The construction quality is on par with the Tilopa (which is phenomenal) as is typical with F-Stop gear. Also as expected, bag feels great on your back, and is noticeably lighter than the Tilopa. It's definitely not as imposing - has a lower-profile than the Tilopa (see pictures). Unfortunately this comes at the expense of it being not as large - it may not look like much but it definitely become apparent when packing it. I have a medium ICU and it's a tight fit - I haven't tried a large yet.
My only gripe about the Loka is the fact the laptop "sleeve" really isn't substantial at all...it holds my ancient 13" MacBook, but won't fit my 15" MacBook Pro - at all. I wouldn't consider it a true laptop sleeve - but that's just my opinion. It might be ok for you 13" laptop users but it's definitely not as useful as the "real" laptop sleeve in the Tilopa.
Love doing business with this company - they make awesome gear and have good people working for them - which means great support.
Mine arrives tomorrow and I am really eager to get my hands on it. There are few camera packs that are well made, capacious, comfortable and inconspicuous. Right now I'm using a ThinkTank Streetwalker Pro but I suspect this will take its place.
When you have a moment I would like to see how much you can fit comfortably into the medium ICU, I have a large coming with mine...
Are there any changes/improvements in the pack or suspension? I have a Tilopa and will be interested in further follow up on the Loka. The observation that the medium ICU is tight is interesting.
I couldn't comment on improvements...the internal frame seems great in both pack's cases. The two packs are extremely similar in that sense. vulferius: in my medium ICU right now I have a D700 body, 85/1.8, Sigma 50/1.4, 180/f2.8 AF, and a tamron 17-35. My flash doesn't fit in the ICU comfortably, so I use the last spare "lens pocket" for a small hard drive, battery charger, and an eneloop charger. I figured that I could put the flash, in its pouch, just about anywhere in the pack and it would be fine. Since I do have a large ICU i'm going to try to put it in there tonight. I believe it will pretty much max out the internal space of the pack. Didn't want to give anyone the wrong idea about the Medium being a "tight" fit - it just slid in and out with a little more difficulty than the large ICU does in the Tilopa. This is probably due to the fact that the tilopa's depth is quite a bit more.
I got my Loka this week too (mist gray). It's a great pack and you can see the refinements from the Tilopa/Satori.
If you are using this for active sports - skiing, hiking, etc... you will notice immediately that this pack really fits tight to your back, it becomes part of you and really balances well. There is a solid internal frame and it works quite well.
I got it with both a Medium and a small ICU. The medium ICU was surprisingly large. Able to fit a 1Dmk3+70-200 in the main compartment and have room left over for 2-3 other lenses. The ICUs have been greatly improved. They now include better dividers and even have little velcro straps you can bridge across dividers - very handy if you are skiing with it to hold the gear tightly in place.
There are provisions for hydration bladders etc...
Here are some pictures (sorry, apologize about the quality - taken with iPhone in a hurry to satisfy bagaholic requests):
I love the zipper covers! I'm probably going to be using this as my main pack now; it is the most comfortable camera bag I've ever had by a mile. Love the depth of the ICU too. I think I'm mainly going to use the large as my full-time bag and the small for hiking/dayhike. The medium icu does look pretty nice though, I like how it basically splits space for other stuff in half, I might add one in the future.
Could be my involvement with the design but I am thinking the medium ICU will become our top seller. It was the first piece to sell out of the initial shipment (more coming in Nov).
It's not well noted but there is something about the design that I think most people will not catch.
Because of the taper you can fit a Pro Body and lenses like an 85mm and 16-35's standing tall while having a lower overall profile for the bag.
My usual packing would have a mounted 70-200, 16-35, 50 and fish. This is pretty good coverage and fits in my Medium but still keeps the extra low profile because of the taper. Straying away from the traditional boxy fit.
I have been working on some other ICU's suited towards 5D size bodies. While those will also be great, the reduced height means you have to lay down a 85 or 16-35 size lens. this reduces the overall carry capacity.
The Medium Pro ICU is the answer in my opinion. You get pro sized gear and the extra room from the taper. And if you are snowboarding... the tapers design roots actually came from keeping a low profile with a shovel in your bag. This also lends it self well to laptops.
I've been trying to figure out the best way to load the small ICU. This is the best I could come up with for now. I wish the small ICU came with some dividers to split the unit vertically as well as the horizontal one that it comes with.
JohnJ80 wrote:
Ian - you guys need to go it in the red again, though.
I do like how low profile it is. This is a bag I could ski with all day no sweat. Tilopa was a little large for that.
J.
Oh man, I definitely would've gotten a red one if it were available!
phidong wrote:
I've been trying to figure out the best way to load the small ICU. This is the best I could come up with for now. I wish the small ICU came with some dividers to split the unit vertically as well as the horizontal one that it comes with.
Noted.
Oh man, I definitely would've gotten a red one if it were available!
Red was the least popular color last time around... not saying it wont come back but we will continue to mix thing up as time goes by.
I've had my Loka since Friday and have been playing with it a lot, wearing it around, getting used to the feel and how to access it quickly. So far I really like it!
With the large ICU I have space for my 1D Mark IV, 70-200/f2.8 IS, 16-36/f2.8L, 24-70/f2.8L mounted, 100/f2.8L IS, spare battery, 580EXII, and some small odds and ends. Above the ICU I can get my 13" MacBook Pro in and two ThinkTank Lens Changer 25s with a 135/f2L and a 24/f1.4L plus my ThinkTank Hydrophobia. In the top compartment I have filters and a fully loaded Pixel Pocket Rocket. I also attached my Patagonia R4 jacket through the compression straps on one side. Oh, and in the compartment on the back on the bag I have a Lastolite EZYbox.
Generally speaking I am not going to load all this into the pack, I will probably just fill the ICU and leave the space above it in the main compartment for other non-photo related things but it is nice to know that I can really load this pack in a pinch.
Wearing it around it is comfortable and close to my box so that even at the farmers market I didn't feel like I was a bull in a china shop.
I can fit my 17inch mac book pro in there with a medium ICU. Not in the sleeve though.
But as Jeff suggests, the bag is not designed to be a pack mule. It will not perform like the Tilopa will when you overload it. that is not to say it is underpowered but both bags have different uses that overlap in some areas.
So what you should consider is what you actually want to carry. and let that determine your needs in a bag.
i realize most folks want a sleek bag to carry all there goods (me too), but we have to really look at the size of photography gear and computers and especially the weight. The math often does not add up. If everyone had a consumer body and net book... life would be much easier ... for me.
The zippered panel of the ICU has also been upgraded and is now padded. With the "old" ICU, I folded the flap under the ICU when it was in the pack. With the new ICU design, what is the recommended way to use the "flap". With the added protection, I thought that I would leave it unzipped but covering the ICU contents; is this what the designers have intended?
... for me.