Random thoughts: Think Tank Retrospective 10

The Think Tank Retrospective 10 shoulder bag basically gets universal praise for its looks and function. How can I resist? The bag went with me on a 5 day family trip to Singapore recently and here are my thoughts on the bag after some time with it.

Things I like:

• It’s pretty for a camera bag. All greenish beat-up canvas (which I like, me wife thinks it's dinky haha).
• Craftsmanship is high with the corresponding high quality to every part.
• The handle comes in very handy indeed.
• It easily takes my 5DIII + 50mm f1.2 attached, 16-35mm f2.8, 70-200mm f2.8 IS II and 580 EXII with room for more things if I wanted.
• Since the bag is not hugely padded at all, the bag conforms to my body while carrying it.
• The side strap is perfect for my Benro tripod. I slip one leg through there and I add a velcro strap on the ballhead and tie around the tri-buckle of the bag’s strap. No fuss, no muss.

Things I’m iffy about:

• It really doesn’t look much like a messenger bag because it’s so thick. And because of its size, no one will mistake it for a laptop bag.
• The strap pad is comfortable for only about half a day of lugging around. It's probably because the strap is so thick and bulky that the whole bag is heavier than it should be.

Things I don’t like:

• For a bag its size, it’s heavy even when empty (1.4kg) so by the end of the day, I do feel it on my shoulder and back.
• The side compartments aren’t for anything thicker than an iPhone or Blackberry.
• I can’t put a divider horizontally to split a compartment into 2 halves. The way around this is to divide up the compartment diagonally, which I find a bit clumsy.
• It swallows gear so sometimes I needed two hands to take out my camera or to do anything for what matter.
• Because the bottom is quite thin and flimsy, it tends to sag down in the middle with my 5DIII + 50mm. I can actually feel the lens edge when I run my hand across the bottom. This is even after I used the rain cover as an added cushion.
• I prefer Domke’s way of implementing the velcro silencers on the F-831. With the Retro 10, if my bag isn’t full, I can’t just let go of the lid and let the velcros stick together. I have to consciously position them properly to close the lid.

As a day trip or event bag, I think the Retrospective 10 is wonderful. As a travel bag however, its limitations are quite apparent. 1.4kg empty is a waste of weight, so to speak. I think a shoulder bag for traveling needs to weigh 1kg max.

I'm actually planning a 2 week trip to Europe in June. What does this mean? More than likely I need a backpack. But that's a different post altogether.