Cool, understated military-inspired looks spoiled only by a white tripod logo on the rear-front – why, oh why Tenba?! Curiously enough, the tripod symbol isn’t visible on the bag shown online, so maybe I received an odd one. There’s a lifetime warranty on all Peak Design products, which includes manufacturing defects and any failures or breakages that render the product non-functional. Others will want smaller or larger cases, and it looks like Peak Design has Cubes for just about every kind of photo outing. The cubes have some clever dimensions. For example, two mediums equal one large. The height-adjustable shoulder straps are unique in the way that they can be adjusted – a lot of design consideration has gone into this. The straps themselves are amazingly comfortable with their moulded design. The only small niggle is that with the bag fully loaded, it’s a little hard to pull out the laptop.

If you do use a regular bag, you should ensure it is protected by using any clothing you have in the bag to encase the camera and prevent it from jolting around. The setup for any Peak Design Camera Cube is very user specific. That said, the setup is nothing more than configuring the various included protective flex-fold dividers to wrap the specific camera gear that you have, maximizing the amount of gear you haul, while minimizing the chance of it getting damaged. You will see a description of my load-out in the next section of this review. Performance Ian from Shimoda sent me the Explore to review, and I was immediately impressed. You could see that a ton of thought had gone into it, which isn’t surprising given his past experience at F-Stop Gear and his love for both photography and mountaineering. The retracting tripod cup is a bit weird, but so far seems to work (at least for a smaller tripod). Rear padded portion features some serious padding and a unique design to increase airflow while hiking.Looking to upgrade your equipment? Get competitive prices on major brands with our part-exchange service. Since I had the Medium Cube, I wasn't sure how much it would hold. My goal was my Sony mirrorless camera, some lenses, accessories, my Mavic 3 Classic, controller, batteries, and chargers for the Sony and the Mavic. I knew I was wildly ambitious, but since the Cubes are infinitely adjustable, I gave it a try. Langly’s been making great bags for a long time and the Alpha Globetrotter is no exception. The straps, pulls, tough rubber bottom, and bag material is all of the finest workmanship and will clearly last a long time. The outer material and zippers are entirely weatherproof, and this latest version has reinforced camera inserts that securely cradle your gear.

An update from the Alpha Pro, Langly updated the Globetrotter to have a front-loading panel, making it much easier to access the camera compartment than in previous versions. The laptop is also easy to access. Still, there’s only one access point for the camera and you still have to (mostly) take the bag off to get to it. Zippers feel great and slide easily 270 degrees around the contours of the bag, with large grab handles that feel sturdy. I have two images showing the version one and two versions of the protective flex-fold Shelf Divider. The lighter one is the second version. This is the only protective flex-fold divider that is shipped with the first version of the Peak Design Small Camera Cube, and is the only first version camera cube that I had access to, allowing for this side by side look. You can see that the hook part of the divider connection in the second version is better color matched with the interior fabric of the camera cube.

What I’d change

Makes you feel a bit like a soldier…if not for the branding. Men might compliment, but women probably won’t. :p Can fit 1-2 mirrorless, DSLR or Cine cameras with 5-7 lenses up to a 300mm f/2.8, a laptop up to 15″, a compact drone and a tripod via a reinforced cup on the exterior. The tablet slot has a suspension system to keep your device from hitting the bottom of the bag. While this would be cooler if it held a laptop, tablet users will definitely appreciate it. Various bag manufacturers produce their own style of internal dividers. These may be interchangeable depending on the height of the interior primarily. Some companies such as Billingham or Dome use different colours for their inserts, making it easier to locate gear in low light or when in a hurry.

If you like attaching things onto the outside of your bag, the Anvil 27 s arc attachment points hold MAS and SAS components and a variety of other accessories including MOLLE. Capacity: 16L | Dimensions: 10.83 x 7.28 x 18.50 in (27.5 x 18.5 x 47 cm) | Weight: 1.78 lbs (0.8 kg) It’s a little hard to get in and out of the lowest internal compartment since the size zip doesn’t run low enough. Also, I find roll-top bags a little fiddly and unnecessary with their additional steps to get gear in and out of. Peak Design’s zips are really the best in the industry – sure, they’re durable and water-resistant, but they glide so smoothly you’ll find yourself playing with them all the time. Safely carry all your photography essentials with case inserts and compartments. If you do a lot of traveling and field work, consider investing in durable carrying cases and dividers to ensure your equipment stays in optimal working condition. No matter how you prefer to transport your gear, protective camera bag inserts provide safe and reliable storage for camera bodies, lenses, memory cards, and other accessories.

The overall structure of the Essential Camera Cubes can be described as reassuringly rigid. They can stand on their own and won’t collapse like a damp grocery bag. In fact, during our testing of the Essential Deep, we noticed that it adds a good amount of structure to the PRVKE 21L, which can sag into itself if its main compartment is unoccupied. Despite the cubes’ structuredness, though, there’s a good amount of padding inside to protect fragile camera gear. To sum things up, they’re tough on the outside and soft on the inside. Usage and Features The camera-carrying portion of the F-Stop Ajna uses removable ICUs (Internal Camera Units) and can hold up to a Large Pro. Depending on how you configure it, the Pro can hold 1-2 camera bodies and 4-6 lenses (a couple of long lenses plus smaller ones), plus other goodies. Need more space for hiking essentials? Choose a smaller ICU like the Slope or the Shallow. (All sold separately.) Perhaps best of all, it doesn’t look at all like a camera bag. Unfortunately, it looks like the blue version is discontinued, but the aloe/drab one looks great and the orange version definitely stands out. Additional options include using a camera cube for travel photography or a camera holster, which can be fitted on your hip for ease of access. The top access panel combined with the fact that the Tario stands up on its own makes it pretty easy to get at your DSLR. Everything works well on this bag, from the zippers to the straps. No complaints.

As I mentioned above, I am a huge fan of Peak Design, and I see no reason to curb my excitement and trust based on changes in the second version of the Peak Design Medium Camera Cube. The new design decisions seem to be focused on improving the use of the Peak Design Camera Cubes with Peak Design’s Travel Line bags, allowing for a wider opening on the top, a better fit inside of the Travel Line bags, and lighter inside color to aid one in identifying their camera gear inside of any of the Peak Design Travel Line bags. The only exception to this is the incorporation of Peak Design’s weatherproof UltraZips which will add value when a Peak Design Camera Cube is used as a standalone camera bag. One of the big pluses of this bag. At a mere 3.2 lbs, the Aspect comes in at one of the lightest camera bags of this size and calibre. The new V2 Camera Cubes together with the range of Flex dividers are said to be 10-15% lighter than the first generation, making your gear load a little less heavy without sacrificing all the protection and weatherproof durability that comes with it. Using the full capacity 15 or 20L of the Everyday Zip is actually easier than on other bags, thanks to the 270-degree zippered opening and wide access points. You can fit a couple of cameras, lenses, laptops and multiple accessories, with space on the bottom to strap a tripod.

Hardware specs

Feels like it’d last a good 10+ years of abuse on the outside, and the inside is equally well-constructed. I particularly like the hook-and-loop attachments for the dividers, which are designed not to rip at the fabric. The build quality is still excellent, with a 400D double poly-coated DWR-impregnated nylon canvas shell, 900D waterproof bottom liner, anodized aluminium/glass-reinforced nylon and durable ‘UltraZips’. In this review, we’re mainly going to be taking a look at the small camera cube—which is the one we’ve been using the most. We’ll go over a couple of unique features that the medium and the large have, but for the most part, they’re are all the same. Peak Design Camera Cube Materials Capacity: 20L (+3) | Dimensions: 12.60 x 9.96 x 19.29 in (32 x 25.3 x 49 cm) | Weight: 3.31 lbs (1.5 kg) Now, with Version 2, Peak Design adds new sizes of their Cubes, including X-Small and Smedium. This adds to the Small, Medium and Large Cubes. All the former Cubes have been redesigned, and here are the new features: