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Review on BackLight Elite 45L Camera Backpack By MindShift Gear For DSLR, Mirrorless, Photography, And Video Shooting by Brian Potter

Revainrating 3 out of 5

Comfortable and Practical

This is my third Mindshift bag and they keep getting better. this one is near perfect. The harness is great and fits my 5'8' 160lb body nicely. The shoulder straps still slip like previous bags, but it is not bad. The inside storage is awesome like the others, but this one can be taken out of the backpack frame in case I fail to sneak it onto the plane and that is sweet. The zipper pulls are different and a total fail. I find them very difficult to grip and they usually slip through my fingers on the first and even second try. I have replacements on order. The zipper itself is much smoother than the previous models and a huge improvement there. I made a huge mistake in buying the Atlas Athlete before this. The Athlete is a terrible backpack for me because the camera compartment wasn't deep enough, so I couldn't use it at all. I didn't even try the Shimoda because the ICU wasn't tall enough for the 200-600mm. The Backlight Elite's ICU is perfect. I would love to see this bag in a 30-35L version that would accept the same ICU in the future. Update: The materials of this bag didn't last much over a year. I kept getting rips and tears. The top part of the bag never stayed in place which was frustrating in bad weather.

Pros
  • Back and top panel access to all of your camera gear, allowing you to work out of your bag without getting your harness dirty or wet
Cons
  • The backpack is not waterproof, which can be a problem if you are shooting in wet weather conditions