some

Lowepro packs look interesting to me and I wonder if anyone can share any experiences

with them?</p>

 

<p><b>Lowepro Orion AW All Weather Convertible Beltpack</b> - Upper and lower

sections separate

so that it can (supposedly - I'd like to hear more) function as a belt pack for carrying

camera gear.</p>

 

<p><b>Lowepro Rover AW II</b> - Lower section designed to carry camera and lenses.

Upper

section

for other gear. Includes some kind of tripod carrier.</p>

 

<p><b>Lowepro Rover Plus AW</b> - Seems similar to the Rover AW II but with beefier

suspension

system.</p>

 

<p>Thanks in advance,</p>

 

<p>Dan</p>

[Colin O]

<p>I have the LowePro Orion AW Backpack/Beltpack, and used it as my camera bag for a 10-month Round-the-World trip. I like it, and don't intend replacing it.</p>

<p>I use it to carry a 35mm SLR, 3 lenses, a 35mm panoramic Noblex camera (think large rangefinder) and all associated accessories - it's certainly big enough for the list of gear you mentioned, apart from the laptop - I wouldn't recommend it for that. There are also tripod straps for dangling a tripod under the beltpack - a minor complaint I have with these is they always seem to get caught in the levers of my tripod's legs when I'm unstrapping it.</p>

<p>Firstly, I would never use the beltpack section as a kind of 'bum-bag' ('fanny-pack' in the US, I believe) - I think it's too heavy to be used like this when you've got a reasonable amount of camera gear in it. However, when you attach the shoulder strap to the beltpack, it functions perfectly as a shoulder bag. The beltpack is not exactly small, but I like its design and I think it could withstand a lot of abuse. Initially my intention was to use the whole thing as a backpack while actually moving from place to place, and as a shoulder bag when out shooting, but I ended up never using it as a backpack (i.e. with the top section attached), I just use it as a shoulder bag, and find it quite easy to take gear out without taking the bag off my shoulder - although, when the bag is fully loaded and you're out for a while, the bag can eventually take a toll on your shoulder. I think the system for swinging the beltpack around while the backpack section is attached, in order to get gear out of the beltpack without detaching the two, is quite awkward, but maybe you might like it. (I think mine may be a slightly older model with metal rings on the side of the beltpack - I've seen other (perhaps newer) models with a plastic clip system, which seems weaker and much less rugged to me.) The top backpack section is fine, albeit a little small (I think somewhere in the region of 12-15 litres). It's fine as a day-pack, but offers no protection for fragile items and always seems to be packed to the limit - don't count on putting two fleeces into it for example.</p>

<p>I think I've been a little harsh in my short review here - I would still definitely recommend the bag to anyone!</p>

[klix]

If we set aside the laptop for now, I think your best bet is the Nature Trekker AW II.

 

Certainly more than enough room for your equipment, and has a daypack that attaches to the fornt of it. Ergnomically, it carries very well. I have the next size up (Photo Trekker AW II). I used to have the Orion, but it was too "bottom heavy" for me. Add to that the fact that it was too cumbersome to move the bottom part to the front (in addition to being too heavy as a fanny pack anyway), I figured a "real" backpack was immensely preferable.

 

Now to the laptop -- I think you'd have to decide whether you'd use it more for longish hikes or for travel. If the laptop is a higher priority, then you can get a Computrekker and put your clothes in the laptop compartment when you're not lugging the laptop.

[rob_murray]

I had the Orion AW when it first came out, dont know if it changed much since then but here is what I think..I used it for my EOS gear a body, 3 lenses, filters, small flash, etc. The most usefull way to wear it was with the shoulder strap AND the waist belt with the pack on my right side basically. You could get to gear and it was stable.

Just as a fanny pack, its too bulky and will bounce around. The backpack part had no compartments so you had to wrap any gear in something. The straps had no padding(maybe they do now?) and would dig into your shoulders so I never used it that way..If it had padded straps, I would have used it that way.

[pjmeade]

I have the trekker 2 backpack and use it to carry my 20D and a 35mm camera too. I can get 2 camers and 2 lenses in the bottom half, but have to put the 70-200/f4 in its bag in the top half, where there is plenty of little pockets for cards and filters.

 

There are a couple of outside pockets which will hold stuff, providing it's not bulky. Nowhere for the tripod though.

 

It's very comfortable to wear and distributes the weight well. I did find, that on a warm day you get very sweaty with that bag.

 

Hope this helps.

 

Pete

 

Pete

[frank uhlig]

The trick with the Orion AW is to go against Lowepro's silly recommendation of a shoulder strap and use the shoulder strap instead around your front, hooked onto the belt pack at the left hip, over your side, belly, chest, across the right shoulder and down to the pack's right hook behind your right buttock.

 

Left and right can be interchanged but I prefer to swing the fanny pack around my left hip. If you rather swing it around your right hip: interchange left and right in the above description.

 

As an across the front and over the opposite shoulder bag, this is comfortable for hours on end. On one shoulder, it is a pain and anatomic suicide of sorts.

 

So why do you carry two 17-something lenses and a tripod? Maybe the answer to your quest is just SIMPLICITY and the simpler Orion pack.

[gdanmitchell]

<b>A question was:</b>

 

<blockquote>So why do you carry two 17-something lenses and a tripod? Maybe the

answer to your quest is just SIMPLICITY and the simpler Orion pack.</blockqoute>

 

<p>I try to use a tripod whenever possible for all the usual reasons.</p>

 

<p>I won't <i>always</i> carry all of those lenses at the same time. However, the

17-40mm and the 17-85mm, while sharing the same 17mm wide end, have different

purposes. The 17-40mm is much sharper particularly in the corners, thus being the better

choice when I work with a tripod. On the other hand the 17-85mm, while not having quite

the same image quality, has IS and a greater zoom range making it more suitable for some

types of photos off the tripod.</p>

 

<p>What makes this a bit more complicated for me is that the different situations in

which I do photography require different equipment and different approaches to carrying

it.</p>

 

<ul>

<li><b>Hiking</b> - As in "day hiking," where I will carry at least three of the lenses and

the tripod. One lens will be on the camera and the camera will not usually be in the pack.

I'll need to carry a small amount of other gear such as a water bottle, snack, and some

extra clothes.</li>

<li><b>Urban</b> - Walking around town I'll carry much the same gear, but probably

including all the lenses. I won't need to carry extra clothes and so on.</li>

<li><b>Travel</b> - Carry the full setup in the car and/or on an airplane. (Though the

tripod will either travel in carry-on luggage or be replaced by a compact model.)</li>

<li><b>Backpacking</b> - Self-contained on the trail (usually in the California Sierra

Nevada range) for periods of a few days up to a couple weeks. However, this situation is so

different that the bag I'm looking for here won't work in any case.</li>

</ul>

 

<p>Obviously, no single bag will cover all of these circumstances. Here I'm looking for

something that could possibly cover the first three.</p>

 

<p>Simplification is a good thing, but in most situations the combination of one body

plus the 17-40mm, 50mm, and 70-200mm lenses is going to be my minimal setup.</p>

 

Dan