Field Loadout

This post contains affiliate links. If you buy through them, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.

It’s hit or miss these days, but the Amazon Basics brand has something for just about every need. In my case, I needed a new camera bag for my upcoming trip to Alaska to carry all my gear and provide it some protection during my travels. And this Amazon Basics DSLR Bag just so happened to be one of the few that would arrive the day before my trip. So I took the chance. I’m not a serious photographer by any stretch, but I can say it traveled well, protected my gear and made shooting a breeze.

First Impressions

On first impression, it actually looked quite well made for an Amazon brand. My last purchase felt cheap and showed signs of wear quickly. But the material for the bag feels good in the hand and the buckles and zippers feel high quality as well, save for the zipper on the inside mesh pocket of the lid, but I attribute that more to the mesh itself. The tripod straps feel a bit thinner than the main straps, but I’ve yet to put a tripod in to test it. I’ll report back after I have some time with a tripod strapped in to see how it fairs. The rubber feet on the bottom are a nice touch. They keep the bag from rolling and sliding around in the car and kept it from sliding back under the airline seat. So far, this bag (and the gear inside it) has survived 4 trips under an airline seat, a toss from an Uber driver, and hikes through the Alaskan backcountry. I would expect to outgrow it before it ever broke down on me.

Configuration

The bag has three outer zippered pockets and the main compartment. Oddly, this main compartment has both a zippered lid and a padded buckled lid. It is nice that the zippered lid has hook & loop pads on the back, allowing it to be unzipped and the bag to be secured with just the buckles. But if you want the security the zipper offers, you’ll be unbuckling and unzipping each time you want to open the bag, which is a bit of a bummer. But I found the padded lid had enough of a lip that it secured everything in the main compartment just fine. The big outer pocket has several interior dividers for pens and things that you may find useful. I found myself storing my ND filter there for quick access.

Inside the main compartment, there are 5 dividers creating 6 total pockets. Four of those dividers have hook & loop strips on the ends, allowing you to customize the size of the 5 main pockets. This is great, as it allows you to custom fit your gear to fit snugly in the bag and keep it from moving around. On my trip to Alaska, I carried my Nikon D7000 camera body, 35mm lens, battery, charger, and straps in each of the 5 main pockets, this worked well for extended travel where I wanted the max protection. During the trip, I tended to carry the camera fully built. I was able to move those pocket to help secure the camera in this configuration. One pocket I did not end up using was the only fixed pocket along the back of the bag. This is intended for a tablet or a phone to go in, but I found myself always carrying my phone in my pocket. You may find this pocket useful, but so far, I’ve not found much use for it. There is also a mesh pocket on the inside of the zippered lid that works great for SD card storage or lens wipes.

In the Field

The bag travels fairly well. As mentioned above, it has good padding, rubber feet that keep it in place, and a configurable interior. I had no worries about my gear inside it. I’m taller at around 6 foot 4 inches and the strap is good length to make this a comfortable cross-body camera bag. I do wish the shoulder strap was wider but, for the price, it works just fine. I can replace it if needed. One thing that would be nice, would be somewhere to store the shoulder strap. I found myself storing it under the handles, but it would often slip out. It became annoying on flights, having to keep moving it back under the seat so it would not be at my feet or in the aisle. When on the move, I found the bag comfortable and easy to access. My only nitpick is that the plastic hooks on the shoulder strap squeak as you walk and as the bag sways. I wish these were metal, not only to fix this issue but for extra durability as well.

Verdict

Overall, this a great bag for someone with a camera and 2 lenses that travels a lot. Anymore than that, and you’ll want to start looking at backpack bags as this would be the largest bag I’d want to shoulder. But it’s configurable and offers great protection for your gear. I might look to replace the shoulder strap in the future, but for around $30, this a great starting point for a camera bag.

Latest Price

Check out the latest price here: https://amzn.to/4lo461A

Disclaimer

This post contains affiliate links. If you buy something through them, I may earn a small commission — it helps keep Field Loadout running and stocked with more gear to test, at no extra cost to you.