I've gone through a lot of bags over the years and bought three in the past year (TT Airport Acceleration V1 & Addicted V2 and the Tamrac Expedition 8x). I used to use Lowepro, since they all have a built in rain jacket (everything from the Nature trekker to the slinghot bags), but I find that if you use a camera with a grip like the 1DIII or the 5D II with a grip and and RRS L-plates, the height of the bag is not high enough and the pentaprism sticks up and is exposed on the top.
I also bought a medium sized Tenba shootout, but returned it after a few days because the sealed zippers split. Otherwise I really like the design of the bag - especially for longer hikes. But the zipper and the lack of sufficient padding around the edges made me reluctant to exchange the bag, so i ended up returning the bag and ordering the Tamrac from Adorama.
However, i think after buying the two TT bags, i will probably stick with them. The harness could be better for hiking, but is serviceable. However the overall build quality is amazing. The only other down side is that unlike the Lowepro's with the built in rain jackets, the TT's have a jacket inside the bag, that you can take out and wrap around the bag when needed. The downside is that it is not as fast as the loewpro jacket and takes up more room in the bag. Moreover, the TT bags are the only bags I've found that are high enough that a pro size body (like the 1DIIi or the 5DII with the grip) can fit. They are also all built to be in accordance with current airline restictions. I think I'm probably going to end up selling my Tamrac and just stick with the TT's as far as my backpacks go.
I think with your gear, you probably get by with the Airport Acceleration (note it also has a removable laptop case). I bought the V1 Airport Acceleration on sale for $179.99. The new one is $279, but you might still be able to get the older version (the only real difference i can see is that the newer version has better security for the laptop). After calling a bunch of places, I found the V1 on sale at a store in Bozeman and picked it up on my way to Yellowstone this fall (
www.f11photo.com) - they still had 4 acceleration bags and 3 Addicted bags in stock, when everyone else I called was out of stock.
I use the Acceleration if I'm not taking a lot of accessories, but if i want to take my Lee ND grads and other filters or am flying, I prefer the Addicted.
If you are not using grips with your 5DII or the 40D or L-plates, then you might be able to squeeze your gear into the TT Antidote ($199) or a less pricey option would be a lot of the Lowepro's bags (i.e. Vertex/nature trekker/flipside. Note that when i tried the Vertex 200/300 bags, I found that neither was high enough if you are using a grip or have a pro size camera). Also, I after seeing the build quality of the Think Tanks and how more versatile they are for configuring the interior, I doubt if I'll ever got to any other manufacturer again (you won't believe the number and different sizes of inserts that come with the bag)
Check out the TT website (
www.thinktankphoto.com), as they show various configurations for their bags.
You can also check out the following site for various bag reviews:
http://cambags.com/Anyway, hope this helps!
