WYLDFIRE STUDIOS

Review: LowePro Dryzone Rover (Mar. 2006)

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I'll start off this particular review that I needed a new bag because I started doing a lot more nature hiking with my boyfriend. This started off with day trips in and around some of the gorgeous parks in Northern California. Gradually, it's evolved into weekend hikes, etc. And, as I got more equipment and started delving more into wildlife and landscape photography, I decided it was time for a new bag for these types of trips.

My Requirements for this particular type of Bag & Why.

• Needed to be a backpack -- I wasn't about to trapse around the woods with a shoulder bag!
• Should have a decent waist belt (optional, but nice to have; High on the optional list) -- from buying and using an actual backpacking backpack (the Gregory Deva 60), I learned very quickly that a decent waist belt helps take strain off your shoulders and put them on your hips. Most camera backpacks have "cursory" waist belts that are merely "straps" that clip in front.
• Needed to "fit" me well -- Again, from trying on different packs for hiking/backpacking, I learned that if the bag DID not fit you well, you were going to get strain from wearing it, ESPECIALLY when it was packed with heavy gear. At 5'3", I found that many camera backpacks were either too big or too small. I found very little that were "just right." Many reviews that I had read sounded great, but when it came to actually trying out a bag at the store, I found that these bags were just too big for someone my size.
  
  I also wanted a well-fitting backpack because I had back issues (herniated disk), and the last thing I wanted was to strain my back carrying my gear.
• Needed to carry my current gear:
  • Canon 20D
  • SpeedLite 420EX
  • Canon 100-400mm IS L lens
  • Canon 17-85mm lens
  • Sigma 10-20 mm lens
  • Gitzo CF tripod w/ ballhead.
  • smaller pieces like CF cards, extra batteries, filters, cleaning gear, remotes, etc
  • And it should have room for additional gear later on.
• Should have a slot for a water bladder (optional, but nice to have)
• Needed to be able to carry extra misc gear, including, but not limited to: hat, gloves, extra sweater, food, water bottles (if no bladder), flashlights, compass, map, first-aid kit, etc.
• Should have some water proofing of some such (optional, but nice to have) -- You never know when it might get a little wet, and I've had the experience of dropping my gear into a river (EEP!) and I wanted to make sure that that incident never repeated.

The current bags I currently own (at the time), the Tamrac Velocity 7 and the Kata R103 backpack, were not going to fit this bill. Granted, these are great bags overall, but neither had the carrying capacity to hold the extra miscellaneous gear which became a requirement.

Looking at the MountainSmith Camera Bags

I looked at other bags prior to the LowePro DryZone Rover. Some friends had one of the LowePro Trekkers, which I thought was much too big for me, plus there was no where to store extra gear. The MountainSmith bags looked like they might fit the bill from reading various reviews, and MountainSmith made decent backpacking gear. However, the one pack that got a great deal of kudos (the Paragon Camera Daypack), which looked it would fit all of my needs, was discontinued, and I couldn't find one anywhere.

So, I did some research on their new bag, the Mountainsmith Quantum Camera Pack, but neither the MountainSmith website or other online vendors had any photos of the inside of the bag. I tried emailing Mountainsmith for details but did not get an answer. Normally, I hate ordering things sight unseen, but I took a chance and went ahead and ordered the bag from eBags.com using a 20% off coupon.

After receiving the bag, I was extremely disappointed. It was *not* what I was expecting. The camera bag portion was merely a "holster" that fitted inside the bag. And the holster would not hold what I needed. It would hold my camera and a smaller lens attached to it and maybe one extra lens. Yes, I could fit in misc. gear, but not the rest! Luckily, eBags has an EXCELLENT return policy, and I was able to get a full and complete refund.

At this point, the LowePro DryZone Rover had recently come out, and I checked all the online reviews, of which there were very little at the time. Luckily, my local (but super expensive) camera store had it in stock. I went over and tried it out in-person. Unfortunately, I didn't have my gear with me at the time (last minute decision to head over), but the pack fit me perfectly and the waist belt was of a decent caliber, and seemed to fit well. The sales guys let me borrow their 100-400mm lens (since I was concerned that it would not fit into the area) and lo and behold, it fit perfectly with the lens hood (turned around of course).

I came back later to the store and tried it out with all the gear, and everything fit beautifully.

At the time, the price was just a way bit too high for my budget, so I waited a litle bit for the price to come down, and along with a coupon discount from Amazon.com, I was able to purchase the bag.

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JADE FALCON PHOTOGRAPHY