I recently purchased the Think Tank Photo Mirrorless Mover 20 camera bag to use with my Nikon 1 V1 system. Below is my review of the bag – including some ideas that I’d like to see in the next version! (I know, it just came out but everything can be improved, right?)
The most important aspect of a camera bag is build quality IMHO. The construction of the bag is excellent. Below is a comparison of the size of the Mirrorless Mover 20 to my most frequently used D300 bag, the Lowepro Event Messenger 250.
While we talking about quality, the strap is just “okay”. I realize at this price point and what is supposed to be a small footprint, that you don’t want the strap to overwhelm the bag. This strap is a little too basic for my taste and I will most likely use something different. At least the strap is detachable.
Below is my basic kit that I hope to put into this bag. It consists of:
Let’s load the bag. Below is how I would configure the bag for transportation and/or storage of my kit.
Remember that kids game of “one of these things doesn’t fit”? There is nowhere for my tripod unless I lay it across the top and risk scratching the camera.
I wish the bag were one half to a full inch wider. As it is now, I had to slightly offset the lenses with shades attached to fit them into the bag. Below is a cropped image showing the snug fit.
I like the front pocket design. The rain hood takes up one of the sleeves. In order to not remove the rain hood, I stored the spare battery in the side pockets. My first real complaint is with the side pockets. They are pretty useless. If I were to revise the bag, I would put side zippered pockets similar to what is in front. My Tenba Messenger Daypack is a perfect example of useful zippered side pockets. On the Tenba I store my spare battery and filters in them.
While you’re looking at the side pocket with the battery, you can observe a pass through belt pocket/loop on the right. I honestly can’t see anyone using this as a belt bag. Much more useful would have been a strap to fit over a roller board suitcase. The bag is wide enough and even a simple elastic design as shown below would be great. The ideal would be a design that zips at the bottom as a pass through or can be used for storing paper when zipped.
Let’s get practical. How does the bag work in the field? I won’t carry the battery charger and would have the GPS installed on the V1. I would want to be able to easily take the V1 into and out of the bag. In order to facilitate that, I will stack the 6.7-13mm and 30-100mm on the side as shown. This is workable.
I’m encouraged to see Think Tank create a bag geared (bad pun intended) at the needs of mirrorless shooters. I think this bag is a great first start and will meet my immediate needs. As I pointed out above, there are areas for improvement. I’ll be watching to see if version 2 incorporates some or all of my recommendations – especially regarding the tripod. Until then, I’ll be using the Mirrorless Mover 20.
The most important aspect of a camera bag is build quality IMHO. The construction of the bag is excellent. Below is a comparison of the size of the Mirrorless Mover 20 to my most frequently used D300 bag, the Lowepro Event Messenger 250.
While we talking about quality, the strap is just “okay”. I realize at this price point and what is supposed to be a small footprint, that you don’t want the strap to overwhelm the bag. This strap is a little too basic for my taste and I will most likely use something different. At least the strap is detachable.
Below is my basic kit that I hope to put into this bag. It consists of:
- Nikon V1 with Fotodiox Pro grip and mounted Nikkor 18.5mm lens
- Nikkor 6.7-13mm and 30-110mm lenses
- SB-N5 Speedlight
- GP-N100 GPS
- ML-L3 Wireless Remote
- Extra EN-EL15 and wall charger
- Circular Polarizer and Neutral Density filters
- Tripod
Let’s load the bag. Below is how I would configure the bag for transportation and/or storage of my kit.
Remember that kids game of “one of these things doesn’t fit”? There is nowhere for my tripod unless I lay it across the top and risk scratching the camera.
I wish the bag were one half to a full inch wider. As it is now, I had to slightly offset the lenses with shades attached to fit them into the bag. Below is a cropped image showing the snug fit.
I like the front pocket design. The rain hood takes up one of the sleeves. In order to not remove the rain hood, I stored the spare battery in the side pockets. My first real complaint is with the side pockets. They are pretty useless. If I were to revise the bag, I would put side zippered pockets similar to what is in front. My Tenba Messenger Daypack is a perfect example of useful zippered side pockets. On the Tenba I store my spare battery and filters in them.
While you’re looking at the side pocket with the battery, you can observe a pass through belt pocket/loop on the right. I honestly can’t see anyone using this as a belt bag. Much more useful would have been a strap to fit over a roller board suitcase. The bag is wide enough and even a simple elastic design as shown below would be great. The ideal would be a design that zips at the bottom as a pass through or can be used for storing paper when zipped.
Let’s get practical. How does the bag work in the field? I won’t carry the battery charger and would have the GPS installed on the V1. I would want to be able to easily take the V1 into and out of the bag. In order to facilitate that, I will stack the 6.7-13mm and 30-100mm on the side as shown. This is workable.
I’m encouraged to see Think Tank create a bag geared (bad pun intended) at the needs of mirrorless shooters. I think this bag is a great first start and will meet my immediate needs. As I pointed out above, there are areas for improvement. I’ll be watching to see if version 2 incorporates some or all of my recommendations – especially regarding the tripod. Until then, I’ll be using the Mirrorless Mover 20.
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