I can already imagine there will be some comments saying that I’m wrong and that the perfect camera backpack is actually (fill in the blank). Well, let me respond to all of those ahead of time by saying that I can find something wrong with any backpack (or product for that matter). The reason being that no backpack is perfect for everything. Unfortunately, in reality you probably need several different backpacks for different trips, different shoots, different styles, etc. A massive backpack that holds all of the gear in my office is great for getting from point A to point B. But what if when I get to point B I want to explore and be light on my feet?
On the flip side, a light and sporty camera backpack is great for day trips and long hikes, but what about when you need to get a large amount gear to a location?
See what I mean? So the challenge becomes doing your best to find a backpack that fits somewhere in-between these two extremes. A camera that can hold a LOT of gear, but can also tear down when you need to go out and about.
ENTER THE SHAPE SHIFTER
I love this backpack. My good buddy
Jacob Lucas suggested it to me and when I looked it up on the
ThinkTank website I knew my search was complete. I went to Italy with more gear than I would normally bring along because I was shooting a wedding for part of the trip. Because of that I had to bring a bit more gear than I would if I was just going for travel photography. The Shape Shifter was the only camera bag I took and you will not believe what I fit into this thing! Here’s the list…
1 – Canon 1Ds Mark III camera body
1 – Canon 5D Mark II camera body with BG-E6 battery grip
1 – Canon 24-70mm lens
1 – Canon 70-200mm lens
1 – Canon 50mm lens
1 – Canon 15mm Fisheye lens
2 – Canon 580EXII flashes
1 – Canon ST-E2 Flash Transmitter
1 – 15inch Macbook Pro
1 – Small Wacom Tablet with mouse and pen
1 – Lacie 500GB Rugged External HD
1 – Canon TC-80N3 Intervalometer
1 – B+W 10 Stop Filter
8 – CF Cards
3 – Extra batteries for 5DMII
2 – Chargers for 5DMII
1 – Extra battery for 1DsMIII
1 – Charger for 1DsMIII
1 – Manfrotto Tripod Legs/Head
Now that’s a lot of gear in one backpack and one thing a manufacturer will never be able to do is make that much gear weigh less than it actually does (unless the backpack came with an assistant to carry it). This backpack was quite heavy but that was fine because I only needed it to all be with me while I was traveling from point A (Texas) to point B (Italy). There’s no way that I’m going to check any of my photography gear on an airplane, especially when clients are counting on me to photograph their wedding! Once I got to the hotel we were staying at I took out a lot of the gear like the laptop, hard drive, Wacom tablet, and anything that I didn’t need for that specific night. When it was time to move from one hotel to the next, I’d pack everything up again just like before. If you don’t believe you can pack all the gear listed, here’s a quick time-lapse video as I pack the gear from the list above. (Note: I don’t pack the tripod and the 5DMII because they were being used to film the video. I do pack the battery grip for the 5DMII where the camera body would normally go. The tripod connects on the outside of the backpack via the very front pocket and some straps that connect at the top of the backpack).
by James Brandon
