The price of prosumer DSLR’s has been dropping for the past years so they are now within reach for most of us. Once you get bitten by the digital photography bug you start collecting more and more gear. All those lenses, strobes, cable releases, filters, … have to be lugged around quite often. You’ll never know what you need when, so you better take as much with you when you decide to go for a photoshoot. Thats why i bought this Lowepro CompuTrekker Plus AW (AW stands for all weather).

Lowepro has some great camerabags for everyones needs. I love the CompuTrekker because it not only holds all my photography stuff, it also holds my laptop and all the cables, powerbricks, chargers and everything that goes with all the techy things. So with that backpack i am prepared for any photography challenge. But it comes to a price … lugging everything around adds on to the total weight, fully loaded it reaches 16kilos (35 pounds). And thats not something you want to carry around every single day.

Thats why i bought a Lowepro SlingShot 200 AW for everyday use.

I decided to try to take my camera always with me to avoid the ‘i missed a great shot‘ opportunity. This ’sling bag’ (it has just a single strap that goes diagonally over your chest) makes it possible to get access to your camera really quick by just letting the bag slide to the font. Mine holds my DSLR, 4 lenses, a strobe and a small point and shoot digital camera. The spacious top compartment contains my diabetes medicines and other small stuff i want to have around at all times.

So basicly switching between these two bags have suited me quite well during the past 2 years on most occasions. When traveling both bags classify as carry on luggage on airplanes. While moving about with both the CompuTrekker and a normal suitcase is ok for going small distances, to and from the airport, trainstation and taxi to the hotel, it is not the ideal solution for a more active way of traveling.

I was looking for a new backpack (after 14 years, the previous one was up for replacement) for an upcoming trekking trip that would hold hold all the usual things (changes of clothes, tent, sleepingbag, and all the other camping gear) but also a has room for some photography tools. I spent many evenings browsing the web for such a solution but i found none … I couldn’t believe that Lowepro never thought about teaming up with their sister company Lowe Alpine to make this kind of trekking backpack. Their combined experience should be able to lead to a perfect backpack for the trekking and backpacking photography enthusiasts out there.

So sadly i had to let that idea go and i went for one of the best regular backpacks out there, the Deuter AirContact PRO 60+15.

I am going to try to find a solution on how to store my camera and some selected lenses in there in a way they are protected as good as in the Lowepro bags.