lowepro orion aw, and rover light

[kai_zhong1]

I am trying to buy a camera bag.

I want to have a bag with two compartments so I will have space for

other things.

So I narrowed down to the these two bags above.

Now the problem is that I can't find any models in my local store in

Boston area to try it out.

 

Here are some of my questions:

1. I know Orion aw has a small top backpack which you can fold it in.

How is the material for the top? Is it as solid (thick) as the normal

camera backpack or is it flimsy? How comfortable is it? Doese the AW

cover the backpack as well?

 

2. Can I use the orion aw as a sholder bag? I feel it might look

strange to use it as a beltbag because of its size. If I buy it, I

might use it as backpack all the time.

 

3. If the price is same, which one will you get, orion aw or rover

light?

 

Thanks,

[maury_cohen]

Dear Kai,

The Daypack for the current model Orion AW does not store inside the belt pack. It is made of similar material but without the padded protection of the camera beltpack as it's designed for carrying less sensitive items. Yes, it can be utilized as a shoulder bag with the supplied strap.

I would lean towards the Rover if you plan to use this as a backpack primarily. The Rover does however have a smaller capacity in the padded area.

 

Maury Cohen,

Product Specialist - Lowepro USA

[kai_zhong1]

Maury, Thanks for your quick response. I really appreicate it.

 

One more question:

If I use both backpack and belt pack and "hook" them up together, is it easy to swing the belt pack to the front, take out camera, and swing it back and hook it back to the backpack without take everything off? I hear people complain about that before. Not sure if it is true in new model.

 

I thought the rover's padded area is larger since it can hold an SLR with 80-200/2.8 attached. But orion aw can only hold the len unattached to a SLR. Is that right?

 

Thanks,

[chip l.]

Kai,

 

I have the Rover Lite and can say that it is a very comfortable bag. For myself I find it easier to take the pack off to get to the gear. But one of the bonuses of the Rosver Lite is the Street & Field loop locks. It allows for you to attach accessory pockets and lens pouches that make the removal of the pack less neccesary. The other benefit of the Rover is that your camera space can "expand" into the space of the other stuff.

 

Another option to consider is to go for the LowePro Report series. You can buy a belt if you want to distribute the weight. Then buy yourself a seperate backpack. This way you could swing the bag around and keep the rest of the unwanted stuff in the backpack. Again the Report series has the loop locks, and so does the optional belt.

 

Could you let on to how you intend to use the bag? (I work for a dealer and know many of the ins and outs of the bags) I also have brought more than my fair share of bags over the years.

 

Happy snaps

 

Chip

[kai_zhong1]

Hi, Chip,

 

Thanks for your information.

 

I have a Nikon N80, Nikkor 18-35 and 28-105. I am planning to get a sb80dx flash, and 80-200/2.8.

 

At first Mini Trekker looks pretty good to me. If I would only get a pure camera bag, I would have bought it.

 

However, I want to get a bag which can hold all my camera stuff plus some space for some common things. That is the reason why I decide to get a two compartment bags.

 

In addition, I also want easy access to my camera. (Did I ask too much:) ? ) After a little research, I narrowed my search down to Orion AW, Rover light, and Orion trekker.

 

AW is attractive to me because of its flexibility to use both backpack and beltpack. But I am not sure after the beltpack attachs to the backpack, is it still easy to get my camera out? I am planning to use AW as a backpack or as a shoulder bag. I can't image I use it as a beltpack becasue of its size.

I wish I could find Orion AW in a local store to try it out!

 

I saw a Rover in store, it seems to be pretty big and very well built.

 

One of my friend has an Orion trekker, it is pretty nice except that it only can hold 80-200 in the upper compartment. It is just like a common backpack, which to me is a plus. Also it is not expensive.

I guess I might end up with just buying a Orion Trekker.

[david_rifkind]

I have a Rover Light and, while it's usable (and I use it), I'm not especially happy with it. The straps have to be adjusted WAY out (carrying the pack very low on my back) to make the hip belt usable, and it's too bulky to fold out of the way and ignore. There's some sort of optical illusion to the top compartment--it looks big, but is actually very small and will hold hardly anything. There are not enough outside pockets, and the ones it has are small and strangely shaped.

[frank uhlig]

Yes, you can move the Orion AW around with the backpack on your back.

 

To use the shoulder strap and the bottom Orion AW pack only, hitch the supplied shoulder belt onto the pack, so that the inner curve (looking down on the pack) of the pack and the slightly curved shoulder strap form an ellipse. get your body inside the ellipse, and have the shoulder strap run under your left arm, across your chest, over your right shoulder and back down to the opposite side hook. Then you can swing the bottom pack around your left hip and still have full shoulder/yourbody support. [if you rather swing the hip-pack around your right hip, reverse the directional words above.]

 

This is not how Lowepro thought of using the shoulder strap. but it works very well for me. Incidentally, you need to adjust the overhanging lengths of the strap so that the padding comes to lie on top of your shoulder.

 

I know you are also looking for a "shoulder bag". However that gets very quickly useless due to the weight that you will carry very un-anatomically on your shoulder. Put the hip belt on and use the shoulder strap as indicated and you can carry all your gear over miles of the Great Wall in China in the heat and you will make it nicely home. And if you need a water bottle, lunch, hang the daypack on top of it all. Good luck.

 

I have chanded lenses on top of a slippery fallen tree across a creek with the pack on my hip (lens change), slipped off and all was ok, except for my boots knee deep in the water. Orion AW is the way to go if you do not want to drop your backpack in the dirt of Central Park and be mugged ... Keep standing!

[maury_cohen]

Kai,

Yes, the beltpack can be shifted to the front while leaving the daypack on your back. This portion of the attachment system has gone through several versions. The original design attached via large side-release buckles. Disconnecting was easy enough but many found it difficult to reach back to re-attach the two sections. The newer design uses a webbing strap that releases at the front of your shoulder strap. It's most easily done if you just loosen the adjustment strap completely, allowing the clip to stay in place More convenient, but many folks still find it counter-intuitive. We're looking at a third possible solution, more similar to the original but using a buckle that's easier to snap in without looking at it.

[kai_zhong1]

Thanks everybody for your help.

 

Maury, do you know when the third version of AW will come out? Or I can try a prototype for your company. ^_^

 

I have difficulty to locate one in local stores. Usually where do you try and buy bags?