Customer Reviews

National Geographic NG 2475 Earth Explorer Medium Shoulder Bag

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I quite like this bag - I think it will become my airline travel bag of choice. It will be great for the purpose, even with no camera equipment at all!

It is not quite true that it won't hold a 17" laptop. I have a 17" Macbook Pro - it fits fine inserted vertically into the internal laptop pocket. The bag is cleverly designed because the soft internal roll up zipper flap will fold down over the laptop and still allow the zipper to close around the contents with ease. That said, with an oversize laptop the bag's exterior flap will not fall far enough to fasten the quick-lock snaps, and the carry handle will be a bit off center, but it is still secure and comfortable to carry, especially with the shoulder strap. The quick-lock deficiency could be fixed with either a) longer straps or b) additional snaps above the exterior pockets.

I have a D2X which does not fit into the padded internal compartment with lens on, but the camera body alone does fit, with room for a lens off to the side. The D2X with lens mounted does fit in the bag next to, but not in the padded internal bag, so spare lenses could go in the internal bag.

My D80 with lens fits beautifully in the internal compartment, and of course the bag is designed for a medium digital SLR, not a large.

The fabric is soft and inviting (great color, too), the accessory pockets useful and well thought out, and the bag is very comfortable to carry on the shoulder.

I would not want this bag loaded with camera equipment to be tossed about indiscriminately by, for example, baggage handlers...but in my own hands as my personal carry-on, I would be confident in the protection it offers.

I bought this bag with great expectations, having gone through several others that did not meet my needs. Needs were to carry a DSLR, three or four lenses, two flash units, a laptop and other miscellaneous photographic bits and pieces. The advertising, literature and photographs gave the impression that these items could be accomodated comfortably, perhaps with room to spare.

Here is what worked and what did not.

What worked:

1. I was able to fit the two flash units into the two pockets very nicely, together with a some spare batteries, cleaning materials, memory cards and the like.

What did not work:

1. The space for the laptop is laughable, unless you carry a very small 12 inch screen machine. My HP 2000, an inexpensive, 'thin and light' model with a 14 inch screen, barely fitted when inserted vertically, and lacked any sort of protection for the edge sticking out the top. I could not put in this relatively small laptop correctly, in the horizontal position. (Perhaps they need to indicate in their literature the size of laptop that will fit right).

2. The inner padded case (the full bag is not padded, there is a small padded insert)can accomodate just one extra lens in addition to a DSLR with a lens mounted. The width of the padded case is approximately the width of a typical meduim size DSLR (without an external battery pack). So if youstore a camera with a typical zoom lens mounted, there is room inside for just one more lens. There is space outside the padded portion for more lenses, but that is just that - unpadded, with no protection whatsoever against impact, which brings me to my next point.

3. The strap, all of two inches wide looks very sturdy. Unfortunately, the material of the clip that lets you adjust its length was extremely flimsy - at least in my bag. A few hours after I had loaded the bag and was carrying it on my shoulder, the clip broke and the bag crashed down, damaging a $200 lens when the bag hit the ground. Had to complete the trip with a broken lens, the strap knotted around the bag to hold it, looking very ugly indeed.

I had high hopes that this would be my ideal bag for carrying a small laptop plus a simple camera outfit. Unfortunately, its design meets neither the needs of a general purpose bag - to carry a laptop, some papers plus a simple camera outfit, neither will it work as a proper camera bag which offers reasonable protection for its contents.

I will be returning my broken bag with deep regret, since I had great expectations for this bag which carries the National Geographic logo.

The problems mentioned by others regarding the strap clips seem to have been addressed. There are no clips! The strap is now non-removable and there is no fear of the strap system failing. I bought this bag figuring I would remove the clips but it was already done for me. The bag feels great, looks great (not just another black camera bag). It would be nice if the whole bag was padded. The laptop compartment is to small for a normal laptop but I find it useful for other things --my back up drive. reflector, other flat(ish) accessories. I am happy to have something more casual than another black, stiff, gear bag. So if you know what you are getting, you might just like it.

My wife and I bird and 'shroom and wander the woods and waters wild looking for critters and whatnot. It has been a major pain trying to fit in binocs and field guides, gps, et al in anything other than a daypack when you include lunch and raingear, etc. But if you put it in a daypack, it's behind you and you have to stop, take it off, and dig.

I've tried a variety of other shoulder bags but haven't liked any of them. Right now on day one, it looks like this bag solves that problem. I'll still have to carry a fanny pack, but the gear I need will be nicely at hand in a well organizable shoulder bag. The size on mine is the medium, and that is a nice size for field gear. I'm not going to be carrying a laptop, but if I did it would have to be a very small one to fit.

I would and might change a few things. It would be nice to have a waterproof bottom. It would be nice to have two way zippers on the side pockets. The shoulder strap could have been designed to be removable without using the clips (mine does not have the clips, just a fixed strap).

I'm always looking for the perfect bag, and have finally figured out that one bag won't due. I took this bag on safari, carried my EOS 20D, 70-300, and 17-85 lenses. Additionalllly I carried the various additional items you need while out taking photos all day, spare cards, cleaning kit, wildlife book, etc, and could have put more. While my 12" mac laptop fits fine, I did not take it on this trip.

Drawbacks to this bag: the "padded" insert only fits the 20D with smaller lens, and that is tight. There is no room for the other lens in the insert, though plenty outside. I would order some domke inserts to attach to the velcro inside if you want to carry more camera equipmet. I ended up putting my crumpler bag inside and that worked just fine on the safari.

I think I would find this bag cumbersome for walking around a city all day, but it's good for travel and carrying your equipment. The quality of the bag is good, and would keep things dry except maybe in an extended downpour.

They have replaced the detachable clips and now the strap cannot be removed, but is very sturdy. Overall, I don't think it is the durabiity of a crumpler or lowepro bag, but is good for my purposes of travel and is something a little different.

By the way, the size is wrong on the description as well--it's 13x7x11

Capacity: Fully loaded, it holds the following stuffs: Thinkpad x60s laptop with adapter; Canon 5D with EF 28-70 Lens, a Canon 16-35 Lens, a Canon EF 70-200 F2.8 lens, a Canon 10x30 IS binocular; a EX 580 II flash with pouch.

Size: Think of the capacity, it is of a rather small size.

Belt system: Since the bag is soft - compared with Lowepro / Tamrac single shoulder bags, I will comfortable when it's on my shoulder. If you fully load the capacity, it's pain anyway.

Workmanship and quality: Unfortunately, the insider fabric is cheap and easy to worn out. Workmanship is also poor, strings are bad, sewing is worse, it is in the bottom 20% of made-in-china bags.

Cushion and organization: This is another big problem. The paddings are not supportive, only a soft pouch inside the main bag, which hold a dslr with a lens. Lenses and camera will be loosely placed inside the bag and their hitting each other is a must. If I give a 85-90 score to a lowepro / tamrac bag on a 100 scale, this one is 60-65.

Bottom line: NG offers 5 year warranty - I seriously doubt if this bag could last for more than a year if you used it once a week. Therefore, I believe NG will grant the warranty in a tricky way. If you are a serious photographer, this is a bag you should stay away. I paid $60 for it and I still felt I was robbed.

I just got this bag and I have to say I was worried when I read the other reviews however if you are a little creative this is easily the product for you. This is rated to only hold a 13inch laptop, that only matters if you put it in the designated laptop sleeve. I have a 15inch macbook pro and since I don't use the laptop sleeve I just put it in the back and use the sleeve to store other things it holds my laptop fine. The bag is padded enough that I don't worry about it being broken even when not in the sleeve. I also have a Canon Rebel with a 75-300 lens attached. With enough room for two more lens in the bag. Plus room for tons of other peripherals including a laptop, battery charger, harddrive, and many many other things. This has a lot more space than I first expected when reading the other reviews and this will definitely become my permanent bag.

The bag is well made and very practical for day trips. The downside for me is that the bag is much larger than I wanted and the National Geo logo on the front of the bag distracts from the bag's appearance. The logo makes the bag look like it was complimentary gift for attending a National Geo event or conference.

The bag is large enough for 1-2 SLRs, extra lens, gadgets and a small laptop. I wanted a bag just for my photo adventures (SLR & extra lens). I have ordered the small bag and will use the medium bag as my carry-on bag for air travel.It would have been helful if the bag had been pictured with a person or with a camera.

I am very interested to see how the light weight kemp fabric wears compared to the heavy canvas Donke bags which I used previously.

Overall a good buy especially if you are looking for a photo equipment plus bag!

This is almost the nicest non-camera looking camera bag you can found out there. It is true though that this bag (especially the sides) are not very well padded. But if you just carry it normally your gear should be pretty well protected. Also the pouch in this bag can fit a 12 inch notebook (I have a dell 700m). Maybe if you push hard enough you might be able to fit a 13 ince macbook. It might not be the most functional bag, but sometimes people do think that you work for the National Geopgraphic.

Took the bag for a quick trip to Mexico. It fit my D60 with two lenses and my Thinkpad X61 easily, and still had enough room for some Christmas presents :)

The outer pockets are ideal to hold passport and tickets, or anything you need quick access to. The overall quality of the used materials is really good and I have to admit that the bag looks really, really cool.

Will be my carry on luggage from now on, if I travel with camera or without.

Very happy with the bag.