Lowepro Fastpack 350 Quick Access Backpack For SLR Kit, 17" Notebook & General Gear for Canon 550D, 500D, 1000D, Nikon D3000, Samsung NX10, PL1, Panasonic G2, Sony Alpha A450 - Black

The LowePro 350 is a great bag in terms of quality of finish (no loose threads, zips work well, padding is firm, velcro in good places, etc). There are some compromises of course, which is the nature of the design.

This system is designed to carry a laptop and camera gear, plus a reasonable "loose" section for drinks/food/etc at the top. I bought this for a holiday trip to the West Coast of Scotland which I knew would involve quite a bit of walking. I also knew I would NOT be carrying the laptop on the walks! It was a good method of getting the laptop to the accommodation fully protected without having to add yet another bag to the already full car. I also use it for walking to the office when at work, where it fits my use very well.

The downside of the 350 is that it doesn't have an integrated method of carrying a tripod - you'd fit a gorillapod in the top, or maybe a compact monopod, but my venerable 20-year old Velbon had to stay at home! A separate carrying method might be fixed on, as the bag has a flat bottom, so the tripod could be slung underneath if you're clever with your bungee's.

Also, there's no dedicated rain cover, so any showers or heavier rain would see you ducking for cover. The main camera compartment zips are covered by an extra flap, so this should provide reasonable protection, but the side zip used to access the camera body remain exposed. Driving rain might make it through that eventually.

In use on the walks the bag is _very_ comfortable. My kit (so far) consists of: Canon 40D, 10-22mm EFS USM, 17-85mm EFS USM IS, 70-200mm EF L USM IS (f4), weighing in at approximately 3kg altogether. I normally walked with the body and lens in hand (strap round neck just in case).

The adjustability of the shoulder harness and waist supports are excellent and I was able to easily switch between shoulder and waist for primary load bearing when required. A bit more venting at the back would be useful though, as it gets quite hot on longer or brisker walks. I didn't really find the side-access feature all that useful, though I did use it. I would frequently need to fully un-shoulder the bag to switch lenses, for example.

Inside the padded camera section, you have adjustable panels. The range of adjustment is reasonable but not infinite - the stick patches are in set areas. With the lens hood for the wide angle 10-22mm lens in one "cell", you'd still have room for a flash or fourth lens, assuming the longer lens remains attached to the camera body. You could put the hoods (for any lens they don't conveniently reverse-fit) into the top compartment and have room for a fifth lens (if you needed it), or four lenses plus a flash unit. Really depends on what you've got though.

I was able to fit two OS Explorer maps in the exterior mesh pocket, along with a 350ml water bottle. The top compartment happily took my 500ml flask, spare battery, lunch box (holding two rolls) and meusli snack bars, etc, with a little spare room left over.

Overall, I'd say this is an excellent "urban" backpack for those wanting to carry a laptop as well as camera regularly. It gets to be quite heavy if fully loaded, depending on your laptop specs. Mine's a Vaio weighing in at 3kg without the power brick, so adds quite a bit, but I can get all the power adapter/chargers and various cables in the top, so long as I don't want to carry anything else!

For fully "wild" use, I'd perhaps recommend looking further, particularly if you need to add a tripod to your carried kit, but you won't be dissappointed with the quality of this bag.

Overall yet another excellent lowepro product. I bought to replace a slingshot where I had liked the concept but found the weight too tiring on one shoulder. In the bottom half, there is enough room for a camera with a long lens (I used have a D300 with 70-200mm) and leaves enough room for two smaller lens on one side plus my filters / holder on the other. There is a separate small pocket inside for memory cards.

In the top half, there is enough room on the inside to us as a daypack with waterproof, sandwiches etc along with compass and other walking gear items. There is also a good outer front pocket for flat items and also a bottle holder mesh with a toggle to keep it secure.

So, why 4 stars and not 5? No waterproof cover (I knew this before I bought it) and no tripod holder for more serious day walkers / trekkers. The most fundamental issue for me is that my 17" Dell widescreen laptop cannot squeeze in with it's neoprene cover but can fit without the cover. I say 'can' because you need to be really careful not to scratch it due to the zip so cannot easily get in / out.

Overall, a very good bag, make sure you try with your laptop first if that is the most important feature to you.

I bought this bag, a little concerned at first after reading the reviews about not being able to fit a 17" MacBook in but found it fitted perfectly even with the protective casing on (Speck SeeThru Satin Hard Shell Case). I have to assure others that it fits well and isn't too tight either.
I managed to fit all my gear in there after a bit of fiddling around. Obviously you have to take the covers off your flashes and leave your longest lens on to make it work.

This is what I fit in my bag with no problems:

1 x Nikon D3 (could fit in second body if needed in top compartment).
2 x Nikon Speedlights
1 x 70-200mm lens
1 x 28-70mm lens
1 x Sigma 15-30mm
1 x Voigtlander 60mm lens
1 x Panasonic GF1 with 20mm lens attached.
1 x Thinktank lens carry bag with Nikon Speedlights inside fitted in the top compartment.
1 x Visible Dust sensor brush in protective casing.
2 x Filters in cases
1 x MacBook Pro 17" with casing.

I also fit a protein shaker bottle on the side for long shoots!

I can't understand other comments about this bag being too big. This must be people that haven't had a pro camera bag as all my other bags are much bigger and heavier.
This bag is a dream to carry about to shoots across London etc. as my other LowePro rolling road bags were too heavy to lug up underground steps after a while. Once you've done the front straps up you can hardly feel the bag on you as the weight is evenly distributed and does'nt put any uneven pressure on your spine or shoulders like other bags. Very nicely designed for long day hauls or trecks.

I've always purchased LowePro after getting rid of my Billingham bags back in the late 90's and have always been very happy with them and also the great service that LowePro provides their customers.
If anything has gone wrong with my bags in the past they've been only too happy to fix them or even give brand new replacements-can't beat their customer service as it's second to none.

I highly recommend this bag to pros and amateurs as a top bag that if fitted properly will easily fit your gear in. I could if I wanted fit another Pro body in the top section-might have to take my sensor brush out of it's big case though.
I'm lucky to have an old waterproof LowePro accessory - not sure if they still sell them on the site but it came with one of my old bags. I've also got a mobile phone pouch accessory for the strap to house my phone for when I'm out in the City and can't hear it ring!
For the price you really can't grumble at all about what the bag lacks e.g. above accessories and tripod carrying facility (there is a work around if you YouTube it!).
All my other bags have been around £100 upwards and this is a snip at around £40. Stop winging people and get on with it!!!

Buy this bag if you want a good lightweight high quality bag with a life time warranty-end of.