Incase DSLR Pro Pack Review

Traveling discretely while carrying tons of gear... 

Most camera bags are obvious and often draw attention. This may be fine in most situations but what about when your in a less than safe neighbourhood, or country??? What if you'd rather not advertise that your carrying 25 grand worth of gear on your back?

Answer: The Incase DSLR Pro Pack. 

This is a picture with my 13" macbook pro. It's pulled towards the top so it's visible. Trust me it fits the 15 perfect and 17 by a hair

Overall Ranking: 8 out of 10

I currently have 5 different backpacks, 3 shoulder bags, and suitcases so it's safe to say I've tried and tested more than a few. No backpack is perfect, and I'll never be 100% satisfied with any bag I own.  With that said, The Incase DSLR Pro Pack comes pretty darn close. Typically I stick to Thinktank and wouldn't even consider an Incase backpack, who is known for standard off to school with your textbook backpacks. However before departing on a worldwide photography trip I needed backpack to team with my Thinktank Airport takeoff suitcase that would fit a few requirements.

1. Carry both my D3s & D800.
2. Carry 4 lenses.
3. Have some sort of quick camera access. 
4. Carry a 17" Macbook pro.
5. Be a good looking bag.
6. Be discrete. 
7. Fit underneath the seat in front on an airplane. 
8. Hold a tripod.

This bag covered all angles. 

Positives:
First off, its a great looking bag and affordable at $159. That can't be said for the wide variety of hideous and oddly shaped overpriced Kata, Lowepro, Crumpler, or Tamrac camera backpacks available on the market. It's sleek, void of excess clips and flaps, but underneath can store an arsenal of gear. The camera compartment is camouflaged by it's shape and holds a shocking amount of gear. It can be accessed wide open though the entire back or through a top hatch cleverly placed for quick access.  It's designed to hold an ipad and a 15" laptop, but I found it can fit my 17" Macbook Pro just barely. 


Negatives:
The build quality isn't what you might expect from something designed to carry your precious gear. The outer fabric is apparently water resistant, but rather thin. I have already suffered two rips where a hard plastic structure of the bag have punctured through the skin. Mind you, I've lugged this bag around the world so it's not surprising. The zippers are a definite weak point and are way to small for my liking yet I've had no problems thus far. Protection/padding is also a little thinner than normal, thus how they achieve its slimmer profile. Overall it's not a hiking backpack nor is it designed for any type of hardcore or extreme use. It also does not come with a dedicated rain shell, which isn't a big deal for me because I have half a dozen from others laying around. 

Conclusion:
If you shoot with a battery grip or camera with a built-in grip, this is not the backpack for you. Due to the depth of the camera compartment these camera's have to be stored without a lens. For D3s, D4 or gripped shooters I'd recommend Thinktank's Street walker series. I only use this bag when primarily shooting with my D800. I would not consider this bag a professionals backpack, but rather the enthusiast dream. Perfect for travel or regular commuting. Since acquiring, it has become my daily go to. I consider the Incase DSLR Pro Pack the best all around casual backpack.  

Vancouver street photo walk with Carl Curtis

Sunday, September 2, 2012.

Went for a street walk with the other half of Curtis James Photography around Vancouver armed with my Nikon D800 and only 24-70mm f2.8G. He was packing his D700 and same 24-70. If I had only one lense, this would be it. Over the years I've taken approximately 75%+ of all my photos with my Nikon 24-70 f2.8. Worth every penny at the current price of $1729 @ broadway camera.  We left his place and headed towards olympic village in search of anything and everything to photograph. We were packing light since we knew we'd be doing a lot of 

Nikon D800, 24-70mm 2.8 @ 44mm, ISO 400, f4.5, 1/1000

walking, although we both still rocked sandals. We winded through alleys scouting for potential locations for future shoots. Rather than snap pictures of blank walls and locations I had Carl be the model.  I'm more likely to remember a spot if I associate it with a good pic. Good thing he dressed for the occasion cause he ended up being in 90% of my shots! 

Not even a block into our walk and we encountered a lemonade stand. Mmmmm, Delicious!!! We had to stop and support this youngster and his hustle. Carl often interrogates these minors asking for there sales pitch and found this was a non-profit stand, but yet the proceeds were heading to childrens hospital! Quite a nobel cause. Two freshly squeezed glasses of delicious lemonade later and we were on our merry way. Set with my camera on Jpeg 20mp medium fine, which is more than enough for a personal walk around day. 

Carl had noticed before that scooby doo had been in his neigborhood. In fact he was correct and the Mystery Machine itself was parked just down the block. What would compel someone to turn there perfectly good 1980's GMC van into a Scooby mobile? I applaud them! Amazing. The van was parked half in the shadows so obviously Carl and I decided to compare the dynamic ranges of our two respective cameras. My D800 and his D700. Even from the tiny 3 inch LCD displays it was clearly no competition. The D800 excelled. I have certain complaints about the D800 which I won't get into right now, but dynamic range isn't one of them. 

After making our way through countless alleys and empty lots and I had the sad realization that many of our past favorite locations had been torn down to make way for new condo's. New concrete cookie cutter monstrosities that don't offer anything in the way of character. All within the last two years, so I can only imagine what the future holds for the last few remaining sanctuaries of old character buildings. On the way back to Carl's place with our feet aching from the lack of support and rubbing straps on our sandals. We decided to some action shots of Carl jumping in the middle of the street. It was nearly 6pm and the lighting was perfect casting west to east. The D800 was simply too slow at its dreary 4 fps. A moment when I wished I had brought my D3s and its machine gun like 9fps. I managed to grab a keeper none the less although it was almost unusable due to the D800 back focusing. A little sharpening and it was all good.

What's in the bag, gear I use

I am a Nikon shooter. Always have been and don't see myself making a switch anytime soon. I didn't have much of a choice at the beginning, being that all of my friends and family shot with Nikon. It only made sense that I did too.  I am a self proclaimed gear junkie and have owned just about every current quality lens worth owning. My reviews of gear are based on practicality and field use rather than silly specifications and technical tests which don't help you at all in real field situations. 

I constantly buy and sell lenses and gear on a battle to acquire the perfect working combination. My experience at Curtis James Photography has taught me, this is nearly impossible. Every situation calls for different solutions. Although I have filtered out and narrowed down what best works for my style of shooting. There is no one right way to do anything, rather different styles.

Here's some of the gear I use. 

Bodies
Nikon D4
Nikon D800

Lenses
Nikon 24-70mm f2.8G
Nikon 70-200mm f2.8G vrII
Nikon 16-35mm f4G
Nikon 105mm f2.8G Macro
Nikon 85mm f1.8G
Nikon 50mm f1.8D
Nikon 50mm f1.4G
Sigma 35mm f1.4 DG
Nikon 16mm f2.8D Fisheye

Flashes and Strobes
Nikon SB-900
Nikon SB-600
Alienbees B800 320 w/s
Alienbees ABR800 320 w/s (ringflash)
Interfit EX150 150 w/s