Review by Lukas Piatek - www.lukaspiatek.com
Before I start my review, I just want you to know that I have been looking for a bag that fits most of my gear during travels for quite a while now. AT THE BEGINNING I THOUGHT I MIGHT BE OKAY WITH A CHEAPER-PRICED, GENERIC BACKPACK. WHILE THAT WORKED AT THE BEGINNING, I QUICKLY REALIZED that my gear was not really safe in there and I could only fit one body and two lenses.
When I stumbled upon the Camps Bay from ONA and saw how much stuff could fit in there. I was sold within the first minute. I am not the guy that is into messenger bags, and I already knew I wanted a backpack for travels.
Divider at the top that can be adjusted in height for personal items
The Camps Bay has room for a camera body and up to seven lenses !!! You can mix that space up of course and take two or three bodies and a smaller amount of lenses. And you know what is so cool about this? It even has a nice little spot for laptops as large as 17 inches.
My main set up with 2 bodies and 4 lenses
There is even a special divider at the top of the Camps Bay that creates a space of 4" - 7“ to hold personal items, like a moneymaker belt for example. Mobile phone, memory cards, batteries, prism, portable hard drive etc., can easily fit in the front organizer pocket or even the side pockets.
The divider area at the top with the money maker and plenty of space for other stuff.
Front organizer pocket for mobile phone, memory cards, batteries etc.
The Camps Bay is handcrafted with premium waxed canvas and leather and you can really feel that. There is a fully padded leather base at the bottom of the backpack and a padded air mesh back panel that is, while wearing it, really comfortable. The same air mesh padding can be found on the shoulder straps. That means, that every contact point of The Camps Bay with your body is padded and this makes fitting it with your gear a breeze.
A closer look at the padded air mesh areas
It is also very nice to look at. It has the typical ONA look, so its very stylish and it does not feel like my old clumsy and ugly backpack. It comes in three colors, so you can easily find a perfect fit.
First setup with two bodies and four lenses
camera bodies of all sizes fit in there
I have used The Camps Bay for multiple shootings and travels so far and I am really happy with it. My gear was always secure and i never thought that I have to worry about my cameras and lenses being damaged in there at any point. I personally call it my "safe" now, because it was built to last and the stuff that is in there, is worth quite a bit .
Second setup with two bodies, four lenses and a flash
plenty of room and i did not even max it out.
The setups created still had plenty of space. The divider area at the top was only filled with a moneymaker. Front organizer pocket only had a mobile phone, four memory cards and 2 batteries. Could have easily filled it up with more cards, batteries and an external hard drive. I even left both side pockets empty, which also offer plenty of space.
The main area in the Camps Bay can be changed as you wish. As you might noticed, i was able to get a flash in there in my second setup because I left the lens on my body, which also had a battery pack on it.
This is a maxed out setup. Enough to take on an epic journey
If you are looking for a perfect backpack or you just want to upgrade your old one, you should check out the Camps Bay. If it is too big for you, ONA offers smaller options from which you can choose.