Lowepro Flipside 400 AW Backpack (Black) by Lowepro
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Digital camera reviews of Lowepro Flipside 400 AW Backpack (Black)
Digital camera Review: Great bag
Summary: 5 Stars
I went through 4 different backpacks before I ended up here. Thankfully, Amazon is great about returns! Here is why it was so hard for me:
* I am 6'4" and with a 49" chest so I needed a bag that would actually fit
* I have a 7D, 4 lenses, two flashes and the usual other stuff and it all needed to fit
* I needed a good tripod holder on the rear, not off to one side or the other
* and ultimately, I decided I really liked the front loading feature which allows you to pull the pack around in front of you, tip it forward and change lenses all without needing to set it down.
Add it all up and this bag was the perfect solution. Lots of room, ample pockets on the outside, large enough for a tall man, good tripod holder, dual water bottle holders and a place for all my stuff. Only complaint is that the shoulder straps should be a bit wider to better distribute the load across my shoulders. That said, I have gone out on several hikes with it for several hours and it never became uncomfortable.
Great backpack!
Digital camera Review: Lightweight yet roomy. Flipside really works great!
Summary: 5 Stars
I bought this bag last week and put it to use the first time yesterday. I went to Nature Bridge State Beach with it. This bag can carry a lot of equipments and I really like like the adjustable chest strap. You adjust it to whichever position that is comfort.
The real surprise I had yesterday is it was a low tide when we got to the beach and the tide was still moving out. After 2 hours, we could walk under the Natural Bridge ( which is an arch formed by giant rocks). There are still small waves coming. But they were less than knee deep. We found many ocean creatures under the Nature Bridge, lots of sea stars and others. And I found I could switch from my landscape lens to macro lens while I still stood in the water. What a feature!!!
The flipside feature also keep the side (of the bag) that's next to your back clean, which is really cool too.
The bag is very comfort to carry and I'd highly recommend this bag.
Digital camera Review: Outstanding design!
Summary: 5 Stars
The design of this bag is brilliant!! If you haven't noticed yet, the main compartment of this bag opens from the side that touches your back when you are wearing the bag. At first I didn't know if this setup would truly be better than a more traditional setup but after using it extensively for a couple of weeks I am convinced that this type of 'back-opening' bag is definitely the way to go and lots of obvious and also unexpected benefits. All other things being equal, I would easily pay double the price for a bag with this design over a typical bag (I really find it that much better). I also have a 'sling-type' bag with a single diagonal strap that has much of the same functionality as this bag but the single diagonal strap across my chest gets really annoying on long hikes since it doesn't symmetrically distribute the weight it carries on your body. The 'back-opening' design of this bag leads to the following benefits over a typical bag:
-Safer-
The only way for someone to steal any gear from the main compartment while you are wearing the bag is to take it out THROUGH YOUR CHEST! Seriously though, you could be getting slammed around in a subway car or in a mosh pit with this bag on and have no worries about anyone getting to your gear unless the bag actually comes off your back. This benefit alone is reason enough to buy this type of 'back-opening' bag.
-Easier/quicker changes to gear-
To get to the main compartment you keep the waist strap fastened, pull your arms out of the shoulder straps, then swing the bag to your front and let the top of the bag fall away from you as the rest pivots on your waist strap. It becomes like a small table in front of you that allows you to make changes to your gear without having to completely take off the bag. The area where the waist strap connects to the bag is strongly reinforced in such a way that the bag will only fall away from you until it is parallel with the ground (you don't need to hold it, see the customer image by Antonia, it actually works like that). This means you have TWO FREE HANDS to use while changing your setup. I have changed lenses WHILE WALKING with the bag swung to the front. I would never dare to try such a stunt with a regular bag since I would need at least one hand to somewhat hold the bag and have to juggle everything else with my other single free hand. This is a great benefit especially if you are traveling with other people not taking pictures as it prevents them from getting sick of having to stop and wait for you every time you want to change a lens.
-Keeps gear/bag cleaner-
You never really need to set this bag on the ground while in the field since you can change gear while wearing the bag. This drastically reduces the amount of dust and other particulates that could get into your camera sensor or lenses. Additionally, the all-weather covering that is stored in a pocket at the bottom of the bag can be pulled out and used WITHOUT preventing access to the main compartment. Yes, that's right, you can keep the protective covering on the bag and still get to your gear without taking the cover off! I know for a fact that I took more pictures on my latest trip because this bag made it so easy to get to my camera in the rain. I could justify quickly jumping under some overhang, flipping my bag to the front, slipping out my camera, shooting a couple frames, then throwing my camera back in without having to mess with repeatedly taking off and putting on the all-weather covering. With a regular bag I know there would have been some opportunities for shots that I would have passed up simply because I would have been so tired of repeatedly taking off and putting on the all-weather covering every time I wanted to get out my gear.
The bottom line is that this type of 'back-opening' design is outstanding. The build quality of this bag is very good all the way around (like other Lowepro bags) and it doesn't scream out "I'm full of expensive camera gear, come steal me." I would strongly recommend this bag to anyone in the market for a camera bag. There are plenty of other benefits that the other reviewers tout and which I agree with (tripod holder, side pockets, etc).
I have listed below the main negatives some of the other reviews list and what my personal opinion is of each potential concern:
-Too small - I can vertically fit my D80 with teleconverter and Nikon 300mm f4 attached (which pretty much maxes out the vertical length) so if you want more room that that, I would recommend a bigger bag.
-Needs to have waist strap removable - This would be a nice option although I don't know how often I would actually take it off since it would prevent you from flipping it around to the front which I find to be a very useful feature. The waist strap is considerably padded which does make it somewhat bulky but this bulk also means more comfort. I have been able to fit it under an airplane seat and (of course) in the overhead compartment without issues.
-Waist strap connection should be different for better support while flipped down - I have found that if I fully pack (over 15 pounds of gear) the bag and unzip the back zippers all the way down it will not fully support itself on my waist. However, I have not had this problem with less gear in the bag. I have also found that only unzipping the bag 2/3 of the way open is usually enough to get the gear out and prevents a heavy load from flipping open too far if I have it jammed full of gear.
-Upper chest strap is flimsy - The top chest strap does seem too small for the overall bag setup. I wouldn't say this detracts horribly from the bag but anyone at Lowepro reading this should take note and double the width of this strap in future models. Mine hasn't broken or anything but I've been somewhat careful with it after reading the other reviewer's issue with it breaking (thanks for the heads up).
-Bag is uncomfortable (too stiff) - I haven't found this bag to be too stiff or uncomfortable at all. It is well padded both on the back and on the waist/shoulder straps. I have literally worn this bag all day on back-to-back days with no comfort issues.
Digital camera Review: Really Nice Bag
Summary: 5 Stars
Got this for a 2-week trip overseas after doing a lot of research online and I gotta say I love it.
It holds a lot of equipment (Canon 20D body no grip, 10-22mm EFS, 24-70mm 2.8 L, 70-200mm 2.8 L, 420EX flash, 2 soft boxes (folded), 2 battery chargers, blower, lens cleaning fluid, video cable, USB cable, MacBook 13.3 in neoprene sleeve, Mac power adapter) and I still had a compartment left for another small lens. I could even get the 20D with 70-200mm 2.8L lens on with its hood facing out into the center compartment if I took out the dividers.
And yes, the MacBook is not a typo. You can actually fit a 13.3" MacBook in a neoprene sleeve inside the flap over all the equipment. This was a big worry of mine since I carry a laptop wherever I go pretty much and it didn't have a dedicated slot for that which would have been it's only negative.
The equipment was easy to access but as someone else stated, the bottom compartments take a bit to get at so smaller items are best for those areas which is exactly what I did.
The bag carries a lot but still feels compact on your back and is not bulky like the AW Rover that bangs every seat down an airplane aisle even when you've cinched up the waist belt and maneuver around to avoid banging into seats. This one is compact enough that it stays in the aisle even when wearing it on one shoulder.
The waist belt and harness are very comfortable for not having cinch straps at the top and it pulls the bag to your back nice and tight when you have the chest strap on. Btw, they use a rail that the chest strap slides up and down for adjustment instead of gliding on the shoulder strap. This may be good or bad. I've never had the other type come off, but if it did I guess it would be a catastrophic failure that you can't recover from. This one came off after it got caught in the wheels of a cart. I was able to shove it back on although with quite an effort.
I love the look which is somewhat rounded and doesn't look like a camera bag. Also, the straps at the top held my Goretex shell well and didn't make the whole thing look bulky. They can double for securing a tripod on each side or in the middle back which is nice to have those options.
I put the separately sold bottle holder on one of the lock loops of the waist belt, which served as a miscellaneous goods holder for keys, wallet, lip balm, etc. that I needed quick. When I put the contents inside the bag, the bottle holder folded down nicely to be completely non-obtrusive.
Someone else brought this up in their review but I love the fact that since the opening is on the back side, the AW cover doubles as a ground sheet. You don't need to take it off to get at your gear.
This is great for longer trips and day hikes. It was a bit bulky to be unnoticed when walking around town but not enough to not be able to bring it along with me wherever I went even in the busiest areas of Tokyo. (even some of the trains at rush hour, granted you have to take it off and hold it)
There's nothing I don't like about this bag so far.
Ah, except that one piece of the chest strap connector broke from normal use. One of the 3 prongs on the inner piece. Maybe it was a badly molded lot or maybe the fact that the plastic is very stiff (but that gives it a very secure lock). However, it still stuck with only the other half holding it which I thought was kind of cool. But it shouldn't have broken in the first place so I'll be asking for a replacement.
Definitely 5 stars.
Digital camera Review: Super nice all around camera [laptop] bag
Summary: 5 Stars
The Good:
*plenty of storage volume. I could fit a Nikon D80 plus 12-24 f/4, 24-70/2.8, 70-300VR, 18-200VR, SB-600 flash without problem. I can see one fitting a mounted 70-200 f/2.8VR or 300 f/4 without problem. I've also used the bag with a hood-on 24-70/2.8 mounted on a D700, plus a 70-300VR hood-on with room for another hood-on big lens.
*The two straps on the top side of the bag can hold a small jacket in place, the two side mesh pockets can fit sizable waterbottles, plus a tripod holder at the back : how much more do you wanna carry?
*All weather cover for adverse weather conditions.
*As a bonus, one CAN sqeeze a laptop in (I could fit a 14.1" wide screen thinkpad T61 with extended battery pack) after some valco re-configuration effort, while carrying a non-gripped body plus 4 lenses. You don't want to do it often but for air travel alone it is doable (not very comfortable for your back however).
*You can really tighen the waist strap on your body, flip the bag to your front side, and access the content without additional support for the bag. provides a secure platform for lens changes while on the go.
*the flipside design (camera compartment can only be opened from your back's side) is very secure. no by-stander can open your bag without going through you.
*the size is okay for air travel.
The bad?
*it is a bit too big/bulky for daily use. And on heavier loadings (10 pound total weight or more) the bag isn't all that comfortable when i first got it. it was a bit stiff all around. 2 months later and now it gets slightly better. but not at the comfort level of compurover that i tried.