Lowepro Backpack, Heather Grey, 14.3L

this is basically Lowepro's take on Peak Design's Backpack. Lowepro obviously took a long, hard look at what worked and what didn't about it, improving almost everything to make it truly oriented for urban photographers. i had spent 2 weeks with a Peak Design backpack, collecting a list of deficiencies before deciding it wasn't able to meet my needs and returned it. when the Freeline was released, i noticed everything they had improved over the Peak Design backpack and pretty much knocked out my list of shortcomings, one by one.first, the exterior: they used a rugged, weather resistant material for the outer shell that's like tarpaulin but with a softer feel. the base is woven nylon outside a formed, foam shell so the bag stands on its own. all zips are weather resistant, external pockets are pleated and elasticated for expansion, and all tie downs are seatbelt nylon with steel G-hooks. the shoulder straps are rigidly formed and efficiently padded, helping keep the pack higher on your back and not allowing it to sag into your lower back. handles are everywhere: top and both sides, with a strip recessed into the formed foam back for slipping onto the handle of your wheeled carry-on. the side access flaps open in the opposite direction of Peak Design's because they designed their's backwards (try finding something in the internal flap pockets). finally, no hidden straps tucked about: all the straps you need are in place and can be removed if you don't need them. they're strong and hard wearing.the interior: Peak Design claims their backpack is an "everyday backpack" but you have to destroy your carefully thought out, and annoyingly placed, shelving to use it as an "everyday backpack," then realign it all when you want to use it for photography again. Lowepro uses 2 boards to create a collapsable shelving system that slides out when you don't need it, no reconfiguration required. collapse it flat to pull it out of the top, reverse to return it. an accessory bag is also included for the small items: in my case, i use it to carry my cleaning kit and wireless shutter remote. there's room for a 15" laptop and a 13" tablet; in my case, it's a 2016 15" macbook pro and 10.5" ipad pro and both fit without struggles in well padded, individual pockets. the top storage area, while not expandable like Peak Design, is capable of holding a lot more than you'd expect for a bag this size, with total loadout comparing favorably to my Lowepro Flipside Trek 450. that speaks to the efficiency in their design.looks are subjective, but Lowepro did what Peak Design took years to do: offer it in black. actually, it' the only color you can have. Lowepro also chose a more conventional backpack look that doesn't call attention to itself. with the Peak Design, you know what it is and it stands out in a crowd, looking like an origami turtle: not what you want while carrying thousands of dollars in gear.the only problem with the Lowepro is the shelving. they use a more conventional arrangement of flexible dividers attached with velcro. this is where the Peak Design is superior, IMO, with their convertible shelves with folding dividers. as you can see in my photos, the solution was to buy the shelves from Peak Design and put them into the Lowepro Freeline. the 30L dividers are a perfect fit inside the Freeline, giving you more configuration options and making the space more efficient, especially when reconfiguring to accommodate wildly different lens sizes, like a 50mm, 24-70mm and 70-200mm after carrying 4 different primes the day before.

Exactly what I was looking for!! The material is great and feels very waterproof, as are the zippers. The straps are comfortable even when its full, much lighter weight than the Peak Design and the insert is much better. Love the way it can be customized and it comes with a cable organizer case too. Its very well designed and they seem to have thought of everything,In the bottom I have the organizer with my Sony Charger, Apple MBP Charger, cable release, tripod foot for the 100-400mm. Above that is the Sony a7RIII with a 24-105G with hood attached, then a padded insert with a Sony RX100 on the other side. Above that is the Sony 100-400G OSS with hood reversed and foot removed. On the top is a Sony 16-35mm G with lens hood reversed, the rain hood for padding, and a Sony RX10IV with lens hood reversed - ready for quick access. The back sleeve also hold my 15" Apple MacBook Pro. On the outside side pocket, there's a RRS tabletop tripod and a Joby Gorilla Pod. I have my whole kit all together in one comfortable backpack, ready to grab and go. It's perfect!!

What an amazing, thoughtful hybrid camera backpack/day bag for Prosumer photographers like myself.I normally travel w/ a spacious Tumi backpack + lowepro sling camera bag but on a recent no-carry on flight realized the need for a one-stop shop. Thus began extensive research w/ these criteria: 1) Prosumer level camera storage (NOT pro!), 2) Some room to function as a day bag including laptop space for my old 15" Macbook Pro, 3) side pockets for a water bottle & a handheld tripod, and 4) stylish to be used for work.I've compared other brands like Peak Designs as well as LowePro's ProTactic BP 450 AW II, Urbex BP 28L Plus, and ViewPoint BP, before deciding on the Freeline 350. LowePro's specifications stated that its laptop sleeve might not fit my old, thick laptop w/ optical drive, but because it met all other criteria I took the risk.It was shipped within 3 days w/o anything other than plastic cover, but with all tags intact. Upon first glance, it's stylish and oozes with quality construction. And thankfully, my mid-2010 15" Macbook Pro FIT in the sleeve despite its thickness of 0.95" being larger than LowePro's stated thickness of the laptop sleeve which was 0.59”. That said, no tablet would fit in the tablet sleeve with my MBP in the laptop sleeve.The removable divider system is real nice and though setting up the velcro dividers take some work, when done I was able to put the following: (top to bottom; "|" denotes divider)Tier 1: RODE Video Mic Pro | Panasonic Lumix FZ200 w/ PL filterTier 2: Panasonic Lumix GX8 MFT w/ Lumix 12-35mm zoom | Lumix 20mm Pancake PrimeTier 3: Accessory box containing MBP square power cord, Lumix battery charger, iPhone charger & pic xfer cordThen on top of those, I put glasses, sunglass, few snacks, AW cover (included in bag), scarf, etc. And I fit 4-5 travel-sized bottles, earphone, and my passport in the small top pocket. Side pockets held my 20 oz. thermo & Joby Gorilla Tripod - while pockets aren't too deep so only bottom thirds fit, the straps secured them well. I also tried putting a full-sized Sunpak tripod on front 2 straps and while they worked, they dangled quite a bit without some kind of bottom cup. Maybe I could've tightened the straps better.I'm right-handed and GX8 was my main cam, so I put it on the LEFT side compartment looking at the bag, so that I could lose right shoulder strap, swing bag to my left, and take cam out with right hand to shoot. At first, it seemed awkward with gorillapod getting in the way, but I got used to it quickly and it was surprisingly easy.The bag sits high up on your back which made it easy to sit down and also allowed waist straps to counteract some weight off the shoulders when fastened, and with sternum strap also engaged, the backpack clung tightly to the body which was good. AW cover also worked like a charm on a downpour.Only qualm I have is that due to solid, and quite-rigid construction, the bag is overall tight. Top compartment "slits open" instead of "spreads open" due to the rigidity so it’s always a bit of a struggle to get things in/out. At first it was so tight that I didn’t think I could even close the zippers to the laptop compartment, but over the 20 days of overseas trip the bag seems to have broken in/relaxed a bit. As a day bag, top space doesn’t fit much - a light jacket at most. Even with divider pulled out, it'd fit a pair of jeans, shoes, light jkt, 2 tees & toiletrie bag at most. I wished it had 25% more volume by being slightly taller & wider, with slightly more roomier pockets. It'd still fit in airplane overhead bin or under seat tow.Hopefully this is comprehensive and helpful for all you prosumer camera enthusiasts out there.Thank you LowePro for this quality product! I'm looking forward to my next photojournaling trip w/ the Freeline 350 AW, but will upgrade in a heart beat to a 450 AW *wink wink* so LET ME KNOW, LowePro!

This backpack is well made, sturdy and protects my equipment well. I would not recommend it to take on-location as it gets warm pretty quickly, it is difficult to access quickly and it does not hold much equpiment. I would not purchase again, not because it's a bad pack, it's just not right for my specific needs.