Camera Backpack recommendation e-m1 plus wildlife lenses

Arizona Sunset wrote:

Have researched this a ton, because LowePro and the other popular gear companies don't make a legitimate outdoor / adventure / climbing backpack with modern suspension and layout.

Here are three options that I considered after reviewing and handling dozens more. Each has their own unique layout and features, an external tripod attachment, and is extremely lightweight.

1) FStop Loka UL - the sensible, lightweight choice

My cousin saunters around the flat lands "wilderness" with his FF kit (similar in size and weight to yours) with fstop backpacks, and swears by them. The Fstop Loka UL is something that I've looked at a couple of times, but ultimately, due to having so much space, decided against. I tend to fill the bag up, which means that I'll be less likely to make it to the next ridge or top of the mountain if it's too big.

Fstop has a variety of options - here's the Loka UL

2) Click Elite Obscura (for quick draw pouch) - probably not great for your case

I briefly owned an adventure camera pack from Click Elite (or however you spell it) called the Obscura. It's really a clever design for storing a camera, has a quick draw padded insert, and it relatively light. I would have kept it but abandoned the bulky and heavier zoom lenses from my kit in favor of fixed compacts, and didn't need the larger padded space.

For your purposes, this would fit the bigger telephoto zoom and the EM1:

3) MindShift Gear Rotation 180 Panorama

This is an innovative product with a patented waist belt.

If I were you, I would seriously consider this option, however, you have so much gear, that I'm not sure that it will work - perhaps you could figure out how to make it work.

I'd probably go with choice #3 to see what innovation in a backpack can do for my photography, however, your needs may be different.

All three options would require separate pouches for your extra stuff, but that's kind of a given.

I've recently been in a similar position. I needed a proper daypack to carry waterproofs, lunch, geology gear, jumper, spare shoes, hydration pack, etc, and a decent array of camera gear. The problem is most camera backpacks are designed around the camera gear and don't have much space for other gear. These bags - The Fstop Loka with it's ICUs and the Obscura - with it's two compartment setup, looked like the best options for hikers who want to carry camera gear. The gear rotation pack I wasn't convinced about, thinking it may be quite tricky to rotate it back if the daypack is full.

I wasn't able to find those options in Australia, so I bought a nice technical day pack - Mountain Designs Stream T38 and combined it with a Thinktank V10 holster - for fast access to the camera, and a load cell (which is similar to the ICUs from Fstop, but around $30 - http://www.kathmandu.com.au/packs-and-bags/packing-solutions/cells/protective-cell-v2-l-black.html). This allowed me to take a decent array of lenses (12-40, 75-300, 75mm, 60mm, 8mm FE, FL300R flash). When the 300mm comes along, I'll probably pack it separately in its own case, as it will spend most of it's time in the holster and will be so much larger than the other lenses. If pushed, the top pocket of the T38 can also hold the E-M1 + 75-300mm lens.

As for the Kata 3n1 someone asked about earlier - I have a Kata 3n1 22, and it's a magnificent pack. Built really well. I don't use it much, as I've gone to shoulder bags for general wandering and proper backpacks for hikes, but it's exceptional for backpacking/slinging camera gear.

One final option I'm going to keep an eye on, is the idea of a small lens pouch, just big enough to hold the largest lens I'll carry, so I could have one on the camera in its holster, and a second lens available without taking off the pack.