2013-04-07T21:00:00
I love this bag is amazing!!!
freetimestar
2013-02-09T19:00:00
Rated 4 out of 5
Overall, a great bag
Overall, this is a great bag. I shoot a Nikon D7000 with a grip and a Black Rapid strap. - a combo that makes fitting into many bags a real challenges. It is a bit snug in this bag, particularly with the BR strap, but it fits. Getting the camera out is a bit of a struggle - no "fast draws" like on Vanguard's silly promo video. But it works well. My equipment is well protected, I can easily fit a 70-300 lens, mounted, into this bag.
A couple of oddities, and a big suggestion for Vanguard. First the oddities. There is an adjustable strap that seems to fit over the top lid. In place, you can't open the lid,d perhaps that the point. If so, it is overkill. I had to let some slack out of the strap so that it hangs over the front or back of the bag, kind of out of the way. There, it serves as a handle. Much better approach would have been for Vanguard to permanently sew a handle onto the top of he bag, a feature hat would be very, very useful.
The other oddity is the water bottle holder. This is actually a mesh bag that, with great effort, you pluck out of the pocket on the bag's side and then it hangs outside the main bag body. The existence of this mesh bag isn't obvious, and it isn't documented anywhere. You can probably put a commercial plastic water bottle, the kind that you buy full of water, in this little bag, but not a reusable metal or plastic bottle of any size. I'm not sure I want a flag on of water that close to my gear, but okay.
My biggest suggestion for Vanguard would be to extend the zipper for the lid a half inch to a full inch on either side. As it is now, the lid doesn't fully open and can't be pushed out of the way, and it interferes with removing and replacing the camera. I consider this to be the bay's greatest fault, and not a small one.
Having picked the nits, though, this is a very nice bag, well made and well padded, comfortable to carry, and my routine carry bag when I'm out shooting. This is the bag that enables me to carry my camera with me most of the time.
The side pockets are pretty small and snug. The promotional material suggests you can carry a charger in the bag - not any camera battery charger I've ever owned, but that OK. I have other bags when I need a ton of gear. When I need a smaller bag for my camera and nearly any lens, the Outlawz 17Z does the trick and very well. Strongly recommended with the caveats above.
Garytx
