Mountainsmith Spectrum Camera Backpack

Mountainsmith Spectrum Camera Backpack - Part daypack, part camera bag.

If you are just getting into photography, or only do nature and wildlife photography as a hobby, you probably have no need for a full on camera backpack. Those sort of camera backpacks are design for professional photographer who have a lot of equipment to carry a long ways. For the rest of us, there are camera backpacks like the Mountainsmith Spectrum Camera Backpack that are a nice combination of daypack and camera bag. Because it is made by a backpack company, you can be assured that it is built tough and comfortable. They also make a handful of camera bags, so they have a good idea of how to design those as well!

I have tried out a lot of these daypack camera bags in the past. Its funny, you would think a backpack of this style would be easy to design, but its harder than you think. Some camera backs of this nature make it hard to access your camera gear on the fly, others just don’t offer enough backpack room. There is a much more delicate balance between camera bag and daypack then one would think. In this reviewers opinion, I think the Mountainsmith Spectrum Camera Backpack finds a happy medium of the two.

In my opinion, the Mountainsmith Spectrum Camera Backpack offers the perfect amount of camera bag on a daypack. All too often these camera daypacks have a huge camera bag section. Which to me, kind of defeats the purpose. The camera bag section of the Mountainsmith Spectrum Camera Backpack gives you enough room to carry a full digital SLR and two or three lenses. The only draw back here, is that if you want carry a large zoom lens, you have little room for additional lenses.

The quick & dirty:

Where you can get one:
Amazon.com: $66

Why they rock:

• Bottom clamshell pocket is padded to protect your cameras and lenses; adjustable dividers allow you to customize the layout for storing your photo gear
• Top zippered compartment holds accessories
• Padded, 15.75 in. laptop compartment has a side entry for easy access
• Internal electronics pocket has a cord exit port
• Yoke-style, contoured shoulder straps help provide comfort and even weight distribution
• Front mesh pocket holds often-used gear
• 2 external zippered side pockets and key clip offer space to organize small items
• Total internal volume measures 976 cu. in. (17 x 10 x 8 in.)
• Mountainsmith Spectrum camera pack is built tough with YKK zippers, Hypalon reinforcements and 430-denier ballistic and 420-denier nylon fabric

Seat-of-the-pants rating: 8 out of 10

I think that the Mountainsmith Spectrum Camera Backpack is great for those of you who like to day hike and explore, but also want to bring your SLR along with you. The Mountainsmith Spectrum Camera Backpack offers plenty of pack space for your day hiking essentials, but also offer just enough room for your camera and lenses. The placement of the camera bag section also makes it easy for your hiking buddy to open the bag for you to get out your camera without having to take of the pack.

Looking to Buy? Check out these sites:
Amazon.com: $66