Tag Archives: aw

Lowepro Nova 200 AW

Earlier this year I acquired a Lowerpro Nova 200 AW camera bag. I have been meaning to write my review, but I’ve managed to delay. I think this is partly a result of the nature of this bag. No, there is nothing wrong with it – in fact, I like it a lot. It is just there is nothing flashy about it either – instead it is just a very competent and useful piece of basic equipment. Continue reading Lowepro Nova 200 AW

Lowepro Slingshot 350 AW Introduced

I’ve written before that I’m a big fan of the Lowepro Slingshot AW line of camera packs, especially the Slingshot 200 AW camera pack. I’ve used mine extensively and it provides a good mix of capacity (enough for a body and a few lenses), convenience (carries over the shoulder with one strap), accessibility (swings forward for easy access to gear), low price, and weather protection (built-in weather cover). I especially like it for urban photography where I can keep all of the necessary gear close and accessible while traveling on foot.

Now I see that Lowepro has introduced a new larger model, the Slingshot 350 AW that is designed to hold not only more photographic gear, but also to carry a laptop. I have not yet had a chance to see the bag in person or try it out, but if it works the way I would expect based on experience with the Slingshot 200 AW it sounds like it could be a dynamite bag for travel and especially for air travel.

G Dan Mitchell Photography
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In the Queue

Having returned from my nine-day Sierra Nevada pack trip last week, I’m up to my eyeballs in photographs to review and work on. I’ve now picked off all the low hanging fruit (the photographs that seem to have immediate, obvious potential) and I’m now engaged in the more laborious task of going back through all of the images again and looking more closely at photographs that seem to have potential but which will take more thought and work.

I’ve posted a few of the backpack photographs already, and more should begin showing up here near the end of August.

A bit later I will post another product review. I’ve had the chance to use the Lowepro Nova 200 AW bag a few times this summer, and I’m anxious to use it a few more times so that I can post my report here. (This bag is designed more along the lines of a traditional camera bag, so it wasn’t part of my arsenal on the recent pack trip.)

Lowepro Toploader AW

I do a lot of backpacking photography, frequently going out for periods of many days or even a couple weeks and carrying camera equipment across high (occasionally trail-less) passes in the Sierra Nevada range. There is a whole range of issues to sort out when you do this sort of back-country photography including:

  • How much gear to take — what do you really need and how much weight are you willing to lug?
  • How to keep the camera and necessary accessories reasonably accessible.
  • How to sufficiently protect the camera equipment from weather and from other dangers.
  • How to integrate systems for carrying camera equipment with those used for carrying regular backpacking gear.

I’ve described my current backpacking photography setup in detail elsewhere, so here I’ll focus on one key element in my solution, a Lowepro Toploader AW bag. (Mine is a slightly older model – a “TLZ AW.” The current incarnations have a slightly different name. The last time I checked they were the “Lowepro Toploader 75 AW Camera Holster Bag” and the “Lowepro Toploader 65 AW Camera Holster Bag.”) Continue reading Lowepro Toploader AW