Lowepro Off Trail 2 Beltpack

Actually I do have a classy looking camera bag, which was bought at the same time as I purchased the Nikon D80 last year. But after the Indian wedding shooting session in June this year, I found that the bag was not enough for me to squeeze in my new heavy baby, the Nikon D300, which is slightly bigger than my D80, and other accessories which I bought later, especially the lambency for my SB-800! I just didn't know where to put my lambency in that session, as the result, I brought 2 bags along, one big, one small, they are heavy and bothersome for fast movement:(

I am actually considered very lucky in this hobby, as many people around the world dont even have the chance to own a dslr, though they really have the talent or the passion. But, if compare to my partner, Siew Ling, I am a bit pity not to have a sister to "accidentally" bought a branded nice Lowepro camera bag for me.
There are many photographers using Lowepro camera bag, but investing for such a branded stuff doesn't really make my images look more stunning, don't you agree with this statement huh? At least that was my thought before I have owned a Lowepro.

Well, it's like buying a BMW car or a Produa Kancil. Owning a BMW doesn't really make us become a good driver. But there are people who are still crazy dreaming of owning a BMW in his/her life, probably because you won't know the difference of these cars until you have really tested them.



To be frank, there are hundreds or thousands of much more cheaper camera bags in the market. But they are either merely useful but look yucky, or look stylistic but not really useful as a multi-functional protector to the expensive tools we bought. I fully agree that a well-known and established brand really delivers better quality. My old camera bag is a brandless one, it looks nice and classy, but the space is small and the tie attached on the bag cover seems easy to be broken and can't be replaced once it's gone, and it costed me RM120.
The Lowepro Off Trail 2 beltpack looks like an old folk's underwear and abit too huge to be treated as a sling bag, but it's really useful, as you can see from the picture that the bag consists of the main big compartment in the middle, which is more than enough for us to place a body with a longer telephoto zoom lens, and there are two more attachable extra compartments for us to slot in two more fixed lenses or a speed light! The other parts of the bag also possible to allows us to insert filters, lambency, batteries, charger and maybe another spared body!!! But the selling price is RM240, which is twice the price of my old bag.

I bought the Lowepro yesterday evening near Komtar. I love the usefulness of this bag, but I would highly suggest that they keep their bags in presentable plastic cover or boxes for the stocks other than the displayed items.
Siew Ling brought her friend along, because her friend had bought a D60 kit set, but wonder why the image "shifts" to the right bottom in the viewfinder after releasing the shutter, when she turns on the VR function on the 18-55mm kit lens. Well, I had the experience of using 55-200mm VR, but this never happened on either my lens or my D80. I have no idea at all about Nikon bodies without built-in autofocus motor, like the D40, D40x and the D60. We did ask the shopkeeper to let us try on another copy of the lens, but we were surprised that it was better than her copy. We found out another interesting thing, where the "shiftment" only happen when we pop up the built-in flash and turn on the VR! Hey, Nikon, what happen?

I tried to console Siew Ling's friend that, by using cheaper lenses on a body without built in motors actually makes us become the master of manual focus photography, but it seemed that autofocus is a crucial function for her.

Yea, look at me, I always go for better choices regardless of the money spent, as long as I plan properly before buying and do as many research as possible to understand more about the items I am going to invest, the pros and cons, and the reviews by professionals, or the users' opinions. Many people claim that this is unnecessary, but I insist that it's important to know what are we going to spend on, and the limitation of the product.I bet we never want to feel regret after investing on something, especially when the product is not a cheap one!

So, here is the suggestions for those who are interested in owning a dslr camera in short future:

1) What is your main interest in photography? Is it portraiture or landscape? Sports or event? Go for Canon if you are mainly shooting outdoor for portrait and landscape, as you will definately love the wider dynamic range,sharpness and details of both shadow and highlight captured by Canon, and softer and 3D-like skin tone for portraiture. Go for Nikon if you are mainly shooting for still life or product, as the rendition of colors is super sharp and vivid. Besides, Nikon is famous of its speed and ISO control for higher end models in low light situations,especially indoor, like D60, D300 and ehem, D3! It doesn't mean that Nikon fails to do portraiture any better than Canon, but their approach and technology used are quite different if you try out both and observe properly.

2) Is autofocus important to you? Some models of Nikon don't have a built in focusing motor, so, only IF( internal Focus) lenses are compatible for the models to autofocus,and they are usually more expensive. But you still can manual focus with non-IF lenses. If you are shooting static subjects for micro most of the time, and landscape or still life photography, better avoid to spend more on autofocus lenses and bodies. Manual focusing is a good way to train your patience, and to master the crucial technique to play with the DOF! But if you are mostly shooting for fast moving subjects, like sport or indoor event, everything seems need your sponteneous response to focus on them, a fast autofocus response is needed. Never think that spending less is a smart choice, but look at the specs properly before investing any penny is more rational. If you are on a tight budget, but really need a camera with more functions, I would suggest you to look for a used copy, which is of course cheaper than the new ones, you just have to make sure that they are in good condition before buying.

3) Are you serious in photography? There are rational photographers who spend according to their ability. Some just spend on a dslr, but never really serious about it and seldom touch his/her dslr after investing. Some are serious in the beginning,but not permanent. Some are really serious and progressing in mastering the exposure, the composition and color balance everyday. Some will find that they are confused on which type of photography they are into, as there are lenses for different purposes. In dslr world, there is no "walking around" lens which can do every type of photography at the same time as you wish. The more you explore, the more you might feel interested to get involved, and the need of purchasing more lenses is possible. Some will give up on their dslr in the short future when they discover that the expenses for this hobby is increasing, or they feel fed up when unable to own a specific lens for certain photographic purposes, but have no money to invest on it. There are cases like this, I am not creating crap stories:) So, an alternative is to consider a so called " prosumer bridge camera" which is much more cheaper than a dslr, but definately has more features and controls which are quite similar to dslr nowadays. Just that you better don't expect much for the image quality, if you want clean images when shooting indoor.

Ooops, it's out of the topic here! I am sorry!!!

Anyway, I do love the Lowepro Off Trail 2 beltpack. Though I am not quite sure which level of my height should I place the belt on.
I think I am going to save money for the 80-200mm f/2.8 after 2 months!!! So that I can put it in my Lowepro as soon as possible. I can't wait:)