Customer Reviews

Kata Ergo-Tech Series Sensitivity V Personal Gear Backpack for Digital Camera and 12 Inch Laptop Computer, Black

5 star:		(32)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I would have given it 5 stars if Kata had just made this half an inch wider. I have a 14" tablet PC and it is a really tight squeeze at the breadth of the laptop and takes me about 5 minutes to pack it in. But it does fit which is amazing for a bag this compact! It fits some papers too since the thickness and height of the laptop compartment are reasonable.

The design is very intelligent- there is even space to carry a water bottle on the side. The upper main compartment is roomy and I carry my power brick and do-dads. My Olympus E330 dSLR attached to its 17-45mm lens fits in the bottom compartment nicely secured at the lens by the securing strap. It also has a place for my 40-150mm zoom lens on the side, spare battery and an external flash. There is a lot of padding all around that I feel comfortable treating this as a regular backpack.

The cellphone holder is not wide enough to hold my PDA-phone (Eten M700), but I can clip my phone's case to the elastic pocket on the bag.

The bag is very comfortable to wear fully loaded for long periods of time. Its designed so that you can slide it off your back quickly, eg- urban travel in subways. You won't take up much room in the subway, though if you are a regular subway traveler, be watchful of people who may want to mug you for the nice bag and the expensive stuff it conceals.

Highly recommended. Not one cubic centimeter of space is wasted in my bag.
Got it within 3 days from Adorama Camera.

One important feature that's not mentioned is how the design of the bag holds the laptop flat against the back, rather than hanging off it. Every other backpack I've tried or owned has always ended up with the bottom edge of the bag against the lower back, and the top of the bag falling away from the shoulders, leaving a gap between the shoulders and the top of the bag. But the way this bag is designed, the heavier the laptop, the more likely it is that it will pull flat against the carrier's back. That's the most ergonomic and reassuring carrying position I've ever had.
Every other reviewers comments about compactness, sturdiness, quality build, safe storage of delicate electronics is accurate.

This backpack is small. The only time this is a bad thing is when you try to stuff too much in.

If you can understand its size limits (no encyclopedias) you will love it.

The laptop section is well protected. A spiral notebook can fit in there, too. The camera holder is great.

The weight distribution is nice, although I have not worn it for longer than half an hour, yet. The clip in the front helps bring the weight across the shoulders and chest. No bouncing or loose straps here.

You will definitely impress people with this. Yeah I know trying to impress people is morally reprehensible, but get a grip. This backpack will make people jealous.

The top handle is very nicely padded. You could carry it across an airport just by the top handle. I got it wet tonight and there were no problems. I did not go to a water park, but the rain just beaded up and either rolled off or evaporated.

Not much to add to other 5-star reviews, I just want to point out that 2008 MacBook Pro 15" fits with a little pushing sideways.

I received my Kata Ergo-Tech Series Sensitivity V pack today and decided to see exactly how much I could fit into it. I was concerned that I may have to leave a lens behind on an upcoming trip as others were only able to fit 2 lenses and a camera with an attached lens.

Here's what is in my Kata pack now:

* Canon Digital Rebel Xti with attached 50mm lens
* 70-300mm lens
* Fish-eye lens (in it's case/pouch)
* 18-55mm (kit)lens
* Speedflash (in it's case)
* Diffuser for speedflash
* Charger for Canon
* Extra Battery for Canon
* 2 CF cards
* External CF card reader (for laptop) and cords
* Lens care kit in pouch (air brush/ brush/ lint free wipes, etc)
* My cellphone (fit perfectly in phone area - it's a Sony Walkman phone)
* Ipod with headphones
* Notebook sized laptop (10 in screen - fit great)
* Cords/ plugs for laptop
* Assorted lens filters

I still have 4 pockets yet unused (1 each on the zipper sideways "u" shaped flaps) 1 on the strap and one on the side. I could also fit a magazine or paperback in with my laptop.

It seemed heavy at first but on the back it feels fine. We'll see how it goes after hauling it all over the islands.

My one minor complaint is the white logos showing you where things go (picture of a laptop, cell phone, Ipod). I'll be blacking that out with a sharpie as I don't care to advertise that I'm carrying those items. Also, for more security we'll be placing keyring loops on each of the zipper pulls so I can lock them together with a small padlock (since there are dual zippers on the top and bottom section).

It is gorgeous! I'm so very glad I chose this one. After searching for days for the right pack for my gear, I kept returning to Kata and the Sensitivity V. I'm so glad I did!

I used to carry everything in a regular backpack made by Tumi, but I've replaced it with this bag. Being a lover of well-designed gear, I really appreciate the Kata Sensitivity. It holds my MacBook, Nikon D70 and 18-200mm lens, flash and another lens in the lower compartment as well has having an additional compartment on top to hold even more gear. I also like the small profile. Though very spacious, it is much smaller than a normal backpack, and as others have said, I don't hit things with my bag any more when I'm wearing it in a crowded place. There are lots of useful compartments, including one without a zipper that I use for my phone. My phone, a Treo 650, however, doesn't fit into the phone pocket on the strap. I don't have any problems carrying this on one shoulder using only one strap. Also, it is very comfortable when using both straps and carries the load sufficiently high, even when fully loaded, that I don't feel off balance. All-in-all, an excellent bag, I highly recommend it.

This bag is great! I have purchased several other camera/laptop bags trying to find the perfect one. They're just always too big. This one is the perfect size. Here's a list of what I have in it right now:

Laptop Compartment:
* Toshiba Portege M400 Laptop

Bottom Compartment:
* Canon 40D SLR (won't fit with the battery grip attached)
* Attached lens (Canon 28-135mm USM IS)
* Canon 50mm 1.8 lens
* Canon 430 flash

Top Compartment:
* Laptop charger (on of the big ones with the black converter attached)
* 3x5x1 compact flash memory card case
* Logitech wireless mouse
* Canon digital elph point and shoot camera
* Battery charger for the digital elph
* Battery charger for the D40
* Two Circular lens filters in square hard plastic cases

Zipper Pouch in the Top Compartment
* Two USB cables - (in the internal zipper bag)
* Two USB memory sticks - (in the internal zipper bag)

Velcro Flap Compartment in the Top Compartment
* Extra battery for the D40
* Extra battery for the Digital Elph

Velcro Pen Compartment in the Top Compartment
* Two large fountain pens

Velcro Top Outer Compartment
* Empty

Velcro Bottom Outer Compartment
* Two microfiber lens cloths

Side MP3 Zipper Pouch
* HTC Touch Cell Phone

There is plenty of extra room in the top compartment and in the laptop compartment for some papers, magazines, or a thin book. As you can see this bag can hold a lot of stuff and it's still really small. The bag completely full is about the size of the Lowepro SlingShot 200 AW. It also conforms perfectly to the back. I think I've found the perfect bag.

I do expect that as I use it more I'll find that it will make my back a little sweaty as the material doesn't look like it breathes very well. I also expect to need one of my bigger bags for an extended trip or when I need to carry more lenses. Other than that, no problem. Oh and it looks really sweet!

I bought this bag based on Ron Brinkmans's desciption on This Week in Photography podcast. I use it to carry an Canon D30, a Canon 100-300mm f4-5.6, a Canon 28mm 2.8, a Canon HV20 HDV camcorder, a blower, cleaning supplies, and power supplies, etc. I like the size of it since it is fairly small but you can carry a log of gear in it. The straps are comfortable although my iPhone won't fit in the "cell phone" holder. Smaller phones should. The "mp3" holder is too small for my iPod Classic but should hold a nano. Very compact but very useable space.

What I need to pack--
1. Nikon D5000, with Nikon 18-200 VRII lens, battery packs, memory cards and reader
2. Small camera- Canon G9, battery packs
3. HP 2730p tablet (12.1 inch), power cord
4. iPod with charger
5. a small cleaning kit, a couple of maps, water bottle and an apple or two :)

in future hoping for a telephoto lens

What I have done so far--
I have bought 7 bags, including National Geographic and the famous swiss bag. Out of those 7, I ended up returning 5, while on two occasions I thought that I could get used to it!

Problems-
Most bags are built with professionals in mind, so they have too much space, excessive padding, hug size and kill your shoulder. Most of these bags also have 15-17 inch notebooks in mind! I never liked the idea of lugging around huge notebook- kind of defeated the idea of mobility! Oh well.

What I wanted--
1. I like to travel and wanted a bag that I could use as I explore cities and bird sanctuaries, without getting bogged down by the burden of all the stuff!

2. Something to pack all the things listed above and still not kill my back. I was NOT looking for messenger bag. I tried some and after packing everything the weight was just too much. So, I wanted a backpack that would also have style :)

I LOVE THIS BAG!!! I saw the video review on youtube [[...]] In case the link doesnt work, just search for "KATA Backpack ERGO-TECH sensitivity V" and click on the review by "jetdaisuke." You probably wont understand a word of it, but it shows you all the key features. One thing that I would add to that review is that the two compartments on the front can also be converted into one for a telephoto lens! Super cool!

It is a perfect bag for someone looking for easy to carry, stylish bag that is big enough to pack all your gadgets but not so huge that once you pack it you cannot carry it!

After getting sick and tired of carrying two bags for trips, one for DSLR gear and one for notebook, I started looking around for something that would hold all my stuff that wouldn't be so bulky as well. I love this bag. A great part of this bag is that it doesn't look like a gear bag that could be holding thousands of dollars worth of gear. I wasn't sure if my stuff would fit in this bag but unlike a few others have posted, my 14" notebook fits. Here's what I have in it...

- 14" WS Notebook (Dell Vostro 1400)
Bottom Compartment...
- Canon 40D w/Tamron 17-50 attached
- 580EX Speedlite
- Canon battery charger & extra battery
Top Compartment...
- 70-200mm 2.8L IS
- Logitech VX Nano Mouse
- Dell notebook charger
- extra CF cards
- lens pen

I also have other miscellaneous stuff like business cards, card reader, 8GB Zune etc that is in the bag. I'm pretty much maxed out on the bag, except maybe adding the 50mm 1.8. If I got a batterry grip on my 40D, I'm not sure how that would fit in the bottom compartment either, probably would have to take it off when traveling. This is a very well designed bag and it's amazing that it can hold so much stuff while being so sleek. My minor gripe would be not really having a place to put your documents.I think what I'll do is put documents in a folder and put it in the laptop compartment. Also I think making it a tad bigger to fit a bigger camera with battery grip would be nice. The advertised size for the laptop compartment is 12" but like I said earlier, my 14" Dell Vostro fits, zips up and everything.