Backpacker BBK-4 Canvas Camera Bag review

Finally I have gotten down to write this unprofessional review on a unknown brand camera bag... got it from ebay cheaply and fell in love with it after some time.

A brief History

I have gotten a National Geographic Camera Bag for my bro when he went overseas to further his education. I like the look and feel of the Nat Geo bag, but I hated the price... so I never get to buy one for myself.

Anyway, I was determine to find a decent canvas sling bag for my camera and went to ebay to have a look. Spend a couple of days to search for one... then came across the Chinese brand Backpacker BBK series of canvas bag. Well... I search the net... not much was written there (at least not much can be found in English), the pricing was reasonable though (much cheaper than Nat Geo). Then I found a site whereby I can bid for the bag. So I threw in the maximum I am willing to pay (I am not going to state the price here though) and wait... voila! I won the bag.

Then the waiting game...

It came around 1 month after I pay... well... that was expected, I seldom got what I have paid in less than 3 weeks anyway...

The Actual Review

When I gotten the bag, the first thing I do was to inspect the bag... its workmanship seemed pretty good. It had a tough feel to it. The bag had a removable compartment for my camera stuff... and another compartment for a 14 inch notebook.

The photos on top show the removable camera compartment and laptop compartment. In interior of the bag is waterproof (and so was claimed by the seller - I wouldn't risk it though).

I try the bag with my notebook + adapter. No problem at all... so yeah... it works.

Then came a day when I wanted to try it with my camera stuff...

Ta da! That is what I cramped into/ or on top/ behind of the bag... what was not shown was a 600ml bottle of mineral water, ND filter, wired remote control and my lucky red cap.

Anyway, the rest of the items were;

1) Canon EOS 7D + Optech Neck strap

2) 1x Tokina 12-24mm f4 lens (mounted)

3) 1x Canon EF 70-200mm f4L lens

4) 1x Sigma 17-70mm f2.8-4 lens

5) 1x IDEAL sunglass

6) 1x umbrella

7) 1x key pouch

8) 3x CF cards

9) 2x LED torch

10) a bag of batteries

11) 1x Canon battery (extra)

12) 1x External Battery + cable

13) 1x Yongnuo YN565EX flashgun

What I didn't bring is my monopod but it was shown in the photo to establish that it can be carried if needed.

Of course the black velcro straps and carabiner hooks do not came with the bag, instead I got them from local store cheaply.

Anyway, I wouldn't carry my monopod with that bag and so much equipment, it will be too heavy for my shoulder... and talking about weigh... I forgot to mention. The strap had a very very thick padding that is suppose to be comfortable for your shoulder... and I would say... it actually works!

All in all... I love my Backpacker BBK-4... and I am pretty confident that it will last me for years. So... who says good things are expensive?

Edit:

Recently I have been using the bag for photography trips around the island. And I always carried a Gitzo traveller tripod strap to the top of the bag. The bag could handle the weigh well... and I loved it alot.

Sunrise at Tanjung Rhu Singapore

Well... it had been some time now since I last took sunrise photos and had been hoping to do it... but no one was there to 'accompany' me for the shoot... so the lazy bones in me won the battle and taking sunrise shots remained as a dream. That is until one of the photography clubs that I was in organised a shoot in Tanjung Rhu on 04-May-2013. I was thrilled, I wanted to shoot sunrise shots... and there is a group of people who wanted to do it too.

So I signed up for the shoot.

Then it occurred to me that I needed to get there by six in the morning... I checked the internet... found that the first train from Serangoon would be at 0544hrs... and that is, if everything went on time... in recent days, there had been plenty of train delays and stuff like that. So seriously I am not having much confidence in the train systems. So I bite the bullet and make an advance booking for a cab to pick me up at 0500hrs on the day of the shoot.

The night before, I packed my Canon EOS 7D, a Tokina 12-24mm f4, a Canon EF 70-200mm f4L and a Sigma 17-70mm f2.8-4 OS lens to my large shoulder bag (a China brand bag - Backpacker BBK-4 which I will do a review soon). I also packed a Yongnuo 565EX flashgun, a NX400 ND filter, some batteries (both for the Yongnuo and my Canon 7D), a 600ml bottle of mineral water, an umbrella, 3 Uncle Toby's energy bars to my bag. Then I pack my trusty old Gitzo to the tripod bag that my bro gave me... and was all set to go.

To cut long story short, I reach my destination safe and sound and had plenty of time spare to wander around. But I shall not bore any of you of the detail of my wandering. Anyway, my group of photography friends arrived on time and we are off to shoot.

 ISO 100, f9, 25sec

The abovementioned shot was a panorama photo comprise of 5 shots (stitched together with the Photoshop CS6).

The sun that day would rise at around 0645hrs to 0648hrs, so we have plenty of time to set up our tripod in a location that we found best suited to our taste. And I choose the area because it had the best view of the indoor stadium with the tower, bridge and some of the buildings in plain view.

ISO 100, f9, 30sec

 ISO 100, f9, 25sec

We waited patiently for the sun to rise... but something tell us that it is not gonna happen that day... the cloud... too many and concentrated are the cloud at the area where the sun should rise.

After 0700hrs... we know it was a failed attempt. Many people are starting to pack up. When suddenly we saw the shy orb peeking out from behind some clouds.

And so we went clicking.

 ISO 100, f16, 1/125sec

 ISO 100, f16, 5sec (added ND filter)

 ISO 100, f16, variable time (HDR compose of 6 photos of different exposure)

So it was not a total lost effort after all. We have a fabulous time and I took quite a number of shots that I liked. Anyway, I also had lots of fun with Photoshopping... especially trying out HDR and Panorama.

Looking forward for more sunrise shots in the future.

My world in black and white

Well... black and white is a great way to take photos... of course not everything can be taken in black and white... but if it can... it can be pretty beautiful.

 f5.6, ISO: 200, 1/6s

 f5.6, ISO: 25600, 1/320s (Actually this is a really silly mistake on my part, the ISO was set to auto and so it jumped to 25600... and I didn't check.)

 f10, ISO: 100, 1/160s

 f8, ISO:100, 1/640s

 f6.3, ISO: 1600, 1/320s

 f5.6, ISO:100, 1/4s

In my opinion black and white can bring out the mood of the photo and something it created something that is extremely beautiful.

Finally I am back again!

It had been some time since I have stepped in... and post some photos in my blog. Well... it is not that I don't miss this place, but I am too lazy to do things. Anyway, I have been taking photos, not that I have matured that much, but I do think I am better when I first started off.

 f5.6, ISO 200, 1/100s

What I have learned thus far... it is not always needed to have the photo of your full subject. It all depend on your composition and what you wanted to show.

 f5.6, ISO: 200, 1/80s

And there really is no need to use a super duper lens... a Sigma 17-70mm is good enough for most of my shots.

 f5.6, ISO: 200, 1/60s

 f5.6, ISO: 200, 1/100s

Of course I wouldn't resist if some one was to sponsor me a super duper lens :)

A wolf in sheep skin - Hoya HMC 75-205mm f4 macro

Bought this lens from ebay... wanted an old Olympus OM lens of similar zoom range but couldn't find one that fit my bill... came across this lens and look at the internet for details. Not much... but was pretty positive in the only one that I read, so I decided to take the plunge and bidded for it...

Got it cheap.

When the package arrive, I was intending to use it with my OM-D... with the x2 crop, I am able to push the range up to a maximum of 410mm equivalent to 35mm film (which is good for birding). So I try... I would not say that I fail miserably... because I took this lens to Australia and it was a pretty good lens... except for very very bad zoom creep.

A few shots of the lens...

Talking about sharpness... this lens is a beauty... extremely sharp.

The bokeh was nice and creamy... and there is this film like grain in the shots I took. I loved it to bits. However, I don't seemed to be able to take clear shots of birds when I was in Australia with this lens coupled to my OM-D...

When I am back in Singapore, I adapt the lens to my Canon 7D... and was amazed at the lens' capability.

I am able to capture with decent sharpness of the small and fast sunbird in my front yard. I had problem to capture this bird with my more modern EF70-200mm f4L before, the AF simply couldn't follow the bird at a very contrasty environment.

Anyway the lens is not really very heavy and it is so much smaller than my f4L, so carrying it around is not a chore.

For that type of money, this lens is a pleasant alternative for modern lenses. If you happen to find one in ebay... do not hesitate. Grab it! And have fun.

Australia trip 02-Jul-2012 to 07-Jul-2012

Wow... it had been quite a while since I have visited here... I almost forgot about this place...

Anyway, many things had happen since I last stepped into this blog... Not going to go through detail of what happened... Here, I am going to write on my trip to Australia with my younger brother. It had been a fine trip... I get to test my dad's Olympus OM-D fully with a couple of lenses - Oly 40-150mm, Pany 25mm f1.4 (80% of the time), Hoya 75-205mm manual lens, Oly 14-42mm kit lens.

My favorite among these lenses... 25mm f1.4! A sharp and very responsive piece of gem :)

Well... the above are taken using the Hoya manual lens... I admit it is not the easiest lens to use... But result is pretty good... but so far I can only take photos of more or less stationary objects. Try birding... but failed miserably.

 (My handsome elder bro. Don't drool girls!)

Well the abovementioned are all taken using 40-150mm, 25mm or 14-42mm lens. I am very please with OM-D... but there is some areas that I really really wish that would improve... the most notable was the freak grip (or lack of one)... and the second is the lag between shots. There is this lag that would have caused some of my shots... and I missed the almost instantaneous respond of my DSLR... oh... and it take a while for the OM-D to wake up from its beauty sleep... my 7D, 1000D and 40D response is instantaneous in this matter too.

So if you ask me... I will not replace my 7D with the OM-D... but I will use the 7D lesser.

More of my Australia trip photo will be found here, http://www.flickr.com/photos/tiew_cy/sets/72157630473785164/with/7525391172/