Camera bags are all about carrying your gear, right? Well, not really. The need to accommodate all your necessary equipment, meet TSA and international baggage regulations, and be light and compact enough so as not to upset the carry-on gods, all the while looking stylish has raised the bar for bag design and production. A good camera bag should be a real joy to have around, and keep your gear happy and dry.
A young company, ThinkTank Photo makes some of the most imaginative bags on the market. Founded by two working photographers and two designers, their bags cut to the chase. The Hydrophobia camera cover surrounds your gear, and keeps it nice and dry while you’re out shooting, no matter how close you are to Niagara Falls. It comes in two basic sizes, with different eyepieces for your camera. (A third option accommodates a flash.) It worked exceptionally well during our testing, including one unintended test when I was outside during a shoot and a storm spontaneously arose. The camera was the only thing left dry! What makes these bags unique? To begin with, the Hydrophobia is a bit strange looking, since it was designed not only to keep photo gear dry but also to do so while you are shooting in wet weather. It has two glove-like sleeves that cover your hands and seal around your forearms, allowing you quite a bit of freedom with which to work. It’s very lightweight and compact as well. Pretty neat in our book! Who knows when the weather might strike in a manner designed to instill fear, awe, and “let’s get this photo” all at the same time? Often you have two options: get the shot and ruin the camera, or lose the shot and save the camera. With the Hydrophobia you can get the shot with no water damage to your camera!
We have worked with the Olympus Micro Four-Thirds format cameras and other small-ish systems since their introduction, and unfortunately finding a bag to fit such a system is a bit like the Goldilocks and the Three Bears dilemma – nothing fits quite right. Many of the bags are too big, and the small ones are way too small to hold a camera, lenses and a charger. Worst of all, very few of them are stylish! Not so with the ThinkTank Retrospective® 5. This could make even Goldilocks happy since it’s just right! Sized to fit a camera, lenses, and accessories, yet small enough to hang nicely from your shoulder, its retro look will beckon you back in time and remind you of those old tan Leica bags of yore. It comes in two colors – black, and our favorite, Pinestone, a tan color that blends in no matter the situation. Best of all it is light, flexible, and will fit a DSLR and a lens, or a complete compact system like those from Olympus, Panasonic, Sony or Nikon.
The soft canvas feels and looks non-threatening and doesn’t scream “I have a fancy camera, come rip me off!” like a typical black ballistic nylon bag can, so it’s great for shooting in an urban setting. The soft cloth feel to the Retrospective line makes it look anything but a camera bag, which is perfectly suited to our way of working. If the weather suddenly turns nasty, just pull out the simple-to-use rain cover that it ships with to keep things dry. The system has larger bags, but we love the small size of the 5.
Photographers who like to maintain a quiet presence will appreciate the silent mode, which can keep the Velcro from sticking and noisily unsticking. As with all the ThinkTank Photo bags and accessories, the build quality is first-rate. We couldn’t find any material or component that we felt needed upgrading, which is high praise indeed. ThinkTank says the bags have the feel of “old-school” bags but with “new-school” technology, and we couldn’t agree more. The ThinkTank Photo Hydrophobia and Retrospective series are Mac Edition Radio Holiday Picks!
Harris Fogel, posted 12/23/2011
For more information on the ThinkTank Photo Hydrophobia visit: www.thinktankphoto.com
For more information on the ThinkTank Photo Retrospective visit: www.thinktankphoto.com
