Mountainsmith Parallax Camera Pack

Just got back from Punta Cana and it worked great for us!!!

I was looking for a slightly larger photo pack than I could find locally. I use multiple lenses constantly, so I need them with me. The Mountainsmith fills that bill well. It also carries a laptop, which is a bonus for me, because I travel far from home and need a laptop to stay in touch. The only downside is that the laptop pocket seems to have obliged the maker to put the inner compartment access behind the back pad and straps, meaning that you have to put the pack down and unzip the entire carrying surface to access the photo equipment. It's also possible to put a lot of weight, fully loaded, in the pack, but the pack is still portable with that reservation. That's not much of a squawk, given the flexibility of the unit. It's a lot of pack for the money.

This bag has a range of attractive features, though I've found that the stitching at the junction betwixt shoulder harness and bag body starts to loosen after only a single use with light / moderate loading. Stitches popped at second use with only a cam body, two lenses, and a tripod being carried over rough terrain. I wish it had held together... as it's a good size. The MS Odyssey has a much more robust strap junction than the Parallax, though unfortunately is far too big for most users frames or gear needs. Too bad.

As others have stated, this is a very large bag. I found that it was too deep for my liking. The body with the battery grip installed still left inches to spare. I didn't like the supplied dividers as they are extremely stiff. Other bags I own have more flexible dividers that allow snug fitting around lenses and other components. This was the first pack I tried with the back panel access. It seems to be popular, but I didn't like it. I found that the straps were always in the way. I'm sure this pack works out great for some, but I have to wonder what else they've used to compare it to. It's well constructed, just not designed well for me.

Its a great backpack for carrying equiptment for outdoors and indoor shoots. Being very sturdy it can keep equipment safe.