I hate shooting with camera backpacks as I tend to shoot with primes very often, and swapping lenses (or cameras, since I also regularly shoot with more than one camera at a time) is really a pain in the arse. As for shoulder bags, while they are great for short quick shoots, they are not ideal for longer periods when I go travelling as they put a considerable amount of strain on my back.

I wanted something that had the best of both worlds, no back strain but yet easily accessible pockets. That’s when I read about a new brand of camera bags that has emerged in the market, Think Tank. They supposedly were developed with photojournalists in mind, so I decided to go check out their range of products and ended up with a Speed Freak Belt Pack.

Together with that I bought a Chimp Cage and R U Thirsty as add on accessories for the belt pack for a total of SGD$200++.

In them I carried the following items during my trip to Yunnan, China:

• Mamiya 6 Medium Format Rangefinder with 50, 75 & 150mm lenses
• Nikon FE2 with Tokina 28-70mm F2.6, Voigtlander 40mm F2 &  Voigtlander 58mm F1.4
• Sekonic 758D Lightmeter
• 1litre Waterbottle
• Carabena to hold misc items when needed
• Film (Kodak 100VS, Fuji Provia 400x, Kodak Porta 400VC and 2 rolls of 160VC, Fuji Acros 100 & Neopan 400)
• Cable release, microfibre cloth, wet tissue, dry tissue, sweets, lozenges, etc etc 

Here’s how they look together.

Speed Freak, Chimp Cage and R U Thirsty
(Photograph of myself taken in Shangrila, China)

First and foremost, I must say I never once felt uncomfortable or tired lugging the belt pack around. That is when both the Accelerator Shoulder Strap and waist buckle were both strapped onto my body. If only one of them were used then things would start to feel unbalanced and strain would start to set in although I would think if only the belt pack without the two additional accessories were used it would be much better.

In terms of accessibility, everything was where I needed it to be, the lightmeter in the Chimp Cage which was easily accessible with my right hand, side draw string pockets held my film cannisters, next to these pockets where another set of pockets which help the sweets and tissue papers.

Right up in the front of the bag, zippers held loose change to purchase small items so that I didn’t need to take out my wallet. The larger compartment in front help other small items including a small phillips screwdriver which thankfully I brought to revive my FE2 when it jammed up again.

The R U Thirsty accessory held a 1litre water bottle securely and was very easily accessible when I needed a drink (none of my other camera bags have a suitable space for a water bottle). On the side of it is a tiny little pocket which holds a packet of tissue paper nicely.

Between the waterbottle and the main pocket I placed a carabena onto one of the loops on the beltpack which. This helped me hold onto other items bought along the way, like a plastic bag of oranges or a bottle of mineral water (with handle) etc.

Waterbottle in R U Thirsty, Carabena (gold coloured object) & side pockets holding film & wet tissue

In the main compartment itself were the camera bodies and lenses which went in after I customised the compartments to my liking. On the top of the main compartment, the flap actually opens out, not in like other camera bags, this makes it much easier to access equipment with the belt strapped on. Also, there’s a zip that runs on the top of the flap which allows for access to smaller (I had problems pulling out my camera bodies using this method) items within the main compartment.

Main compartment flap opens outwards, allowing for easier access to gear.

When adjusted to the appropriate height, the belt pack also didn’t impeed me from sitting or squatting. However I did find it rather difficult to rotate the belt pack to the back of my body (like it is designed to) without snagging my clothes along with it but that might be because I had it a little tight to make sure the weight of the belt pack rested mainly on my waist.

I did also have problems squeezing through tight spaces with the belt pack fastened on. Again that’s with the additional two accessories at the side and my current stouty girth. All that was needed was to unbuckle the waist buckle (the shoulder strap then bore the weight) and I could get past most obstacles without much problems.

Quality wise, everything felt really sturdy, the fabrics are of a high quality and so are the zips. I am a little worried about the mesh on the side pockets but I guess we’ll see what happens in the future. Buckles, straps and so on all felt like they could withstand a fair amount of abuse before giving way.

All in all you can see that with the belt pack is very customisable, all one needs to do is that you get the right size to fit the gear you need to lug around. Although to be honest I think the smaller Speed Demon is too small, and likewise the larger Speed Racer is way too big. But then again that’s my gear, and my waistline, other people will see things differently. On top of getting the correctly sized belt pack, you can always add a few more accesories to go with the belt pack to hold more gear, I’m considering another larger lens pouch for when I bring my D3 out. And when you don’t need to lug around so much gear, the waist straps can be tucked away and the whole bag transforms into a compact shoulder bag.

To sum it up, excellent bag all round, comfortable, spacious, expandable (and contractable), durable, secure, etc. Very much recommended.