Customer Reviews

Lowepro Off Road Camera Beltpack (Black)

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

For any kind of photography that does not involve the use of either extremely large lenses, or more than 3 total lenses, this is the ideal camera bag. I reach for it more often than any other pack I own, including very high quality backpacks like the Tamrac Expedition 5. With the hip pack/shoulder bag combination, you can easily access all of your gear while walking, not even needing to stop, and all of it is upright and will not fall out. You are not forced to set anything down on dirty surfaces and can reach for gear with one hand. For longer pack trips, such a bag is also very easily placed inside a standard backpack, which is again difficult w/ larger models. I highly recommend this bag, or other similar types from Tamrac, if your normal activities meet the above conditions. If you often utilize super telephoto lenses or are a photographer who finds joy in carrying around a vast array of lenses, this one will be too small. Most of my pictures are taken w/ a Nikon D70s, and either a Nikkor 18-200 mm AF-S VR zoom or my wide-angle 12-24 mm for landscapes. This bag easily carries these, all accessories, and an additional lens such as an 80-400 mm zoom. Resist any temptations you might have to go with a backpack. The reason for this is simple logistics. It turns out that in terms of carrying a camera, a backpack is just about the most difficult apparatus to use efficiently. In order to access your SLR, you must essentially remove the pack and place it on the ground. This is then followed by accessing your camera, which generally has to be set down in order for you to re-shoulder the bag. Quite an unpleasant, time consuming and burdensome process especially when the ground is covered in snow or mud. Go with a LowePro or Tamrac hip pack/shoulder bag like this one.

This bag is absolutely perfect for what I wanted in a camera bag. My priorities for a camera bag were for most of the weight to be placed at my waist so that there would be less downward force on my lumbar spine. The weight would exert downward pressure starting below my low back which is ideal when carrying heavy equipment. This is extremely important for anybody who already experiences low back pain or is interested in preserving for as long as possible the health of the lumber intervertebral discs and lumbar facet joints (which will become arthritic with time and spinal axial loading). I also wanted the bag to be easily accessible while walking or on-the-fly. I wanted to have maximum freedom while holding my camera or just being able to use my arms freely while carrying the camera in the bag.

Traditional backpacks and the single-strap Lowepro Slingshot backpacks place the weight of the bag onto your lumbar spine and so these were out of the question. If you ever carry heavy equipment, you'll understand how important it is to have the weight start its force below, rather than above the low back. These backpacks also do not give as much freedom on-the-fly as a waist pack or fanny bag like the Lowepro Off Road. Even the Slingshot bag with its single strap is not nearly as convenient to use on-the-fly as you have to spin that bag around and then spin it back.

So packs that are tied to the waist or "fanny packs" are the best at preserving the health of one's low back, and also the best for on-the-fly use. However, have you ever tried to carry a traditional fanny pack with 10-15 lbs of weight? Well, it can be done, and the Lowepro Off Road will let you use the bag purely as a fanny pack. It will, however, look odd and bounce as you walk. I'm 5' 8" and 150 lbs and it feels somewhat large but manageable when used as purely a fanny pack. You will certainly get some stares from others who see this large luggage hanging from you.

However, the beauty of this bag is that it is actually probably better when NOT used as a pure fanny or waist pack. I have this bag on tied to my waist with the really easy, large, and durable waist clips. About 90% of the weight is attached to my hips and so my low back is spared. The other 10% of the load is off-set by my using the included comfortable shoulder strap. Using the bag in this manner with both the waist strap and the shoulder strap may sound odd, but in fact it accomplishes 2 things:

The bag no longer looks odd. It looks like you're carrying a regular, handsome and sporty bag with a shoulder strap that also happens to have waist support. But the bag no longer appears to be an odd, oversized fanny pack, but an acceptable and handsome shoulder bag. Yet, because of the waist support, you get all of the conveniences of the fanny pack, including lower lumbar spine strain reduction and ultimate freedom to use both your arms without having a conventional shoulder bag fall off.

The other purpose of using the shoulder strap with the waist strap besides making the bag look conventionally handsome, is that it does provide some support while you walk or run. Without the shoulder strap, the fanny bag would bounce up and down quite a bit. Again, I'm 5' 8" and medium build. If you're significantly taller and heavier, the bag may not bounce as much and may not look as odd without the shoulder strap.

I can load and unload the bag on-the-fly without stopping. My camera equipment is available easily whenever I need it quickly and my arms are free. I own a Nikon D40X with an 18-135mm and SB-600 external flash which fit easily in the main compartment with a lot of room to spare. There are probably still 3 inches of room in front of the mounted 18-135 mm lens on the body. There is even space still left over in the main boxy compartment to fit my Sony HDR-SR7 high definition hard-drive video camera! On each side of the main box-like compartment, you have 2 more cylindrical containers which are also removal and can be replaced with other modules from Lowepro.

The build quality is excellent and the design is truly unique as I was not able to find any other design similar to this. This is such a well-designed bag that truly takes into consideration all of the priorities I listed: low back-sparing design with waist straps, ability to have the camera available without stopping to remove a backpack or even rotate/spin a Slingshot, and the ability to make what would normally be an odd-looking large fannypack transformed into a handsome shoulder bag in disguise (since it really still functions as a fanny bag).

I cannot recommend this bag highly enough. Even if you don't experience chronic low back pain, I think this bag is very important in helping you get as much mileage out of your low back before you develop osteoarthritis of your lumbar spine (which will inevitably occur as we all age).

This has been my main bag for a long time. I have a Canon 20D with the kit lens (18-55), 28-135mm, a 430 flash, and a bottle of water between the main compartment and the 2 side cans. This still leaves plenty of room in the front compartment for additional cards, batteries, filters, and stuff.

However, when I added the battery grip, the camera was too wide to fit in the bag. My 77mm "L" lenses are a tight squeeze into the cans even without the lens hoods.

Fully loaded, the bag can get pretty heavy and pretty awkward to wear around my waist. I have run with it, but I often feel like I might need a bigger butt to help support it. I think that this is about as big a bag I can ever wear around my 33" waist. I usually just sling in over my shoulder with the nice padded shoulder harness.

I give it a 5 because for what it is, the bag is very good. I've dragged it to many places and the bag is still in very good condition. Zippers are smooth and don't catch. The material is very strong and I am confident about the cushioning the bag provides. When wearing around my waist I cannot feel the contents of the bag when I'm walking or bending over because the cushioning is good. The waist strap is thick and comfortable but can be tucked inside a sleeve in the back when I'm just using the harness. I also like that I can just click the bag closed when I don't want to have to zip up the camera compartment.

I do like the bag, but it has a couple of limitations.

- I find that I can barely fit my Nikon d80, but it does carry a 70-300 zoom and a flash.

- I think that using the bottom attachments for a tripod is barely useful (perhaps I just need a smaller tripod...)

As far as the side bags being to small, lowepro does make different size pouchs that can be added in place of the two that come with it. I have attached a water bottle pouch to one side of the bag. But as I said, it does hold a 70-300mm in those pouches.

This bag also does have two rings on it that you can attach a regular shoulder strap with.

I have had this bag for about 10 years, I do a fair amount of hiking and snowshoeing, and it is the only bag that I have found that is really good for that.

I had couple other bags which all cost about the same and did not last vey long under my abuse. however this one has survied almost 5years. traveling all over the world. I did broke one filter in south america, but without this bag i may have broken the lenes. easy to take your camera in and out. ready to shoot in seconds anytime. can hike for days with it.
Good for a good size body three professional zooms and a medium flash.
Wish the lense pouch is slightly wider for my 24-70L lense, and bag itself is a inch deeper for the 70-200L on the body.
Highly recommend.

Very roomy, this bag was exactly what I was looking for. Lots of space for batteries, filters and lenses. Even enough room for my digital rebel with double battery pack on the camera. Carries my 100-300 with ease as well as my other 3 lenses. Most importantly it is also very comfortable. I have not used the tripod staps yet. All in all I will not replace this one soon.

I like the bag for its simplicity of camera carrying equipment whether off shoulder of around the neck with a waist belt. Overall its a little big but you can carry a bunch of other stuff in it and its also plane compatible, so therefore you can carry a little more personal stuff on board as well, it fits my 2 lenses and the nikon d 80 well, so its a good bag for taking around on the holidays, did i mention thats its a little too big.... overall its a good investment worth checking out well thought out for the semi pro camera person or wannabe.

I've been using this bag for 7 years now, currently I am using it with the Canon T2i. While it is a tight fit, it is possible to carry a T2i with the battery grip attached. Great bag if you don't have large lenses. For day hikes it is just the right size, holding my camera, an extra lens or two, filters and accessories (remote release,etc.) Tripod strapped underneath as well as basics for hiking like a small survival kit, pocket knife and a couple bottles of water in the removable lens pouches (just the right size for water bottles)

When it is loaded with lots of gear (like a tripod and 2 bottles of water) I find it more comfortable to carry with both the waist strap AND shoulder strap. For lighter gear days the waist strap is stable and comfortable for all day use. I've carried this 15 miles in a day without problem. Keeps cool and best of all you always have access to all your gear inside without having to remove a bag from your back. The only exception is the tripod - when in the straps it is cumbersome to remove the tripod from the attachment straps below the bag. If I need frequent access to my tripod I just carry it in my hand.

After 7 years of use my bag still looks nearly new - no frayed edges, split seams or lose threads - the only thing that has worn out are the little elastic bands that kept the waist strap neat and tidy.

The Off road has everything you want and more. The side pouches easily handle anything up to a 70-300 lense and the storage for accesories is massive. The belt pack assembly or the use of shoulder strap make carrying easy whether hiking or walking through town. You can't go wrong with this.

The bag is exactly what I expected and exactly what I was looking for. I wanted something that would let me get the camera in and out quickly for casual walking around use with the family.

Bag has good capacity and solid construction. I use it with a Canon 40D and a couple smallish lenses. A 50mm and a 17-85mm zoom, couple of filters, extra cards, and batteries. Plenty of capacity to throw in a wide angle if I get one sometime. I took off the side cases and don't use them. They're too small for my larger lenses, but even if they were bigger I think you start pushing the limits of using a belt pouch once you start throwing in 2 and 3 pound lenses along with a camera. I may attach one for a water bottle at some point, and for those that don't mind carrying extra weight, there are larger attachable side cases available from Lowepro.

There's a detachable shoulder strap I don't find it useful at all. I can't make it fit well or comfortably.

For carrying heavier lenses like a 400/5.6 or 150/2.8 macro I go with a backpack. While you could really load the Off Road up with a lot of gear if you buy some larger side lense cases I think it starts to get pretty awkward with stuff that won't fit in the supplied bag and side cases.