Customer Reviews

Aktiv Pak AP400 Professional All Weather Multi Purpose Camera & Photo/ Computer Laptop Backpack for Nikon D3000, D3100, D5000, D7000, D90, D300s, D3, D3s, D3x Digital SLR Camera

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a GREAT backpack. The slots are Velcro, so your able to make them bigger or smaller, or remove them all together to make more room for your other gear. The tripod holder does its job quiet well. I was climbing a steep hill and was almost upside down at one point and still didn't lose my tripod! Really nice for traveling, it gets rainy in the London area, so the cover came in handy while walking from one place to the next. LOTS OF ROOM! I was able to put my camera, 3 lenses, cleaning kit, extra battery with charger, 3 days worth of clothes, tripod, and 12 inch laptop with room to spare when I did any weekend travel while I stationed in England. It's very comfortable whether walking in a city, or hiking up a mountain, this guy does its job.

I waited until I actually had taken it on a trip to write a review, and it came through with flying colors. The only thing I found wrong was the velcro from one of the dividers pulled loose, but since there are so many of them, it won't be a problem.
All the straps & seams are sturdy, good lower strap for weight reduction, fit easily in the overhead of the plane. Lots of little extras like cinch straps, covered zippers, good zipper pull tab extensions (will be great for cold weather) even a rain-cover in a bottom pouch. The back padded laptop slot will hold a good sized laptop, and there is another front pocket big enough for my 11x14 sketch book plus pencils, because we often do that too.

Well worth the price

reasons to buy this bag..1)ITS CHEAP! 2) its well made. zippers and material are rugged and durable. 3) if you're like me who don't like switching lenses and carry 2 camera bodies with lenses attached. 4) u can carry additional lenses and flashes. 5) u can attach a tripod on its side. 6) it has a rain cover to protect your camera from the elements. 7)you can carry a 17" lap top also or u can put your bracket for your external flash. 8)you can carry tons of accessories. possible cons...i was looking at the way they stiched the shoulder strap. i might reinforce it because of all the weight i'm carrying. my bag feels like 25 lbs already and i still have 2 more lenses and another flash i want to add to my outfit. it is solid but like i said with all the weight i'm carrying, i feel like i'm pushing the bag over its limit. i will keep up to date on this area. ps. i read complaints about the inside dividers coming loose.. i found the solution. take all the dividers out and re-positon them so that it forms a u [______] like this. by setting them up this way. the velcro will not undo cause it craddles the lenses. the other way, the weight of the 300mm lens if u jump up and down will cause the velco to undo and that's only if u have an empty compartment underneath it. also make sure that the velco is firmly attached by pressing on several times so it will not undo easily. i suggest putting bubble wrap on the empty compartments or place some of your accessories on the empty ones so that the inside stays firm even if u flip your bag upside down or when u decide that u have to run with the pack on. i highly recommend this bag. get it now before the price goes up. you will not regret it.

I bought this because I have a very small camera bag for my Nikon D5000 camera. I am looking into purchasing more lenses for it, and my bag just want do. This bag is bigger than I realized it would be, but I love it. There is plenty of room for a photography student to expand her tools of the trade. I love that it has a slot for my laptop as well. The rain cover is great. I do a lot of sports shooting in the spring and fall and its nice to be able to protect my gear. The fact that the rain cover is attached to the bag makes it that much better. You can't lose it! I am looking forward to filling this bag up to capacity!

I've used a standard Canon bag for my camera rig for a few years. But it never felt strong enough or sufficiently protective for my gear. Plus, the Canon logo felt like having a "STEAL ME" sign when I carried it in public.

Recently, when putting together a new rig, I decided to look for something more heavy duty and a little more anonymous. (I know that other photography enthusiasts can always spot photo gear, but anonymous to the lay person...) I read a ton of reviews on a bunch of different items, and ended up going with the Aktiv Pak AP400.

This bag isn't particularly pretty, made of a coarse, matte black material and very little in the way of decoration. There are straps, clips, zippers and pockets all over it. It's meant to take abuse and keep on functioning. And it is BIG. This isn't a 'carry your camera around town and snap some quick pics' kinda bag. This is a 'lugging all my gear to a location for an all day shoot' or 'taking my laptop and camera rig on the airplane' type of bag. It's got space, very functional extra pockets, and a pretty flexible velcro padding system in the main compartment that is easy to rearrange to your needs. The inside zipped pockets are thoughtfully designed - with meshed plastic covers for easy visibility and leather covers for the zipper pulls to protect your gear. The laptop storage in the back _just_ fits a 17" and keeps it snug against your body. The padding on the back is sufficient and the chest straps are strong and comfortable. The chest and waist straps do a nice job at distributing weight and making it easy to carry a lot of gear - which I do (detailed below).

To give you a real-world example of how I use this bag, here's the rig I've been carrying around this weekend:

. Canon 60D with vertical grip (lens always off in the bag)
. Polaroid PL-144AZ flash
. 17" MacBook Pro with neoprene sleeve
. Canon 50mm f1.4 lens (small and very light)
. Canon 100mm f2.8 macro (long and a little weighty)
. Canon 100-400mm f 4.5-5.6l is telephoto (huge and heavy)
. Manfrotto tripod, fairly heavy (strapped into the dedicated tripod holder on the right side)
. Manfrotto monopod, very light (kludged into the left side pocket and held tight by the main compartment strap)
. various other smaller equipment - lens pen, mouse, cords and cables, etc

This is a pretty significant amount of weight and bulk, and the Aktiv Pak carries it very well. It does, however, make me look a bit like a Ghostbuster wearing a proton pack - but I don't consider that a bad thing. :) Getting through narrow doors can be a challenge as well. If I'm going an area where that bulk on my back is inappropriate, I switch to using the top handle. It's sturdy and comfortable, but I don't trust it to hold all that weight reliably for long. (plus it's pretty hard on the shoulder)

Without the tripod/monopod attached, this just looks like a standard backpack, just with a a lot of straps and things.

Bonus - built into the bottom of the pack is a rain guard you can pull out and completely cover the bag with. It seems a little difficult to situate well over the bag and keep in place. But it's very easy to put back in its compartment, and it contributes a little extra padding to the bottom of the pack.

Overall, I really like this bag. It's incredibly functional and understated, which is exactly what I was looking for. I've only had it a for a few weeks, so I can't speak for its longevity yet, but I expect this bag will hold up for a long time.

I love this pack! Plenty of room for my D-7000 and about 3-4 lenses (70-300mm Sigma, 18-105mm Nikon, 50-200mm Nikon, 10-20mm Sigma, plus filters, batteries, charger, and other equipment.

For the price you can't beat it!

The only downside is if you try and use the tripod mount it's a bit wobbly, but nothing that can't be fixed! I used some cord to cinch the tripod to the carrying handle on the top of the bag for a third point of contact, that really helped stabilize the tripod.

Can't have loads shifting when you are scaling a cliff wall!

This product is awesome. The Nikon D5000 and all the accessories fit in it with room to spare. The price is unbelievable and it shipped the same day. You will NOT be disappointed with this product. It is made very well and is actually functionable.

Pros:
* Sturdy Construction
* It is very large and holds lots of gear.
* It is well made and has lots of space.
* There are plenty of Velcro dividers so you can setup the interior to suit.
* It is well padded for protecting your gear.
* The belt strap makes it very easy to carry without killing your back and shoulders.
* Built in rain cover (it's on the bottom in case you don't find it at first).

Cons:
* Barely holds my 17 inch laptop (1)
* No good place to store small things short of loose in the pockets. (2)

(1) I have a 17 inch laptop (Dell Inspiron E1705 which is kind of thick by today's standards) that barely fits. I say barely because I can get it in, but I fear I will eventually bust the zipper doing so.

(2) I don't want to just throw my remote shutter release, card pouches and other small items into a big open pouch. My shoulder bag had the stitched dividers in the pouches that was convenient for storing small items. There are some stitched in dividers, but most are too small for much.

Summary:
Very well thought out bag with lots of space. The Pros far outweigh the Cons. I am very pleased with the bag as a whole.

I just bought this a couple days ago...here is what I think! The bag on first impression was HUGE!! I did not realize how big it was according to pictures and a youtube video review. I am 5'6 female so when I put it on, my husband laughed and said I look like a little kid going to school! BUT if you're a guy then it should suit you fine. On to the construction of the bag. First the zippers seem to be good quality and I am not concerned with them breaking or not zipping correctly, second alllll the storage pockets impressed me! Plenty of room for all kinds of stuff! Now the inside where you'll be keeping all the photography goodies...there is definitely adequate room for camera bodies, lenses, lens hoods, etc. The only thing I didn't like what the padding squares, they seem to be too flimsy when they should be good and strong to keep things from shifting around. To fix this problem I took the "guts" from my other backpack and add some stability to the part where your camera body goes. The tripod holder is awesome to have but I found it to be some what unstable, not a deal breaker by far but maybe I can add a small strap. I have a Canon rebel, 3 lens, video camera, point and shoot, hoods and few other small things inside the bag and there is still room! This is a great choice for a great price!!! You should really consider this bag to call your own.

I was thrilled with the versatility of the compartments. You can adjust them to any configuration. Plenty of storage! I didn't however like the tripod mount, easy modification is insert a velcro strap instead.