Lowepro Nature Trekker AW

This is an outstanding photographic backpack. If you do your research to find a CAMERA backpack before you buy one, you will not be disappointed in the features or the value of this backpack. I have used this backpack on day long hikes over all types of terrain, from mountains to coastal to forest and prarie. In all conditions, this backpack made the hiking part of it a pleasure. When I am out photographing nature, I like to be able to focus on hiking and finding my subjects, not worrying about how sore my backpack is making me feel or how uncomfortable it is. Another nice feature is the tripod mount, which can be a little tricky to get balanced right, but I bought this pack specifically because the tripod could be attached to leave hands free for tricky hiking.

ROOM -- this backpack has plenty of room for just about all the gear you will need. I usually carry 1 pro 35mm camera body, 2 pro lenses, 6-8 filters, shutter release, close-up lenses, lens hoods, straps, film, and this still leaves room for the cleaning and note-taking accessories. With a little adjustment, I was even able to get my wife's camera body and two lenses into the pack without sacrificing anything except her 2x teleconverter. BALANCE -- even fully loaded, the chassis of this backpack made it feel perfectly balanced. This was nice for hiking over large coastal rocks or winding trail on hillsides and through ravines. Quite honestly, it might feel heavy when you pick it up off the ground, but get it on your back and the weight spreads out really well over the entire surface. DURABILITY -- the zippers, straps, clips, and finishing work all have a solid feel. There is even a safety clip to make sure the pack stays closed. The rain cover (which fold away into a Velcro compartment) is a great addition to keep the pack dry, or you can even spread it underneath the pack if your environment is wet (like soaked sand). INTERIOR -- their is plenty of Velcro to give you endless variation for positioning the internal compartments. The interior zipper pockets are clear so you can see what's in them. Also, the zippers recess behind flaps so the metal zippers will not scratch up your camera gear when the top is closed.

While not necessarily a weakness, the tripod mount is a little ungainly. I do not use the "cup" they give you, but instead use the third top-most bungee cord to wrap around the head and keep the tripod from sliding down as you hike.

Tamrac

None so far.

This pack is solid!! Good harness if adjusted correctly.. Well balanced.

Solid

Tripod mount could be better (but then again whos couldnt use some improvment) Wish they had more pockets in front zipper area.

Lowepro Mini AW

none needed

This is a great backpack for all of my camera gear. It has high quality built all over it. I find that it will hold my Nikon F5, 28-70 f/2.8, 80-200 f/2.8 zooms, 300 f/4, flash, and with room to carry one more small lens. It will also carry all of the other neccesary stuff, filters, cleaning sup., holders, etc,,,. It will carry my Bogen 3021 tripod on the outside. If you are hiking to an area to take some shots, this pack is for you. If you are walking just a short distance from shot location to another, then you might look into getting a shoulder bag. It is some what difficult to take the pack off of your back and constantly access your backpack for lenses, film etc.. Excellent quality backpack.

Build

None

Not needed yet.

I acquired this pack only yesterday but I did allot of research before I settled on a product for my needs. I also looked at a pack by Tatonka which was half the price but advice and instinct told me where my money ought to go. One thing that should be pointed out from the start is that this is not a general hiking pack for long trips outdoors; 3 days for instance. Repeat - *THIS IS NOT AN ALL PURPOSE HIKING PACK!* I have no problem with this because if I want something like that then I'll use a proper framed toploader for my long expeditions and load my 35mm gear into it instead. This is not the say that the Nature Trekker cannot be hollowed out and used as a general day trekker, it can, but who'd want to pull all that velcro off and put it back again? This alone took me about 15 minutes of struggle, in order to get all my compartments for my Medium Format gear sorted out, but it was fun struggle. If you keep in mind that the Nature Trekker is a dedicated Photographic Backpack, purpose built for carrying Photographic equiptment and not tents and bedrolls, as well as food and the like, then you'll be in the reality ballpark and far less likely to be dissapointed when the pots, pans and cooking utenstils don't pack down well with your expensive lenses! I packed a Mamiya Rb67 Pro-S, flash, light meter, filters, film, heavy duty Linhof tripod that extends to 7ft! I all but destroyed an old backpack that had done several tours of duty in South East Asia since 95, with this MF gear. All my MF gear fits perfectly within the Lowepro Nature Trekker with allot of room to spare actually; thats with an RB by the way! The lumbar support which sits on your hips and stops the bottom end of the pack from pivoting laterally is brilliant in the way it limits movement and maximises comfort and stability. This buckles across your stomach and has a nice wrap around effect. The Y brace harness from the shoulders to the pack is heavily padded and among some of the nicest craftmanship I have experienced in quite some time, with several points where adjustments can be made. This in itself is very important and extremely confidence inspiring. There is a second sternum harness which goes - you guessed it - across the chest to reduce wear on the shoulders by pulling the shoulder straps *in* and holding them together, another great idea. From the top of the pack to the bottom there are harnesses to make critical adjustement to suit all sizes. If anybody has had issues with this system then they haven't read the instructions properly on how to utilize andset up the pack for best wear. You should begin by loosening all the straps and then with the help of another person begin adjusting with your gear inside until everything sits correctly. The fact that this pack has so many features and allowances for add-ons attests to the quality of thought and design apparent here. I needed something that would guard and protect my MF equiptment which is expensive and hard to replace as well as something which also made provision for carrying my heavy tripod. This pack allows you to center mount the tripod or side mount which is excellent. The pack has a dedicated rain cover with draw string which folds into a velcro slip at the base of the bag, another excellent idea! All in all this pack is sturdy, well designed, has excellent build quality and oozes class. I have no doubt for some 35mm users this pack may wekk seem a bit over the top but for myself and my Medium Format needs this pack is a perfect fit.

Everything mentioned above

None I can find at this point

Crispi Tatonka

this backpack is supposed to enable a nature photographer to carry his/hers camera gear AND TREKKING GEAR through a long trek. it doesn't. there isn't enough room in the backpack for other stuff exept for camera gear. after packing 1 pro SLR, 2 (very) small lenses, 1 medium sized lens and a small number of accessories, I was left with very little room for food and warm clothing for the night in the bag. this forced me to trek in circels, every day I had to buy more food, since I wasn't able to bring enough for 2.5 days. I had to strap my sleeping bag underneath the backpcak, by means of improvising an elastic net. since ther is no safe, waterproof space in the bag, I had to strap my 2 waterbags (5 liters each) to the sides of it. the fleece had to go under the tripod wich was set in it's harness on the back. at the end, I carried over half of the weight OUTSIDE of the backpack! I might as well go trekking with everything inside a grocery store bag... the back system is plain horrible. the waistbelt is to high to be efficient. the back is to short (and I am just 175cm tall). the shoulder straps are to narrow and won't make the pack stick to my back like it should. this makes the weight of the backpack pull me back, so I have to walk leaning forward. why can't lowe pro be smart and make a backpack that has less room for camera gear and more room for trekking gear, with a REAL back system like the APS one that's on my beloved lowe alpine alpamayo? I will give it 3 value stars because it is still better and cheaper than walking with a REAL bacpack and an extra bag for the camera gear.

good protection against shock, dust, rain and heat. a lot of space for camera gear. can be configured in many ways. good tripod harnnes.

no room for trekking gear. no (waterproof) room for water. very poor back system.