LowePro Toploader Pro 75 AW - A top-quality camera bag for outdoor photography
James Hathway battling strong winds and spindrift during a Winter hill walk in Scotland that occasionally forced us to our knees on what’s no more than a 25 degree slope. My camera was well protected inside my camera bag, but it also enabled me to take it out quickly to capture a shot and place it back inside.
An essential aspect of outdoor and adventure sports photography is being able take photos quickly, a popular phrase originally by ice hockey player Wayne Gretsky being “you miss 100% of the shots you don’t take”. When the opportunity arises (e.g. when the light quickly changes), you don’t want to have to stop and drop everything, wasting valuable time as you take your camera out of your backpack and potentially missing out on quality images.
My essential requirements for a camera bag or holster to carry my professional photography equipment are;
The camera bag has to be well padded to protect my equipment
It needs to be weatherproof
It must enable me to be able to quickly take the camera out and put it away again (e.g. when shooting in bad weather in the mountains or when I need to keep up with others)
It has to take my 70-200 F2.8 Nikon lens
It needs to be comfy to wear for long periods of time
After some research, I settled on a Lowepro toploading model (the latest version is Lowepro’s Toploader Pro 75 AW II), buoyed after seeing US photographer Andrew Querner using one in the climbing DVD, Higher Ground, and reading about Michael Clark’s experience of the bag when working at the Patagonian Expedition race.
I've been to Patagonia and I know what the weather is like. If a camera bag has proven good enough to cope with the challenging conditions in southern Chile and Argentina, then I was confident it's more than good enough for me.
What I like about the Lowepro Toploader Pro 75 AW camera bag
Different ways to wear - You can purchase a belt or a harness for this bag, or use the provided 3-point harness attachment. I just put the bag over one shoulder and under the other arm and swing it to the front. I then put my rucksack on and it keeps it nice and secure.
Top lid - This is padded. Lowepro say you can put your sunglasses in here but I work most often in Scotland and sunglasses aren't often required. I find it ideal for spare batteries (tucked inside the mesh pocket) and a compass.
Scooped opening - My Nikon D4S and D810 both easily fit inside the bag with lenses attached (both 24-70mm and 70-200mm) yet are snug to be protected from damage.
Front pocket - This is where I store the dry bag and a chamois to wipe the lens.
Mesh side pocket - I stuff a ThinkTank PocketRocket memory card holder in here and clip it to the camera bag for security.
Zip and clasp closure - You can either zip the bag up or clasp it shut. The zip has big chunky zip-pulls with plastic handles that lets you close the bag with big gloves on (I can even do it with mitts on). The clasp saves you having to zip the bag up but mitigate the risk of the contents falling out.
Size - It easily swallows a Nikon 70-200mm F2.8 on its own but if you’re using a 24-70mm f2.8 there’s also just enough room to include a small prime lens as well (e.g. a 50mm lens for panoramas or low-light requirements). Appreciate this means it is a very big bag - and I sometimes feel self-conscious about carrying it - but that feeling goes away as soon as I use it.
Optional attachments - You can attach a lens case to the outside too, using the Molle attachments and a strap to cinch it down. I most often use this though for securing a map case. It's ideal for this.
What I’d like to see changed
All Weather Cover - I find this too tight and difficult to put on outdoors. I use a dry bag instead - an Ortlieb 13 litre is ideal - pulling it up over the bottom and clipping it closed at the top. You can't roll-top it but it forms a fairly weatherproof seal.
Other than this, nothing at all really. All in all, I think this is a perfect bag for hiking, hillwalking and adventure photography. It's not bombproof - I fell off a mountain bike whilst wearing it and damaged a lens - but otherwise, I'd highly recommend it.
Alternatives
F-Stop Navin - I use F-Stop camera backpacks so the Navin would appear to be ideal but I don’t see any reason to switch from LowePro
ThinkTank Digital Holster 30 - I had a smaller model earlier and liked it but I feel the Lowepro model is more suitable for mountain use
Another photograph from the same outing above, which I wouldn’t have taken without having the ability to get my camera easily out and back into my camera bag in inclement conditions.