Cambags

Just bought myself a Kata C-59. I wanted a cam bag primarily for my Nikon D70s, kit lens and a Sigma flash, and then my Sigma 150mm F2.8 EX DG APO Macro HSM  lens and some small stuff.
I chose the C-59 based on threads around on some websites (they were kind of sparse), some very nice answers on my thread on forum.dpreview.com and Kata's own website.

My first impression:
The C-59 is very sturdy bag, definitely of a high quality and a very good protection against some tough handling. The shell feels quite hard, in one place thick. And it's big. Its main compartment has a small
and two big dividers, which you can move as you please.

Other details:
The lid keeps it self upright when you have opened it. Good idea. But you can't open the lid when the bag is hung over your shoulder. The strap holders on the bag are in the way of the zippers. Stupid, in
my opinion. You have to place the bag on something in front of you before you can open it. You can't get to you camera quickly.

The outside pockets are only for small stuff. They can not contain my flash or my secondary lens (the 150 mm macro). And they are wide. For their size they are very tight - in the bottom they can't expand..
The compartment is very "high", so it can keep the camera body fitted with a large lens, for example the Sigma 150/2.8 macro (hood reversed). My Sigma 100-300mm f/4 EX DG IF HSM does not fit into the bag, not even
detached from the D70S (vertically anyway). I did not choose the C-58 because I was afraid it could not contain my stuff. But the C-59 turned out to be too big. Perhaps the H-14 would be right (!?).

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 The C-59 is sturdy and protects the gear well. Its case feels hard and yet soft. Good material. It's a big case. Yet it only contains one camera body with attached lens (fx the Sigma 150mm/f2.8
macro attached, hood reversed), flash, extra lens (that might be the Sigma 150mm/f2.8 macro attached, hood mounted forward). Perhaps you can cram an extra layer into it if you buy some of those fluffy
yellow pads and cut a "false bottom" - under it you could keep gear which is not used so often). The shoulder strap is the tough and extremely efficient rubberized NNS-DH. I love it, because the cam bag does not slide down my rounded shoulders.

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The C-59 is "tall", a couple of inches higher than the Sigma DG 500 Super flash. The Sigma 150mm/f2.8 macro fits in there with its hood mounted, ready for action.

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Lots of space for my few things. I can't really fit more into it unless I begin to stack things on top of each other. In the lid I have cards and the foot for my flash. Left is D70S, right Sigma 150mm/f2.8 macro and Sigma DG500 Super flash.

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 Side look. Notice the great shoulder strap NNS-DH.

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 The rain cover (on the inside it is silver coloured and is used as heat protection) fits well over the C-59.I think it is supposed to be assembled like this.

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Side pocket with rain/sun cover. Fisher Space pen and all-weather notebook.

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 You can move the dividers - it comes with two big ones and one small one. As you can see, the C-59 is big, imho too big for what it can carry. It would prefer a smaller one, just cut to its right size. Perhaps the C-58 would be it? I dunno - for now I want to work with this thing. It feels good and solid.

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Rear pocket is not ideal for bulky content, since it is right up against you hip. I keep manuals and that kind of stuff in there. You might put the rain cover in there. Original shoulder strap for the C-59. It's okay, but not enough for my needs (see pic 01+04).

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 Can't open lid on the move. Strap in the way. Have to put it down somewhere to open into big compartment. Unfortunate, because it takes time to get in there.

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Sigma DG 500 Super flash does not fit into side pocket as promised on Kata website. I have cleaning kit, tripod rings, batteries and other small stuff in there.

thanks to Jan Holm for review.