Think Tank Photo Airport Commuter Backpack for Pro Camera Gear

The Airport Commuter is my second camera bag from Thinktank. While there are many styles of camera bags, including backpacks, Thinktank is particularly adept at identifying the needs of urban (and suburban) photographers, at home or on the road. The design and workmanship is of the highest order - heavy fabric, self-healing, water-resistant zippers and efficient use of space. Camera backpacks are usually designed for active sports like hiking and climbing, with weight concentrated low, shape-molding construction and a complicated harnesses. Thinktank caters to travelers, with a rectangular design, a well-defined shape, stiff outer construction and three handles. It fits in an overhead compartment. The harness is fairly simple, but effective. Best of all, the harness can be tucked out of the way until you need it. You can carry it by one strap for convenience, or two for serious schlepping. In either case, the weight is borne by your hips, not shoulder, and it stays put better than any shoulder bag. This configuration is perfect for use in public transportation. In practice, all your gear is in one layer, not stacked up as in a shoulder bag. If you are uncomfortable with a shoulder bag exceeding 15 pounds, you can carry 35 pounds in a backpack. That's easily reached with a pro DSLR, three or four big lenses and accessories. I bought the Airport Commuter for an Hasselblad kit with 8 lenses (no zooms).There's room for a 15" laptop, but I find it better to carry a slim computer bag, with accessories, as my "personal" carry-on. I've never yet needed a laptop in the field, and extra memory cards are a lot lighter than a computer.

If you know camera bags, you know that Think Tank makes outstanding products. As such there are no issues with quality here - this bag is top notch. I purchased it for an important international trip. It was easy to configure to hold all my gear and protected my equipment perfectly across numerous flights, hotels, boats, buses, etc. I loved that it was carry-on compliant, ensuring I could bring my gear with me in the cabin of every flight I've taken with this bag, even on smaller planes. I've since used the bag for a number of other shorter trips and appreciate how it can be set-up to hold as much or as little gear as I want to bring. This bag has been fantastic and has made traveling with camera gear a breeze!

Overall, this is a nice backpack. The boxy, rectangular shape makes maximum use of space and it holds a lot of stuff. The attached cable lock is kind of useless as it's connected to a nylon loop inside the pocket on the bag. While it may prevent a quick grab-and-run type of theft, anyone with a small knife or scissors and maybe three seconds to spare will make off with the bag. The padding seems adequate, but I've seen better.One complaint however is that the velcro attachments inside the bag seem pretty weak. Everytime I get something out, I can hear the velcro coming a little more loose. With other backpacks and bags I have, the velcro attached dividers absolutely stay put.EDIT: Here's a thought on the bag's cable lock... I realize that there's no sturdy frame as such on the bag to secure the cable, but how about adding a lockable zipper on the pouch that stores the cable lock? It would at least be an extra step for someone to get at the cable's attachment point. Pull the cable out and lock it to something, then zip the pouch closed again and lock that.

Bag looks small initially but I have (2) DSLRs (2) Long zooms (2) wide angle zooms Batteries & Chargers, Speedlite, Teleconverters, GoPro Hero 4 and accessories, cleaning supplies and a Chamois cloth. Still room left over and only weighs 16.25lbs loaded. I haven't used it on a plane YET but will in August. Very sturdy. Love the handles. Well thought out bagCons: I wish the front pocket was more designed around securing memory cards and batteries individually rather than a pocket to throw a handful in. The pocket doesn't secure either which means your memory cards could end up in the bottom of the front pocket.My Lowe Pro Flipside 400 is very well designed for memory card storage. The problem with the flipside is the bottom belt flaps makes the bag difficult to stuff in tight places. Which is why the Think Tank is better suited for air travel.

No complains, several of my existing bags are either too tall or too thick and in need to replace F-stop bag that I want to take and needs an upgrade. After doing a bit of research, this fits my R6, 24-105, 100-500, 100, flash, and various accessories, and still have room. This looks to last awhile, look forward to using it!

Fits a lot of equipment in a small footprint, doesn't completely scream "camera bag," and protects bodies and lenses well. I'm a wedding and event photographer and I can carry the following in this bag with a little room to spare - 3x DSLR Body (w/o grip), 5x Prime/Wide Zoom Lenses (could fit one more), 1x 70-200mm, 3x Speedlite (or 4x Speedlite in place of the 70-200mm), batteries/chargers/cards, and 15" laptop. Definitely heavy fully loaded, but not unmanageable. This is my first ThinkTank bag and in the past I've preferred bags that open toward the rear side that faces your back when being carried. This ensures the enclosure won't open while in transit. This bag is perfect other than that feature, and it does have a cable lock if you're worried about pickpockets on the go (I work out of NYC). Despite the lack of that feature, this bag is perfect for me.

Bought this for a trip to Alaska this summer. I’m able to get 2 camera bodies and 3 lenses along with a 17” laptop and accessories without a problem. Great sturdy bag.

Comfortable on my shoulders with several lens and camera bodies. Deep compartments for lenses and cameras. Large capacity.