tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5151713571929637632011-07-08T01:30:30.163-07:00Shane Psaltishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02620579453206472722noreply@blogger.comBlogger21100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-515171357192963763.post-67342759452905551772010-03-29T08:50:00.000-07:002010-03-29T10:10:56.562-07:00Those of you who know me have picked up the phone many times to try and find me a shrink to deal with my camera bag issues. I have been in search for the perfect camera bag for about 15 years and have come to realize you need different bags for different times. I have purchased and sold over 50 camera bags and I currently have only 6 left that I use in different combinations. In this Blog I am going to review the new <a href="http://www.thinktankphoto.com/products/airport-takeoff-roller-camera-bag.aspx">Airport Take-Off </a>by Think Tank Photo. <div><br /></div><div>Think Tank makes some real high quality bags that can withstand the abuse we put them thru and to handle the most important job of all getting our expensive gear around the country.</div><div><br /></div><div>Well to start off I received my bag and needless to say was very exited to start configuring the bag to fit my needs. Got my trusty box cutter and opened the box pulled out the bag covered in plastic and ripped off the plastic. I opened the bag and my only major complaint was that I was not so thrilled with the dividers that came with this bag. I have owned and still do own 4 Think Tank bags and usually the dividers are very well thought out. The dividers that came with this bag were I thought flimsly and did not give you much choice as I had seen in previous bags. Anyway I got past that and ripped all the inserts out. </div><div><br /></div><div>One thing that I did not know before I purchased this bag was that you can not store a pro size DSLR the traditional way , at the top of the bag. Due to the fact that the telescoping handle compartment is behind it, that threw me for a loop. I had planned on taking my gear out of my <a href="http://www.thinktankphoto.com/products/airport-antidote-backpack.aspx">Airport Antidote® V2.0</a> and just copying my layout. Well that changed everything for me so I had to start from scratch. I am a Nikon shooter and I really like to keep my 70-200 2.8 attached to my D3. Well in order to do that you have to store your pro DSLR cameras side ways along the outer perimeter of the bag. Here is a photo of my set up.<span><span></span></span></div><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://powerphotography.com/BLOG/Take%20off.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://powerphotography.com/BLOG/Take%20off.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /></div><div>After I set up the main body with the 70-200 I had to build around that. It took me about 40 minutes and my bag was set. The bag had plenty of room for everything that was stored in my <a href="http://www.thinktankphoto.com/products/airport-antidote-backpack.aspx">Airport Antidote® V2.0</a> and more. The gear I was able to fit into the Take-Off are as follows-</div><div><ul><li>Nikon D3</li><li>Nikon D700 with MB-10 Grip attached</li><li>Nikon 14-24</li><li>Nikon 24-70</li><li>Nikon 70-200</li><li>Nikon SB-900</li><li>Nikon 1.4x and 1.7x converters</li><li>Charger</li><li>4 spare batteries</li><li>2 CF card wallets (10 cards each)</li><li>2 WD hard drives</li><li>Apple Mighty Mouse</li><li>3 Pocket Wizards</li><li>2 CF card readers</li><li>Michael Bass Cables</li><li>and some personal Items</li></ul>All this fit in the main compartment and the plastic pouches and there is still some room. Not to mention I have not even started putting stuff in the outside yet. Like all new bags the first couple of times you go to close it some effort is required.</div><div><br /></div><div>Lets go to the outside of the bag. The bag comes with an amazing outer pouch to store your 15" laptop or some jackets or bounce discs o whatever you need to bring with you. I choose to store my 15" MacBook Pro in the <a href="http://www.thinktankphoto.com/products/artificial-intelligence-15-computer-sleeve.aspx">Artificial Intelligence™ 15 V2.0</a> that I can then put into the outer pouch. Wow what a bag and I am still not done. Inside the <a href="http://www.thinktankphoto.com/products/artificial-intelligence-15-computer-sleeve.aspx">Artificial Intelligence™ 15 V2.0</a> I have my MacBook, charger, card reader, pens and business cards. After you store that in the outside pouch it comes with a nice clamp to clos the pouch and not to mention on the inside of the pouch is a combo lock for your laptop.</div><div><br /></div><div>The great thing about this bag, and one of the main reasons I decided to purchase it, was the fact that is a roller and a backpack. On the back of the bag is a zippered compartment once unzipped are amazingly strong and comfortable shoulder straps tucked away in a compartment. Just pull them out and you now have a back pack. There are also 2 other strategically placed zipper pockets for business cards or travel itineraries.</div><div><br /></div><div>To sum up this review the bag construction is amazing ,strong, and second to none. The zippers are real strong and the wheels are amazing. This bag has great potential and will remain a part of my bag arsenal.</div><div><br /></div><div>I will be putting together a video review in the next couple of weeks but if you have any questions please let me know.</div><div><br /></div><div>Thanks for reading</div><div><br /></div><div>Shane</div><div><br /></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/515171357192963763-6734275945290555177?l=powerphotography.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Shane Psaltishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02620579453206472722noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-515171357192963763.post-55832009574403072382010-03-27T07:10:00.001-07:002010-03-27T07:10:48.349-07:00<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/515171357192963763-5583200957440307238?l=powerphotography.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Shane Psaltishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02620579453206472722noreply@blogger.com0