Review – LowePro Classified 250AW

For a little bit of a change, I asked the folks at LowePro to send me a shoulder bag for my latest review. They sent me the Classified 250AW. The Classified 250 AW has room for 1-2 SLRs with a lens attached, 2-3 more lenses and up to a 15.4 inch laptop.

I was heading down to the PhotoPlus Expo in New York City, so I decided to bring the bag along to test it out. I knew I would need space for things I was going to pick up throughout the day, so I took out a lot of the separators and put in the bare necessities for camera gear. I took my body and two lenses, put them in one side of the main compartment, and left the rest for storage.

Using the luggage sleeve on the back of the bag, I attached it to a rolling bag that I was also bringing along for the show. It was the perfect fit and made my life a lot easier that day.

The front of the bag has a flap that hides two large velcro closure pockets for storage and another large pocket that runs the full width of the bag. The large pocket can hold a lot of extras and includes a key clip and a memory card holder. The memory card hold will accept up to 6 memory cards. It rolls up nicely and seals with velcro. In this section, there is also an zippered section that will allow the bag to expand for a little more room.

On the back side of the bag, along with the luggage sleeve, there is another pocket. The pocket is thin, but is as deep and wide as the bag. On the bottom of the bag, there is a velcro pocket that hides the All Weather Cover. Just slip it out and right over the bag for protection from the elements.

I really liked the many uses of this bag. It not only makes a great camera bag, but also a great laptop bag. While not it’s intentional use, I really liked using the extra room in it for carrying information and items picked up at the PhotoPlus Expo. This is a great bag! I highly recommend it.

Here are some specs from LowePro‘s site:

Capacity:

1-2 professional DSLRs with 70-200 f/2.8 lens attached plus 2-3 additional lenses or flash, plus 1 widescreen notebook up to 15.4″ (most models)

Size(Interior):

15W X 6.3D X 11H in./38 X 16 X 28 cm Size

(Exterior):

18.3W X 11D X 14H in./46.5 X 28 X 35.5 cm

Notebook Compartment Inner Dimensions:

13.8W X 1.4D X 11H in./35 X 3.5 X 28 cm

Front Compartment Inner Dimensions:

6.7W X 1.2D X 8.7H in./17 X 3 X 22 cm

Outer fabric:

840D x 150D Nylon Poly Blend PU, Full Grain Leather, 420D Nylon, 1680D Nylon PU, Dry Flo Mesh, 190t Nylon PU

Interior Fabric:

Velex PU, 210D Nylon PU, Brushed Tricot Nylon

Weight:

4.2lbs/1.9kg

The LowePro Classified 250AW is available in Black or Sepia and has a MSRP of $229.99.

Review – Spider Camera Holster

The folks at Spider Camera Holster were kind enough to send me a Spider Pro System to try out. At first, I must admit that I was a little nervous to hang my dSLR off my belt and walk around with it swinging, but it proved to be quite a nice piece of equipment.

Last week, I put it to use at the University of Albany athletic fields. The New York Giants hold training camp here in August and I decided I would go down and practice my sports photography while trying out the Spider Pro System.

As I arrived at the athletic fields, I grabbed the heavy duty belt and clipped it on. My first thoughts were that the material and the and the buckle were both very heavy duty and made me feel a little better about hanging my camera from it. I then noticed that the clip that closed the belt not only had two finger releases to open it, but also a third release that wasn’t going to let the belt slip open and fall to the ground.

Spider Belt

The main part of the unit was a base called the Spider Pro Plate. This plate comes with a built-in Allen wrench for attaching it to your camera. When you are done with it, simply slide it right into the plate until you need it again. It’s a great design idea! The plate has a Spider Pin attachment that connects your camera to the belt.

Spider Plate

Spider Pin

The Spider Pro Holster Box allows you to slide the Spider pin into it and lock it into place, assuring your camera wont pop out. There is a small latch you can flip that locks your camera into the Spider Pro for safety. Once in there, it will stay put and wont come out. Releasing the lock is just as simple. Just flip the latch the opposite way, and your camera comes right out.

Spider Pro

I really enjoyed testing this product. It was a very useful tool in the field. If I needed to free up my hands to talk to someone or set up a shot, all I had to do was clip the camera into the Spider Holster and I was free to do what I needed to without having to set the camera down on the ground or back in my camera bag. I would highly recommend adding the Spider Holster to your collection of photo gear.

***Images courtesy of Spider Holster***