Cambags

• Nikon F5 with 135 f/2D DC lens mounted (to approximate a D3 loaded with the Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8G ED)
• Nikon D700 withNikon 70-200mm F/2.8G ED-IF AF-S VR II mounted
• Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8G —this is a FAT lens, and it looked tiny in the Chimp
• Nikon 300mm f/4D
• Nikon  85mm f/1.4G
• Nikon AF-S 50mm f/1.4G
  Nikon 105mm f/2.8 VR micro
• Nikon 24mm f/1.4G
• SB-800 Speedlight flash
• Battery
• CF card
• Advil
• Sunscreen
• 6 or 7 boxed rolls of film (I recently decided that film was not dead and I should have some fun with a used F5 I picked up on eBay)
• Apple MacBook
• I did not shove the power supply in, but of course, it would fit
• I did not include the camera cable, but it would fit
• Gitzo basalt tripod—heavy beast, and ball head
• I also put my beanbag and remote flash cable in the zippered mesh cover

This bag fits all this and could have taken more. It’s perfect for a wedding shooter—but get your assistant to wear it. It must have weighed between 45 and 55 pounds fully loaded. One positive is that even with all its internal padding, the bag itself is one of the lightest bags I’ve ever lifted. All the weight is the gear.

The Chimp weighs 5.4 pounds empty, but feels like it weighs even less than that. It’s relatively lightweight for its size.

The bag has a nice profile and will hermetically seal up all your gear, but it’s certainly not the bag for real world shooting (but that’s true of any backpack, I think). It’s the bag to haul your entire kit from place to place… for myself I’d choose a rolling case. But if your preference is a backpack and you’re tired of complications (pockets and straps everywhere) this might be your kind of bag.

Maybe you like to carry all your gear neatly and contained on your back (like a Chimp carrying its offspring) while you race through an airport, and need to slide it into an overhead compartment on a plane. If you can heft 50 pounds over your head, this is the bag to do it with—it will fit nice.

I wish the Chimp folks would make the hardware and waist belt a little sturdier and the back pad a little more flexible to accommodate various body frames. Also, I’d like a tripod footer pocket on the other side of the bag – then I could put my tripod on either side.

I do like the streamlined nature of this bag, but these improvements would help a lot. Chimps don’t carry shoulder bags and they certainly don’t carry more than one bag.

 Pros:

• Well padded but not overly padded inside. Your gear will be safe. There is just the right amount of cushioning – some backpacks go overboard with cushioning and leave no space for gear, but this Chimp provides good cushioning AND room for gear.

• The shoulder straps are well padded, and so is the back of the bag, with some nice mesh cushioning.

• On the fronts of the shoulder straps there are pockets for a small cell phone (iPhone would be a squeeze though) or money or cards (Starbucks!) that you might need quick access to.

• Some nice touches… there are two small removable Velcro “pockets” that will hold things like camera batteries or lip balm or Advil or a tiny tube of sunscreen. But really, you could fit a huge bottle or tube of sunscreen elsewhere in the bag. They also sent a complimentary black branded t-shirt, and who would not like this, since it says, “Chimp.” That’s just a great name.
  

  

  

   

 Nice top handle—I like how the top of the bag has a handle that feels organic and like it’s just a continuation of the bag. Outwardly the bag looks very elegant.

• Space for a laptop. I would stow the power supply in the orange zip pocket inside the bag cover.
  

  

• Space to even throw a change of clothes in, or film, or perhaps even toiletries for an overnight—these could also fit in the orange zip pouch inside the bag. Clothing would fit into the zippered mesh along the inside cover.

The sides have Velcro belt-tabs and there is one mesh bottom pocket on the left side of the bag as you wear it—this is where you’d put two legs of your tripod and let the other leg ride outside the pocket. On the other side you could lash a light stand, and there is a slot pocket on this other side beneath the Velcro belt-tabs for an umbrella (for rain or for your light stand).

 Uncluttered profile. There is nothing really on the outside of the bag other than the belt-tabs already mentioned, so it looks fairly uncomplicated and has a pleasing shape. There is nothing hanging off it and even the belt isn’t overly long. Some backpacks have so many ends of belts and lashings hanging off of them that they look like zip lining gear.

Cons:

 Loaded with all my gear, I could not get this backpack on without hauling it onto a couch, sitting in front of it and belting myself in. Personally I would never haul all my gear this way. A Pelican or rolling case like the Airport bags from Think Tank would make more sense for me. I’m relatively small and lightweight. In general, I believe this to be true for most backpacks—they hold so much that it becomes impossible to get them on and off easily, unless you have a larger frame.

 The waist belt is flimsy—and so is the buckle. The buckle on Think Tank belt packs is heftier than this, and they are not made to also haul a computer. I feel like I could break the Chimp buckle quite easily. Also, the belt does not feel thick and cushy enough to help bear and balance the load when the bag is fully loaded.

 Seemed unbalanced and not a good fit on a small frame. About a year ago I purchased a lovely Crumpler backpack called the Sinking Barge… and it molded to my back like a dream. Plus it was a heavenly shade of green—unfortunately like many bags—it was way overpadded and for its size, fit an astonishingly small amount of gear. (I returned it, though it looked great on me.) Now, this Chimp fits the gear, but standing straight, the back pad does not meet the middle of my back. All the weight seemed on my shoulders and hips, and not really moving much, in just 10 minutes I had to take it off—I was starting to sweat from the effort of carrying this weight! On a big guy, this Chimp would work. Although, it doesn’t look too bad on me, does it?