- Lowepro Fastpack BP250AW III Backpack

My Experience with This Camera Bag This is my third camera bag in four years. While I am not a professional photographer, I am a photography enthusiast who uses DSLR cameras. Over the years, I have learned the hard way not to skimp on investing in the right bag. After a few years of trial and error, this bag has been a welcome addition to my gear. Purchase and Initial Impressions I decided to buy this bag when it was on sale, and I must say, it has been wonderful and works well for my needs. The bag is designed to fit one telephoto zoom lens, two other lenses, my accessories, and a laptop. This setup is perfect for my needs, especially since my son plays travel soccer and I am the de facto team photographer. Storage and Usability The storage units in the bag take a bit of getting used to, but they are adequate for my needs. The compartments are well-organized and provide enough space for all my equipment. The bag is compact enough to use as a backpack carry-on for flights or when not flying, making it versatile and convenient for travel. Quality and Durability The bag is made of quality material, and so far, I have not experienced the usual rips or zipper issues that I encountered with slightly cheaper bags I bought in the past. The build quality gives me confidence that it will last for a long time, even with regular use. Recommendation Overall, I strongly recommend this camera bag. It has proven to be a reliable and durable option for carrying my photography gear, and it meets all my needs as a photography enthusiast. If you're looking for a high-quality camera bag that offers great value for money, this is definitely worth considering.

I was looking for a bag to comfortably carrying 10- 20 lbs of camera equipment on a road trip that would include plenty of day hikes of 5 miles or more. I looked at the K&F Concept Bag (see my review), which is a great-looking, well-made bag and a steal at under $100, but it lacked the heft shoulder straps and waist-belt that I thought I'd need for comfortable hiking. I also looked at the LowePro Flipside 300, which, like all of the LowePro bags, is sturdy and well-made, but it is really just one compartment for equipment with no space for personal items so I returned that too. (Also, not large enough to accommodate a 15" laptop.) For a very reasonable price, this Fastpack has the sturdy comfortable design that I wanted, as well as separate compartments for equipment and personal gear. Ideally, I'd have liked the two compartments to be more configurable but the personal gear compartment is well-padded, so if you want to use it for equipment, you can. Another thing I like about this bag is that the side access is actually big enough to be usable. All in all, a well-designed comfortable bag at half the price of other premium brands.

We recently took this to Sri Lanka. It fits well under the plane seats. It is built very rigid so I always felt my equipment was protected. It has a lot of removable dividers so you can make a large number of configurations. It has some convenient pockets on the outside as well. Padded shoulder straps to help with the weight. This opens on the top as well as the side. Also has a sturdy slot on the inside to place a tablet. There are a lot of additional accessories that you can add on later if you need. I have no complaints. It is exactly what I needed.

I’m usually an over the shoulder camera bag person, but I needed something for hiking through El Yunque, and this looked like it could carry my gear plus a few extras. It worked great on the hike. My camera gear, extra clothes, and giant water bottle all fit with room to spare. It is a bit big and awkward for my regular shooting gigs, and the harness works best on a flatter chest and behind rather than well endowed ones, but it is good for the occasional adventure shoot. The main compartment for camera and lenses has versatile dividers that keep everything snug, and it is easy to access with one hand. The zippers are secure and can even accommodate a lock. Smaller compartments for batteries, cords, cards, phones, etc., are both accessible and safe. I also used it as a carry on for my flight to Puerto Rico. A large laptop and tablet fit inside. For air travel, you can stuff it full. For hiking, I recommend packing lighter. It gets heavy fast, and you probably do not need everything you're tempted to bring for a shoot.

Finally! A well designed camera backpack! (I have tried a number over the years and was delighted to dump them when this one arrived) The top compartment is big enough for my Sony a7 with a 28-110 lens with its lens cap on so I can be ready to shoot anything quickly. The bottom compartment accommodates my rather large Sony 100-400 lens and would also accommodate a wide angle lens. There are plenty of pockets for my filters, spare batteries and lens cleaning items. Zippers (which are usually the first thing to fail on a camera backpack) seem to be robust and have given good service in the first few months of use. It is surprisingly comfortable to wear which I attribute to well designed padded shoulder straps, the weight distribution of equipment encouraged by its design and its light weight when empty. I travel extensively in the US and beyond to take images and believe that, at last, I have a camera backpack that belongs on my travels.

This is for the Pro. Love this bag! Fits my a1 with 100-400 lens on or my 70-200 and the other could go in the top pocket or in then camera compartment. Also fits my 12-24 and my 24-70 standing up. With plenty of room to spare. I could put a jacket ,wallet and much more in the bag. I have had the lowepro truckee for years and always wanted a bit more room. This has a lot more room. I also wanted a bit smaller so ordered the smaller non pro one but it was a centimeter or 2 more shallow and I didn’t like the snug fit of my camera and the 12-24 and 24-70 do not stand up in it. Both bags comfortably fit my 15inch MacBook Pro and iPad and would definitely fit a larger laptop as the compartment is huge for the laptop. It’s lightweight but very well padded for your gear. Cant wait to use it.

I very specifically wanted a pack to fit my Fujifilm X-S10 w/ the 100-400mm lens mounted, 1-2 spare lenses and the typical extra bits, with as much room for non-camera stuff as possible. I did all the math, but still wasn’t sure if I should get the “pro” model and I’m glad I didn’t. It’s perfect. There’s enough room for the big zoom(which is not a small lens), with a 1.4x TC, mounted to the camera and, if I move 1 of the dividers, that lens fits in the bottom bay(?) and I can have another lens mounted with room for a 3rd in the upper bay. I did have to use one of the short dividers to extend the main divider to make this all work, but work it does. Otherwise it’s what you’d expect from Lowepro. Well constructed, lots of padding(even on the outside of the upper section), all the interior pockets are double layered or fleece lined and the zippers/pulls are great. You could easily fit an IPad in the outer, padded pocket. I think they’re trying to check a lot of boxes with this pack as far as end use goes, so I wouldn’t really call this a hiking pack, but considering the amount of weight you could potentially fit in it I think the shoulder straps, back padding and shoelace of a waist belt are adequate. Short hikes(<6 miles) are what I got it for and there’s plenty of room for water, snacks, etc… The only downside I see is that there really isn’t a good way to “securely” lash a tripod to it, regardless of what they say. The water bottle pocket and side strap is floppy and annoying and the bottom straps aren’t long enough to slip a tripod through(and cinch it tight). Not the end of the world, but I/you will have to sort something out when we want to have a tripod along.

I like the way this bag is organized, it has a good amount of storage space outside of the main camera compartment, which is the main reason I chose it. My main gripe is that all the plastic ends on the zipper pulls have come right off in less than one year. I liked the way the zipper pulls felt but they need a different solution to secure the plastic ends to the cord.