The Bob Krist Camera Bag

 

L. L. Bean Traveller

 

A short user review by Daniel Wee

29 January 2002
 
Ever since I got my Nikon D1X, I've been hunting for a suitable camera bag to go along with the new camera, lenses and accesories that I've acquired. My previous bag which housed an Olympus E-10 proved too small by far for the oversized Nikon body. Thus began my pursuit for the ideal bag.

I was looking for something compact which I can easily bring about with me, and yet I wanted to be able to have my accessories with me when I needed it. My first choice was the Lowepro Specialist AW 80. The D1X fit snugly into that case but because of the rounded and top-loading design, I found that the bag would not stand up by itself. It would topple over on its' own weight, and more so when the D1X was inside it. Furthermore, it proved too small to put in anything more than a small lense or a flash unit when the D1X was in it. After enduring this for a few weeks, I decided it was time to get a decent bag. It was while scouring the forums at DPReview that I first came across the mention of the Bob Krist Camera Bag.

One look at the bag on the L. L. Bean web page told me that this was a one of a kind bag. My interest was immediate piqued and I found myself gravitating to this unique design. There was one major concern I had though. The web page gave the dimensions of the bag as 14"H x 121/2"W x 5"D but the D1X has a height of just over 6". A short e-mail correspondence with Bob himself soon assured me that there was enough play in the bag to accomodate the additional 1" of the D1X camera and so I placed my order through the L. L. Bean web page for US$95.00 for the bag itself, and a further US$35.00 to ship it to Singapore. The bag shipped on the 21st of January.

Well, today it arrived at my office! I was surprised that it took just about 1 week to arrive because the ordering page said that it would take 2 to 3 weeks. Needless to say I am one happy customer. The bag arrived in a brown card box and was nicely wrapped in plastic and was in perfect condition. There were no flaws that I could find in terms of the workmanship of the bag.

 

First Impressions
 
My first impression when I opened up the bag was that it was bigger than I had imagined and expected. The picture on the L. L. Bean page showed what appeared to be a smaller and more compact profile than it looked in real life. I have placed the Nikkor 80-200mm/2.8D and 50mm/1.4D lenses next to the bag for scale.

L. L. Bean picture

   
 
Nevertheless, I wasn't overly bothered since I could always use a bit more space, knowing my own propensity to add to my toy collection. One of the things that attracted me to this bag was the fact that it could be converted into a backpack when needed and I anticipated using this particular feature.
 
    The straps are usually tucked away out of view in to the zippered compartment at the back of the bag. When needed, you pulled out the two straps and attached it to binding rings at the bottom corners of the bag. The regular shoulder strap comes off just as easily and can be stowed away into one of the side compartments. The straps themselves are about as comfortable as any regular backpack strap.

I could not find any other camera bag that offered such a feature and I can imagine using this as a backpack when I go biking with my camera. A definite plus point in my book.
 
The overall construction of the bag and the workmanship is excellent. In my opinion, it is better made than most of the Lowepro bags that I see on the shelves. I have read that the trimmings were made of leather and so that was one of the things that I looked at when inspecting the bag. As you can see from the picture below, the stitchwork is nicely done. You will also notice the texture of the bag and how the khaki color matches the brown trimmings. 

I had originally planned on getting the black colored bag but since L. L. Bean was out of stock on those until mid-February and I was impatient, I went with the khaki colored one. I must say that I am quite pleased with the choice and in retrospect, this had been a better choice than black. I should also add that in real life, the khaki is somewhat darker than in the pictures here. Here, under the flash illumination, it looks more like brown than khaki.

 

The interior of the bag is fairly spacious and deep. You can easily fit the 80-200mm zoom lens into either of the side partitions. There are 4 strips of Velcro on each side of the inner walls and the bag comes with 2 major and 2 minor partitions which you can reconfigure to suit your needs. In the picture above you can see the standard configuration for a top-loading camera.

Besides the interior, the bag seems to have zippered compartments all over the place. There is one on the outside of the flap cover itself, one on it's inside. Another on the front along with a expandable compartment. Inside of the front compartment, there are 2 other zippered modules which can be completely removed from the bag if so desired. These are attached to the insides of the front pouch using Velcro strips. That is not to mention the compartments on the sides of the bags. I should also add that on the front compartment, there are 5 pen holders and a pocket. All in all, I can't imagine anyone running out of space for cables, batteries, or any of the other smaller accessories that one might usually carry around.

 

The Nikon D1X and the Bob Krist Camera Bag

My greatest concern with this bag, however, was if the D1X would fit nicely enough into the bag in spite of the additional inch over the 5" of the bag. So out came the D1X and into the bag it went, top down.

As you can see, the bag bulges out a bit with the D1X in it, as expected. This picture also gives you an idea of the amount of space in the bag with the D1X in it. The slight bulge did not get in the way of closing the bag at all and with the cover over the bag, you wouldn't even know there was a bulge. The bottom line is that, for me, the bag would work for the D1X albeit with a little stretch. I find the stretch acceptable and after a while, you get used to it. I imagine that the bag will also get used to stretch with some usage. It was not difficult to put the camera in or to remove it at all.

The size of the bag meant that I can easily carry a variety of lenses with the camera and still have space left over. As a test, I mounted the Nikkor 80-200mm/2.8D lens onto the D1X and put it into the bag top down, and it went in without a hitch. I didn't even have to wiggle and push to make it go it. This looks like a good thing for field trips when you don't want to have to remove your zoom every time you pack up to move. This and the quick-release top flap makes it easy to get into action with the camera without needing to fumble around with the bag or the camera.

 

Conclusion

In conclusion, I've found the bag to be an excellent purchase and will continue to be used especially for my trekking and biking trips. If there is one thing that I would like changed, it would be the size of it. It is a little bigger than I could carry unobtrusively around with me. Something similar in design but scaled down would have been perfect for my needs. As it is, I still need to find myself a smaller bag to carry around with me.

 

The End

Copyright 2002 Daniel Wee