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We clicked with:
Tardis technology - seriously how can a bag so small hold s-o-o-o much?,Excellent build quality, loads of pockets
Shots in the dark:
Not quite as stealth as you'd hope, carrying harness is extra (and looks a bit silly)
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When the nice UPS chap showed up at the door with the ThinkTank Urban Disguise I was a little disappointed - I seriously thought they had sent the wrong bag. I had specially asked for the Urban Disguise 50. This is part of a new range designed not to look like camera bags (where have I heard that before?) and the “50” is the smallest one to take a laptop too.
I kind of looked at the bag in disbelief - this was supposed to hold two pro spec DSLRs, a bunch of lenses and a laptop? It had to be a mistake - didn't it?
Will it hold your gear?
You know the drill by now. I chuck an unfeasibly large amount of gear in the bag and then spread it out to show you.
There you go:
Three (count them!) DSLRs (a Fuji S5, Samsung GX10 and Olympus E400) all with kit lenses plus an extra 50mm lens and SB-800 flashgun for the Fuji
4 Pocket Wizards plus flash meter and batteries
Small reflector and a compact camera
MacBook - the 13 inch version plus a spare 80GB travelling drive and loads of cables
In addition I tried a bunch of other things that the manufacturers claim can be fitted in with ease.
The pro's favourite a 70 - 200 2.8 lens? Check - it goes in vertically with the hood reversed.
Couple of D2Xes in the front pockets? Yep.
Another pair of flashguns in the side pockets? Easy.
I reckon that in addition to the kit shown above I could slip two pro spec DSLRs and 2 flashguns in the bag and it still wouldn't be full.
Now none of that sounds surprising until you realise that this bag it WELL within UK hand baggage allowances. Deprtament of Transport currently gives maximum size as 56cm X 45 cm X 25 cm. ThinkTank say the UD50 is 38 cm X 28 cm X 15 cm (thought he expanding pockets can make it bulk up. That's so small nobody will look twice at it.
If I were flying out on a trip tomorrow I'd put all my camera gear in this bag and put everything else in the hold.
Is it well made for the price?
You should know the answer to this one. It's a ThinkTank - it's tough. Big chunky YKKs, massive amounts of padding on the shoulder strap, ballistic nylon and a seam sealed rain cover. Yeah, it's tough.
It's also pretty well thought out too. It's one of those bags that after owning it for a couple of months you'll find another feature you never knew it had. Car manufacturers call this the “surprise and delight” phase - the designers have out thought you and met your needs before you knew what they were.
A couple of examples:
The inside of the bag is grey not black. That's a tiny little thing to think of - until you start looking for black cables or small parts or a memory card in it. Then you realise what a great choice grey is.
The rain cover is in a separate bag inside which is fastened to the bag by a piece of nylon webbing. Even this simple thing has all kinds of advantages over bags where it is sewn in. If the cover is wet but it's not raining, you can fold it back in its bag so the rest of your kit stays dry. If you come home and the cover's wet you can take it out and hang it on your washing line and still use the bag. If you're really stuck for space you can take the cover out and leave it at home.
At the back of the bag is a sleeve. This will fit over a luggage trolley or the extending handle on your roller suitcase and mean that the bag won't slip off. When you don't need it, close the bottom with a zip and you have another handy pocket
Does it suit you?
This is a shoulder bag for a laptop and camera(s). If you want a rucksack then look elsewhere. You can get an optional (as in you pay extra) harness for it but it doesn't look like a rucksack bag and can't be as comfortable. For all day hikes you want something else.
There isn't a huge amount of padding on it. If you're precious about your gear you may not think there's enough. The laptop area particularly doesn't have enormous amounts of padding but I'd be happy carrying a MacBook in it without worrying. The padded area on my Brenthaven laptop bag is probably twice as thick but then in some ways it's a bigger bag and it doesn't hold loads of camera gear too.
Walking around a town you might feel a bit awkward with this bag - its shape reminds me a little of an 80s sports bag but that's kind of the point. It's functional and discreet. As an airline bag it's fantastic - nobody is ever going to weigh a bag this small and it will take all you need for even a moderate length photo holiday.
What's left to improve?
OK, no bag is perfect. Here are a couple of areas I think could possibly be improved on the UD50.
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To get into the main document area (where you can stash pens etc) takes one big clip, some Velcro and a zip. True you can stash pens etc in an easier to reach area (in the top flap) but that's a lot of things to go through for the main area - it also exposes whatever you have in the front pouches (like £6 - 7 K worth of DSLRs.
It says ThinkTank on the front. Not much of a disguise. Granted it's not a very well known brand so you might only get robbed by well read thieves. It would be cool if you could Velcro the logo off the front for total stealth.
The “secret” pocket is a little too easy to find. C'mon guys - a red zip?
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Err, that's about it. No bag is perfect, but the ThinkTank Urban Disguise 50 is pretty damn close.
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