ThinkTank Retrospective 30 - Black
The ThinkTank Retrospective camera bag series is different from the other regular ThinkTank (shoulder) bags. The normal ThinkTank bags are mainly professional looking. The Retrospective line is much more casual (not as casual as the Domke bags), and it doesn't yell 'THINKTANK'.
My main reason for getting the bag (the Retrospective 30) is its size. It holds a Nikon D300 with an attached 70-200 f/2.8 with or without the lens hood (depending on your internal layout of the bag!!!), and several other lenses / accessories.
The 'slabs' of Velcro on the front pockets for sealing the pockets and the bag itself.
The biggest advantage of this bag is; Velcro. The bag is entirely made with giant slabs of Velcro (well, almost anyway). Every part of the bag is easily accessible. No zippers or other lock-mechanisms that get in the way when your shooting (there are two zipper-protected compartments though). But Velcro has this feature called 'noise'. Separating Velcro strips makes a lot of noise. This is also it's biggest disadvantage of the bag. Thankfully, the bag has these nifty features to silence the Velcro, by 'disabling' it, and allowing easy and silent access to your stuff. Excellent when you don't want to draw too much attention to yourself.
The photos below demonstrate this feature. The photo on the left shows the noisy configuration where lots of noise is generating when opening the bag. The photo on the right shows no Velcro. The 'slab' has been neutralized.
The inside
The bag has a couple of compartments to store stuff. The big/main compartment holds a ton of stuff. I managed to squeeze the following items in it;
- Nikon D300 + Nikon 17-55mm f/2.8G attached (lens hood mounted, not reversed)
- Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8G VR
- Voigtländer 20mm f/3.5 Color-Skopar SLI
- Nikon 35mm f/2D
Mounting the 70-200 on the D300 also works fine. Just make sure to reverse the lens hood, otherwise the bag won't close properly. The only way to carry a D300 with 70-200 with lens hood in the bag is to place it diagonally, or by lying it flat on the bottom of the bag. Downside is that you won't be able to carry everything else. Diagonally is probably the better choice of the two.
The main compartment also has several pockets to store your accessories like GPS, batteries, filters, memory cards etc. This biggest (easy-access) pocket has the same width as the bag itself. Two other 'pockets' are located on the sides of the bag and can hold a flash (in my case an SB-600) or a small bottle. Each of these pockets can be secured with.... you guest it; Velcro.
The bag has two more pockets on the front of the bag. These pockets are large enough to hold a secondary and/or tertiary body (no lens attached). I mainly use those pockets to store lunch and a beverage. These pockets can also be secured with Velcro.
The compartments with a zipper is located on the back of the bag. One on the outside of the bag, and the other is located on the inside of the large compartment. These compartments hold e.g. a magazine, map, travel itinerary, and that sort of (flat) stuff. It might hold an iPad, but I don't know for sure, since I don't own one (you can donate something, so I might evaluate that as well...)
The outside
The bag is made from a fabric that won't keep your stuff dry in rain showers, but they do provide a raincover for those situations. The material (I have the black edition) does 'attract' dust and dirt. Especially when you put it down on the ground a lot. I guess that this has more to do with the color than the fabric itself. The dirt is easily removed though.
The bag doesn't look like a camera bag. More like a messenger bag / laptop bag.
Usage
I carry the bag over a shoulder, or as a messenger bag (across my body). Both ways give you easy access to the inside of the bag. The sling strap is thick and padded. The shoulder pad itself has 'sticky' rubber on the inside which makes sure the bag doesn't slip from your shoulder.
Conclusion
I've used the bag several days now, and i must say that it's an excellent bag. Basically as good as the Billingham I purchased a couple of months ago (which holds less gear). The only room for improvement can think of are the supplied dividers. ThinkTank ships several dividers with the bag to compartmentalize the main compartment. As with most dividers (ThinkTank, LowePro, etc.), they are relatively thin and flimsy. The only real solid dividers I've seen so far were provided with my Kata bag pack, but that can't spoil the fun. On the other hand, they provide more than enough dividers to customize the main compartment to your every need.