Think Tank Spectral 15 Camera Shoulder Bag, Technical Black

2018-01-16T09:42:36

I’ve had this camera bag for 2 - 3 months now and I am extremely impressed by it. The camera bag caught my eye mostly because of it’s style: it has it! It’s a bag that can pretty use with anything and it doesn’t look like a geeky camera bag. Suit, jeans.. The bag looks great. I thought the fabric on the flap of the bag would get scratched or torn somehow by now. I’m hard on bags. Nothing. Looks just as new as when I bought it. The latch used to close the flap: no problems. I thought for sure that would’ve broken. But none of this would matter if the bag didn’t carry my gear well. And it does! I use a mirrorless system on my non-shoot days, I carry my m43 camera, big lens and other items like extra batteries, lens blower, extra memory cards. Half the bag is still available for me to put a packed lunch or sweater/windbreaker. Of course, I carry a laptop/iPad and there are still plenty of pockets on the bag under the flap. For a small shoot, I can fit 2 - 3 speedlites , trigger and second lens. I could carry a tripod or small lightstand with the included straps under the bag, but I’d rather carry that in a separate, lightstand bag. Then I can fit a couple of small foldable reflectors in the lightstand bag as well. The handle on top of the bag should only be used for minor uses. It’s not designed for real work but sure is handy sometimes. I’m a little concerned about the water bottle holder on the side of the bag getting loose. So far, it still looks great. The shoulder strap needs adjustment every so often. But I don’t know of any shoulder strap that has some sort design compromise or two. The shoulder strap pad stays in place and I can easily the bag around when I need to. This is going to be a bag that works and looks great for many years to come. At least for my first Think Tank bag, their reputation is well-deserved.

RICARDO G.

2017-11-30T19:55:55

I've had other Think Tank bags and wasn't happy about key aspects of the design, such as cheap pot or cast metal? swivel snaps that eventually break apart allowing your bag to fall. Or the strap connectors placed in the way of the water bottle pockets. That's always a pain to deal with. The design and capacity of this new bag looked like a real solution for airline travel of just the gear I need, without having to check it into baggage. Unfortunately, after I packed my Fuji Xt2 and a couple lenses with charger, SD card wallet, 13" MBP laptop, I secured the main flap and proceeded to lift the bag by the handle. Sure enough, the gimmicky fidlock popped loose. I checked the lock to make sure it was securely connected and tried to lift the bag a few more times, slowly, normally, and it would pop loose every time. Maybe I got a lemon, but this new fidlock is a departure from the ever so reliable systems that have been employed for years now. I'd rather stick to what is proven to be dependable . Just glad I discovered the flaw before I left for Europe. And it is pretty fiddly to lock the flap down with this fidlock because you can't see it behind the flap. Sometimes if goes right on, but many times it doesn't and then you have to play with it to get it aligned and secured. So I am returning the bag and post this so others may avoid similar waste of money and time. Fidlock is apparently a euro company and a google search of the word fidlock can get you to their website.

Richard S.