Backpack Recommendation

[NancyP]

Photobackpacker has officially retired as of one year ago, and presumably is out somewhere with his large format kit. Nice guy. He made a really slick film holder carrier/organizer for 2-slot sheet film holders, too.

I agree with Buckshot. F-stop makes great bags, IF you fit the bag. I have the Satori, it didn't fit well for long carriage or heavy load - I could do it, but it was wearing me out. Turns out that the standard fixed F-stop harness has a torso length of 18" to 19". I didn't know much about fit, not having done camping since I was a kid - turns out that my torso length is 14.5" to 15" . No wonder. For camping, an extra-small women's Osprey pack set to minimal torso length (~14.5"), with wide zipper access to main compartment, does the trick. F-stop is making a fixed 15-16" torso length women's bag based on the Loka, but hasn't got stock yet.

Thanks for the Lowe Pro Rover suggestion (16" to 19").

Mindshift's First Light, a brand new design, has adjustable torso length, but I couldn't get the Mindshift customer service rep to tell me the range.

Even a 16" pack should ride better than a 19" pack. I don't think that there will be photocentric packs with 14.5" torso length made unless I commission one from a custom pack maker like McHale. Big bucks.

[MattBurt]

Hi!

Are you planning on using the backpack for day hikes (from the car and back in a few hours) or for backpacking (overnight or more?)?

I use photo backpacks for day hikes but for longer hikes and overnights I use a nice backpack made for hiking/backpacking and just but my photo gear inside Kinesis pouches / small bags as needed and put them inside the large backpack. http://www.kgear.com/

Photo backpacks are generally not as nice to carry for extended periods and are heavy for the size.

This. ^^

I have packs for specific adventures (mountain biking, backpacking, skiing, etc) and trying to use a camera pack in any of those situations would be awkward at best. I wrap my camera and a couple of lenses in Clik neoprene wraps and put those with accessories in a small dry bag in my purpose-built pack. Tripod usually fits under a compression strap on the side with most packs or if I'm going light I just bring the Ultrapod II and shoot mostly handheld.

But if I'm shooting an event or less adventure-based shooting, I have a couple of photo packs I use.

A LowePro Flipside 200 which is pretty good but a little small and the tripod carrier is awkward (but usable). The flipside's rear access feature is nice for urban settings where you want to keep your stuff secure but also accessible. Good for being on the move with a body and a couple of lenses.

A Timbuk2 Scoop which does a good job of carrying my gear when I want to bring a lot but has annoying catchy zippers and could use a few more pockets for small items. Overall it's good but not great. I'd like to replace it but I don't have anything picked out yet.

[free1000]

Greatly enjoying the F-stop Tilopa, the convenience of storing different kits in the ICU's made me realise I need to sell some cameras.

[Ken R]

Greatly enjoying the F-stop Tilopa, the convenience of storing different kits in the ICU's made me realise I need to sell some cameras.

jajaja yeah.

In places like Glacier National Park where day hikes can be long and strenuous I tend to carry the least amount of gear possible. In GNP I used the Lowepro Flipside Sport 20L. It is awesome to work out of and specially useful when the ground is muddy / snowy and you really can't/shouldn't put your bag down. My RM3Di w/ IQ160 back and the 40mm and the 70mm HR-W lenses fit perfectly inside Even with lens and back mounted, ready to use! plus all the schneider filters, batteries and extras.

[armand]

So I got and used the Mindshift 180 Professional for several days of hiking (intense for an average person). I had the deluxe version but I took out the top ICU to make room for actual backpacking stuff.
Camped in a cabin on the top so I didn't get additional stuff such as tent/sleeping bag and pad which would have only room on the outside. Got pretty heavy rain for hours.

Overall verdict is ok.
Comfort is decent although it's not that easy to adjust the waist belt to sit properly and when you adjust it the chest strap sits way too high: it's almost at my neck level and I'm am at 5'9.5", anybody shorter would have issues (unless their torso would be much longer).
Once set up properly with most if not the entire weight on the waist it's quite comfortable, although not as good as my backpacking pack, Osprey Aether 70 (I think). Looking at the padding of the shoulder straps I think they expect to have a lot of weight in the shoulders.
The pack had ~ 30 lbs at most times.
In the lower ICU I had room for a Fuji X-T1 with 5 lenses (largest was the 55-200), some batteries, cards, etc. It is VERY easy to access your camera stuff while the pack is on your back (becomes trickier with it on the ground) and that's where the main advantage is, otherwise the lower ICU takes some extra room. You can also use it as a waistbag (and has it's own rain cover).

Lots of pockets and attachments options, very nice. In the upper compartment you have room for several clothes and a little food, depends how you backpack and on the weather can be enough for 1-2 nights up to several nights. If I recall right the upper compartment has 29 liters.
The rain fly let you access the camera, so so rain resistance - after several hours of heavy rain it did go though a little, particularly between my hardshell and the back, a poncho would help a lot here.

I don't have experience with other big photo oriented backpacks but I didn't see many that can actually function as a backpacking bag also, not only as a way to transport huge amounts of photo gear for extended distances.