South African outdoor gear manufacturer BackPacker's Campack camera and notebook bag is a serious piece of travel equipment. Then again, it's aimed to take care of your serious camera equipment.

 

There is a serious amount of space in this 45 litre camera bag. BackPacker claims enough storage space for two camera bodies, two flashes and up to four lenses, although we're pretty sure you could pop in more. Combine this with a compartment on the back of the backpack where you can slot in a 15” notebook quite easily, plus a harness for medium sized tripods, movable to either the side or back of the pack, and you have yourself a very versatile camera bag.

 

 

 

The Campack bag is sufficiently padded to protect your equipment and the compartments can be divided as you please and even removed completely if you want to use it just as a regular hiking bag. 

 

We thought there were more than enough extra compartments and pockets to chuck in all the small little items such as battery chargers and cables associated with photography, although a small little mesh pocket on the side for a water-bottle would not have gone unappreciated. 

 

 

 

Lugging around equipment all day can take its toll, so we really liked that the Campack bag also provides a padded waist belt to make carrying easier. Both the waist belt and the regular shoulder harness can be tucked away to make storing the bag in hand-luggage compartments easier. BackPacker included a handle on the top and side of the bag which made carrying it by hand more convenient.

 

 

The fact that you can lug around your notebook is a big addition to the overall package. The most obvious place to do this would be the same compartment at the back that can house the harnesses. A bit of a problem with this is that there are places along the back of compartment where the padding is a bit thin, and although this won't be a problem when carrying the back on the back, it leaves your notebook a bit exposed when on the ground. 

 

The compartment also has two open areas on the bottom left and right hand side, which can expose your notebook to dust when out hiking. It’s also open at the top - a bad move when its raining. The other alternative, although not ideal, is to simply slip in your notebook inside the bag on top of the compartments housing your cameras and lenses.

 

 

 

 

BackPacker’s Campack 45L camera bag is bigger than your average camera backpack and leaves you with a serious amount of storage space for your equipment. They made sure that photographers won’t run out of compartments for various extras, while the fact that you can not only carry your tripod but your notebook too makes for a killer feature.

 

The Campack is available from www.backpackers.co.za for R1282.