carstenw
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 p.2 #7 · ThinkTank Retrospective 30 review | |
I have both the Retrospective 30 and the Tenba Large Messenger bags, and I by far prefer the Tenba. The Retrospective holds a lot, but the dividers cannot be attached to the bottom, and are not that tall either, and the shapes are just funny. The dividers are also rather weak, so placing a camera on top as in the first shot, makes it press down on all the lenses inside. I am always afraid that I'll get some pointless scratch on something from things rubbing together in the wrong way. My D3 is just a little too tall, so the prism pushes out the front of the bag a bit, and the only way I can stop this bag from becoming truly fat is to not use the two huge front pockets. The interior side pockets bulge in and get in the way when you don't use them. I keep a magazine and my iPad in the rear pocket, and even with just a couple of lenses in the bag, the fit is so tight that my iPad is showing rubbing marks on the screen, even though I have it in a leather protective case. When my D3 is in the bag, lens down, the hotshoe catches the edge of the interior front compartment, so the best thing I can do is not to use that, and zip it closed. The strap has metal buckles in exactly the places where a camera hangs, should I be silly enough to try carrying my camera outside the bag. All in all, I am just hugely disappointed in this bag. Every compartment is either too tight or too loose. Good bag, but certainly not great and I will replace it in a heartbeat when I find something better. The only satisfactory use I have found for it is to take my D3 with 200VR mounted. It is a squeeze, and nothing else will fit, but it works.
Note that I am not saying that anyone else is wrong about this bag, just giving an alternate opinion. Probably it is just a terrible bag for a pro camera and a great bag with a D700 and down.
Sadly the Tenba is not quite thick enough to take my D3 with a lens on, otherwise I would never have bought the TT. The Tenba is the exact opposite. The dividers are deep and attach at all the important places, earning my full trust. The size is much better, thinner but longer, and fits my MF kit or my LF kit with exactly the right shapes everywhere. I have considered switching my D3 to a D700, just to be able to use that bag again. The thin pockets mentioned above are great for things like an X-Rite Passport and other thin items. You would not want to put small items in there, as mentioned. I wish Tenba would make another bag, slightly thicker, to take a D3-size camera with lens on.
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