Lowepro Elite AW

Owner contribution

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Owner contribution

I bought the bag several years ago, by mail order, when AW bags were a rarity. I'd been caught out in really heavy rain twice, and the AW feature swayed my purchase. I remember studying catalogues for some time before ordering. The bag is well made with generously thick padding, contoured straps attached in sensible places with good stitching, and gives great confidence that it will provide protection under most conditions. The main compartment zip (double zipper) is placed around and below the top overlap such that rain would not easily find entry, and of course there's the AW cover as well - if you have time. The front pocket zip (also double zipper) is not so well placed, and would provide little protection unless the AW cover was in place. The optional waist band, if fitted, should stop the bag wobbling around when walking, cycling or climbing. (I'd prefer a rucksack type though.) I like the fact that the bag's inside is light grey - far too many are black, and lens caps etc. easily get difficult to find. Empty, the Elite AW weighs 1.5kg, and 1.6kg with the waist band. Its external dimensions are approx. 30cm wide, 24cm front to back, and 22cm high. Internally, it's about 25 x16 x 17cm. max. There are thin zippered compartments both on the top of, open net passport style, and under the main compartment lid, and also inside the separate front compartment, which has 3 simple thin fabric pockets for filters or film. This front compartment, hinged at the base, is prevented from falling open too far by fabric gussets. The other two internal zippered compartments are plastic walled, and can take notebooks or similar. None of the zip pullers are shielded, and thus just might scratch a lens surface. (They are all shielded in my MiniTrekker.) Underneath the location for the camera body there is a small full width space for rarely used items such as a very mini tripod or remote control. Hook and loop material is used to keep the padded dividers in place. Because the front to back dimension is what it is, there's only space to take large diameter Canon lenses on one side of the central divide. (Physically slimmer lenses such as MF Pentax SMC might be OK both sides.) I took the bag on vacation once for just one week to Snowdonia, and never again. I found it simply too difficult to use, and the thick padding really seemed a hindrance as it added significantly to the weight, bulk and awkwardness of what I was carrying. The stiff rear-hinged lid, an all open or not open design, was also difficult to open unless the bag was taken off, so changing lenses wasn't that easy. Since then I've carried my in-use gear in a lightweight thinly-padded shoulder case, and used the Elite AW to store "resting" camera bodies etc. in my photo cupboard! However, recently I have paid out to have two of my EF lenses repaired, and in each case it's been the AF mechanism which has failed - probably from a blow which penetratedthe thin walling of my current no-name bag. So may be I've paid the price for not looking after my delicate lenses! When I've purchased bags recently, I've always gone for the type where the lid opens via two parallel zips on each side, allowing controlled access to a little or a lot of the innards.

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