What's up Ya'll? Hope you're having a great week. This week I want to do a gear review on a new camera backpack that I recently purchased. The Shimoda Side Lite 22 camera backpack. Now I love Shimoda bags. I first purchased a Shimoda bag off of a "Kickstarter" Project years ago. It was the Shimoda Action X 30 Liter bag and is a great backpack and is the most comfortable backpack that I have ever used. So why would I get another bag? The Action X 30 bag that I have is built for larger cameras and for hiking long distances with your gear which it is great for.  But it is not suited for urban or street photography when you're walking out and about. You look like you're on an expedition. Since I have downsized my camera kit the bag although still great is a bit too large and too outdoorsy if that makes sense. I also would like to have a backpack for a traveling backpack when I'm out in the MAV (Max's Adventure Van) or when traveling with my photography group or even better when flying with my camera kit. So that was the mission. Find a smaller backpack that doesn't scream hiking or outdoors but could be used as such. Here is a link to Max's Kitchen Gear Talk Video about the Side Lite 22. 

I looked at many camera brands from Lowepro to ThinkTank and all sorts of brands. But I kept coming back to Shimoda. I love the craftsmanship the innovation and most importantly they are so comfortable. Now Shimoda has many models to choose from and the decision was still hard to make. Most of their bags open from the rear so you have to lay the bag down to open it up to the camera compartment. Which in Landscape photography isn't too bad but in travel or street can be cumbersome to find a place to set your bag down. It was such a hassle that I would not take the shot or change the lens because of the inconvenience. So I wanted to access my gear without putting my bag down. So a side access bag seemed to be the choice. Now my Action X can be accessed from the side but mainly it's a back access pack.  Shimoda has a series of bags that are just side access called the Side Lite, Street, or Country. There are three levels of bags. Depending on which one you get
each one has its own purpose. The side street is built for street photography it comes in only two colors black and a tan color. It has a roll top , a laptop sleeve and comes in 22 liter and 28 liter. The Side country is a larger bag comes in 28 liter and 32 liter. Now this bag was out of the question because it was too big but a great bag I'm sure. Now the Side Lite the one I chose is more minimalist of a bag. It comes in one size 22 liter and has no laptop sleeve. It was built to be lightweight and no nonsense bag. Just what I was looking for. Let me explain the bag.

The bag is a 22 liter roll top bag. I like the roll top because it gives you a little extra room in the top if you need it for a coat or jacket or if you bought something while you were out. The straps are much like the Action X in design and they (Shimoda) can also make the straps for women to fit their bodies better. Not many bag companies do that. When you have the bag on you don't feel weight on the top of your shoulders but more in the breast area which is more comfortable in my opinion. The straps have load lifters on them like the Action X which you can adjust for the wight of the pack. The straps also have two pouches on them . One for a phone which will take an extra large smart phone and the other can be used for a small water bottle (500ml) if you like. They also have a place on the left strap for a capture clip of some sort . I use the Peak Design but other companies make them also. If you open the top of the roll top bag there is a removable liner that can be used as a tote bag if you needed one with handles on it. I don't see too much use for this but maybe if you went to the store without your pack you could use the bag to carry items back. On the front of the pack is one large pouch which could handle an outer shell like a puffy jacket or a rain jacket. On the sides there are stretchable water bottle holders with straps so you could put a travel sized tripod on one if you want. On one side there is a zipper section that when you unzip there is a place that you could put action camera in or something small like that and also a little organizer. On the other side zippered in is the camera compartment.  This is where your camera lives. I can put my crop sensor Sony A6700 with a 18-50mm lens, a 70-300 lens and a 10-18mm lens all in this pouch. That is my whole Travel setup! There is also enough room for my polarizer filter kit to bi in the pouch. Which is pretty cool but that's not all. This compartment is called a "Top Loader" System. This whole section can come out and be a shoulder bag. It comes with a strap that is padded that you could hook to it. So if you arrived at your hotel and didn't want to walk around with a backpack you can take this out and you have a sling type bag. The backpack also comes with a waist belt that you could take off and put on the top loader system and use like a big fanny pack. The top loader comes with a pocket on the front that can hold things like filters and your phone if you want. It also has an expandable bottom that can open up and hold even longer lenses . It's pretty cool. The pack is actually 3 bags in one. The liner bag, the backpack and the top loader as a sling bag. It also comes with a rain cover that can protect your stuff in a downpour. I have taken off the hip belt as I don't really need it for the kit that I'm carrying. The material that it is made of is Cordura which is recycled plastics and fishing line which gives it a very durable and water repellant property. But not rain proof that's why they give you the rain cover.

I have taken it on a hot sweaty hike and it did great. I was able to access the camera and lenses without setting the bag down. Thats with a hiking stick attached to one arm and Forrest the Wonder Dog attached to my waist! So I'm pretty pleased with the hiking portion of the bag and am sure in an urban environment with no hiking stick or dog attached it will do even better. For me this is a perfect set up. It doesn't look like a camera bag, it's lightweight, small, and has an included shoulder bag. This should be perfect for travel. I'm really looking forward to taking some trips with this bag. Whether I'm in the MAV or on a plane this should work great .  I do have some trips planned but that's not for now it's for later blogs. Until next week. Get out and Shoot!

Hey if you want to check out my photography go to my instagram account Max Stansell Photography there are over 2000 posts there. Here is the link

 Max Stansell Photography Instagram Link