Reviews
Nice looking backpack. Lots of space, with some important caveats to point out
I'm a sucker for camera backpacks. I've owned a lot and definitely have my favorites, but I can't seem to stop acquiring them.
This K&F concept backpack arrived today, so I had to load it up to find its limits and its flaws.
First and foremost, this is not an ultra-durable kind of backpack. It's by no means poorly-constructed, but if you fill it up to its limits, it will start to show its flaws.
Let's start with what I put into the backpack: Canon R6 Mark II body, Canon RF 24-105mm f/2.8L, and Canon RF 100-300mm f/2.8L, a 16" MacBook Pro, 2 camera batteries, a camera strap, the laptop charger, and a Peak Design carbon travel tripod. Wow, that's a lot of stuff in a relatively small backpack!
Yes, but...
The laptop sleeve's wrap-around zipper seems to be structural. This is not ideal. It means that all the weight you put on the camera side of the bag will pull on the zipper rather than directly on the straps. The zippers are not light duty, but they're not heavy duty, either. Additionally, my 16" MacBook Pro is the largest, thickest laptop I could fit in the bag. My Dell G16 (16") gaming laptop was both too wide and too thick to fit in the laptop pocket.
Next, the bag closed up just fine with the superzoom and its protruding tripod foot attached. However, when I added my laptop charger, batteries, and then the tripod to the accessory pouches, the bag became hard to close. I witnessed the stitching becoming distended, which will definitely lead to failure. You can see this in the third picture.
Lastly, the hard outside shell does not offer any padding between itself and the camera gear. Effectively, it goes in this order: convex outer shell, accessory pockets, and then your gear. There is no padding layer. Thus, you might want to add a padding layer using the included dividers. However, this takes away from accessory space and may make the bag harder to close depending on what you have inside.
The pros? Maybe I should have led with them. The bag looks great. The color is one I use regularly. It's nice and square, but with good rounded edges. The straps are very comfortable. I've owned far less comfortable backpacks than this one. They didn't skimp on the included dividers, so you can configure the bag any way you'd like for your cameras, lenses, and accessories.
The conclusion? It's a fairly-priced bag with solid features, solid construction, and great comfort. It is not meant to be packed to the gills and will technically "fit" way more than the durability of the bag was designed for. It became very heavy, very fast. For a day bag where you bring a camera and a couple modest lenses, with no laptop or no tripod, you'll find it extremely comfortable. If you overpack it, it may not last terribly long. Solid 4/5 stars.
This K&F concept backpack arrived today, so I had to load it up to find its limits and its flaws.
First and foremost, this is not an ultra-durable kind of backpack. It's by no means poorly-constructed, but if you fill it up to its limits, it will start to show its flaws.
Let's start with what I put into the backpack: Canon R6 Mark II body, Canon RF 24-105mm f/2.8L, and Canon RF 100-300mm f/2.8L, a 16" MacBook Pro, 2 camera batteries, a camera strap, the laptop charger, and a Peak Design carbon travel tripod. Wow, that's a lot of stuff in a relatively small backpack!
Yes, but...
The laptop sleeve's wrap-around zipper seems to be structural. This is not ideal. It means that all the weight you put on the camera side of the bag will pull on the zipper rather than directly on the straps. The zippers are not light duty, but they're not heavy duty, either. Additionally, my 16" MacBook Pro is the largest, thickest laptop I could fit in the bag. My Dell G16 (16") gaming laptop was both too wide and too thick to fit in the laptop pocket.
Next, the bag closed up just fine with the superzoom and its protruding tripod foot attached. However, when I added my laptop charger, batteries, and then the tripod to the accessory pouches, the bag became hard to close. I witnessed the stitching becoming distended, which will definitely lead to failure. You can see this in the third picture.
Lastly, the hard outside shell does not offer any padding between itself and the camera gear. Effectively, it goes in this order: convex outer shell, accessory pockets, and then your gear. There is no padding layer. Thus, you might want to add a padding layer using the included dividers. However, this takes away from accessory space and may make the bag harder to close depending on what you have inside.
The pros? Maybe I should have led with them. The bag looks great. The color is one I use regularly. It's nice and square, but with good rounded edges. The straps are very comfortable. I've owned far less comfortable backpacks than this one. They didn't skimp on the included dividers, so you can configure the bag any way you'd like for your cameras, lenses, and accessories.
The conclusion? It's a fairly-priced bag with solid features, solid construction, and great comfort. It is not meant to be packed to the gills and will technically "fit" way more than the durability of the bag was designed for. It became very heavy, very fast. For a day bag where you bring a camera and a couple modest lenses, with no laptop or no tripod, you'll find it extremely comfortable. If you overpack it, it may not last terribly long. Solid 4/5 stars.
20/09/2024