I have been getting restless lately and trying to find the time to take some photos. I am not usually that motivated to go out after work so I have been trying to take my camera with me in the mornings and take a few shots.

The problem is that my camera bag just does not meet my needs when carrying my camera too and from work.  When I bought my camera (Canon 400d), I bought it with the lens kit. This included the standard 18-55mm lens and a 70-300mm lens. I also got a 2 Gig compact flash card and a lowepro ex160 bag. I also had a canon ef 28-105mm lens from my previous camera, this all had to fit in my bag.

The ex160 bag fitted all my gear but there was no room for expansion and room was rapidly running out. What’s more was that the bag had quite a thin, no padded strap which was quite sore on the shoulder when carrying the bag for a while and it just plain gets in the way. 

This brings me to my new purchase the Lowepro slingshot 200 AW .

I first noticed this bag only a couple of weeks ago and it looked like it would do what I needed it too, namely:

• carry all my gear,
• have room for expansion in the future,
• be able to get my camera in and out of it quickly and when needed
• be comfortable to carry

I read some reviews and had a look around some stores, eventually going into the store with my camera and trying out how it fits and feels. The slingshot is a backpack but has the great ability to become like a top loader bag in a few seconds. It has one strap that goes diagonally across the chest enabling you to pull the bag around from your back to your front and get easy access to your camera.

It is also makes it so much more comfortable to carry and really felt like it had nothing in it. I am sure that this is the case with any backpack but the problem with a backpack is that it stifles the urge to take a photo as you have to take the backpack off to get at your camera, not much fun if you are accessing it regularly.  Backpacks are also quite large and I don’t want to have too much wasted space to carry around just enough for some extra equipment here and there.

I can imaging the the slingshot would get sore after a while if you fully load it and take it on an extended journey but then you buy something for your needs and a backpack would be more suitable in that situation.

All in all I am very happy with this bag and it will enable me to take my camera everywhere without it being so much of an inconvenience and with one excuse out of the way that can only lead to better photographs.