Steven Leong’s Blog

What is the significance of bags to photographers you say? They are as important as any of our photographic equipment, at least to those who don’t regularly shoot from a studio.

They are what we use to carry our gear around when we are not shooting in our own studio and as such, affect what equipment we can use while photographing and in some cases, affect our ability to actually complete an assignment.

If you were to speak to any photographer who regularly shoots outside assignments, you will invariably hear about their quest to get that “perfect” bag.

Throughout the years, I have gone from a shoulder bag when I first started to a sling bag and then finally settling on trying to get the “perfect backpack”. The story began with…. The Lowepro Nova 5 and then it went from one Lowepro backpack to another but none of them fit me until finally I found out a very little known camera bag manufacturer: Kata (www.kata-bags.com)

p.s. Please excuse the quality of the photos, all my standard gear are in the bags being photographed; so all images here photographed by me were shot using a P&S digicam.

KATA R103 PHOTO RUCKSACK

The first backpack that I was ever really happy with, the Kata R-103.

The lightest, toughest, least bulky backpack that allows me to bring 2 DSLR bodies, 3-5 lenses, 2 hotshoe flashes, portable storage device plus up to a 17” laptop. It also has a tripod holder.

The R-103 also has the advantage of a “quick-access” flap which is seen in the middle of the front side of the bag that allows the main DSLR body plus a lens to be removed from the bag without opening the entire bag. This feature works very well and with some practice; I was able to pull out the camera without ever putting the entire backpack down, making the quick-access flap very useful when shooting in locations where you do not want your bag on the ground.

Another neat feature that I have discovered about this bag is that with some additional practice, I was able to pull out lenses from partition inside the main compartment; this is done by positioning the 2 main compartment zippers to limit where I wanted the bag to open.

All in all, this backpack has been with me for the last 3-years for assignments from the city streets to hotel ballrooms, on boats and even when I am trekking through some jungle.

I have recently read some marketing talk from Think Tank Photo that says that their bags are built to last, the last 3% etc (you can read more of this from their website) and how their “special” zippers for photo bags are nickel plated for goodness, sealed pullers, etc.

What I can tell you about Kata bags as far as the R-103 is concerned is:

“The R-103 is as good if not better than any Think Tank Photo bags out there in terms of build quality.”

How good is the build quality of the R103? After 3yrs of constant usage, I can safely say that all parts of the bag feel as good as new and that includes all zippers, from the main zippers of the camera compartment to the small zippers on the small “map” compartments.

In terms of harnass design and load distribution, the R-103 is great as well. It feels lighter when loaded with the same equipment compared to the Shape Shifter and the thick shoulder straps are very well-made, well-padded and all this is after usage.

Why all the comparisons and comments about Think Tank products and the R-103? Read on…

KATA SENSITIVITY V

A year ago, I started hunting for a bag that could act as a laptop bag and a bag when I do not need to carry my standard 2 DSLR + 4 lenses + 2 hotshoe flashes.

This was to be a “fun” camera bag when I am shooting my personal stuff which could range from landscapes to architecture or just simply walking around the backstreets looking for the “perfect light”.

This bag though wasn’t bought through extensive research through the ‘net nor have I ever seen this bag before I actually bought it.

The stunningly good looks of this bag plus how the material felt against my skin immediately sold me… it was love at first sight! Haha…

Now… I did test it with what gear I wanted to fit into it and to my surprise, this small, stylish, slim and light bag could hold a pro DSLR, 3 lenses, a flash, extra battery and also a bottle of drinking water!

How good is this bag?

It is great… I carried it once on a 4-day assignment in a city, ran through a heavy downpour with it and everything I carried inside remained completely dry. So I can testify that the bag is at least water resistant and rain seems to roll off the material instead of sticking to it.

There is however the problem of this particular bag that has to do with its material: Neoprene.

The entire bag is made from this material, it is stretchable and up to today, appears quite tough to me while remaining pleasant to touch.

In addition to that, Neoprene makes the entire bag hug its contents as well as your body when you carry it; this makes the bag very comfortable to carry around as it distributes weight very, very well BUT, the body hugging bag also restricts air flow to your back.

Carrying this bag at length with both straps on the shoulders tends to get pretty hot after awhile and this makes the bag unsuitable for long treks or even when you have long walks from your car/train to the shooting location.

One last comment, please don’t plan to put in a laptop larger than a A4 stack of paper in the laptop compartment… it won’t fit. The good news is, a change of clothes, brochures, writing pads and a nice book will fit in the laptop compartment.

THINK TANK PHOTO SHAPE SHIFTER

Eventhough the Kata R-103 was great, it’s short-coming was linked to one of its greatest strengths. It is tough.

Tough bags generally have a certain stiffness to them and that makes them inflexible, they are designed to take a certain amount of gear; no more and no less.

Feeling the need for something slightly more flexible that could hold less and be smaller or hold a bit more when the need requires; I found the Think Tank Photo (www.thinktankphoto.com) Shape Shifter.

Designed for the photojournalist in mind, the bag can expand to swallow up 2 pro DSLRs, 3 lenses, 2 flashes, 17” laptop plus various pieces of accessories. And when the gear is out, the bag can be compressed to a very thin form factor, making it convenient to be carried around easily, squeezing through the busiest shoots easily.

How well does it work? Very well.

Now… onto some not-so-positive comments; just like the other bags, some very obvious short-coming of this bag is linked to certain design decisions. In the Shape Shifter’s case, it is the “flexibility” the led to certain issues.

Due to the flexible design, this bag has little in the way of padding and definitely no additional material to provide a “structure” to the bag besides the padding on the back of the bag. This in turn leads to the bag providing very little protection for anything outside the neoprene pouches of the camera compartment.

One other concern is how the bag transfers the weight of the load to the photographer. Due to the lack of any load-bearing structure on the bag, all the weight basically transfers to the outer material of the bag onto the zippers. I do not know how tough the outer material is, how good the stitches are that hold the bag together nor how strong the main zippers are but nonetheless, you can see the weight stressing the bag when loaded. TTP could have done better by reinforcing selected areas to effectively transfer the load to the tougher back of the bag but only time will tell if the current design will be really durable.

All in all, the TTP Shape Shifter did what I think I need for my current shooting style, that is to have 2 DSLR bodies with me for all assignments, 1 as a main body and 1 as backup; 2 hotshoe flashes again 1 as main and 1 as backup. 3-4 lenses, with 1 lens mounted on the main body while shooting, 2 lenses in lens pouches on my belt system.

Flexible, able to hold loads of gear plus a belt system with pouches; it all sounds very good until again we run into the famous saying, “Nothing is ever perfect.”.

Being flexible, the bag itself contains nearly zero padding for anything other than the items kept in the neoprene pouches in the camera compartment.

So, this bag is for the photographer that doesn’t have to put his/her bag through any rough handling. And no tossing your Shape Shifter on the floor!

Minor niggles aside, this looks like it will be a solid bag.

One other thing is nothing to do with the bag but the company that makes it: Think Tank Photo.

TTP seems to be addicted in telling the world that they are the only “good” camera bag manufacturer in the world because their “attention to detail”, etc.But in actual fact, there are many other good manufacturers around.

There is nothing wrong saying that one’s product is the best but another thing to say that you are the best constantly and in every single aspect.

So, TTP, if you are reading this, tone down your arrogance and marketing BS; if your products are good, we will buy them, if you keep yappin’ about you are THE best all the time, which tends to create a negative impact.

CONCLUSION

So… is A, B or C better? Ans : I am keeping all three, and I will be naming them my “small”, “medium” and “large”; which nickname belongs to which bag? I shall leave that to your imagination.:-P

Kata Sensitivity V: Looks great, works great, suited for 1 body only assignments and definitely good for everyday usage lugging the laptop or my client presentation materials around.

Kata R-103: For nature shoots, out-of-country or any assignments that require me to get on a plane or boat. That is when I want maximum protection for my gear plus it has the best and most comfortable harness, lightest and lowest profile when fully loaded.

Think Tank Photo Shape Shifter: For any in-town or drive-to assignments especially for assignments that require me to have all my gear on my body at all times.