I never thought I would be as fascinated by camera bags as I am now, but having written about quite a handful of them in the past… Here we are again. Previously, I had the chance to check out and daily drive the Lowepro ProTactic BP 350 AW III, and I was left rather impressed by it. It’s already one of my top recommendations for anyone looking for a supremely versatile, modular camera bag, with near-endless customisation options.
However, if that aforementioned 350 variant is a tad too small for you, then worry not, as it does have a bigger brother – the Lowepro ProTactic BP 450 AW III. While I had mentioned back then that most people won’t need anything bigger than the 350 – and the same still goes for me personally and my typical ensemble of equipment – some of you may benefit from more storage. You might actually be able to fill this one up to the brim!
In stark contrast to the more portable selection of gear I tested the 350 with, for the ProTactic BP 450 AW III, I thought about lugging around something bigger, chunkier. Consequently, it’ll be home to my rather huge Canon R5 Mk 1, accompanied by an RF 24-70mm lens. Both of which do struggle with smaller bags. Thankfully, the voluminous body of the R5 Mk 1 had no trouble fitting inside the Lowepro ProTactic BP 450 AW III.
Do You Need Even More Space?
Additionally, with even more stowage space in and around it, the 450 variant offers you a tonne more room to accommodate additional accessories and equipment besides. In other words, while the smaller 350 variant will be sufficient for most hobbyists and casual photographers, all you full-time professionals out there should likely consider the 450, instead. Ultimately, it’s better to have that extra headroom, than to be sorry!
You’ll probably also find that with the new Lowepro ProTactic BP 450 AW III, you might be able to get away with stowing all your gear into just one bag. That’s rather than having to lug around an extra bag with you, so that’s handy. Personally, the 450 feels a tad too big for me (on the other hand, the 350 feels just right!), but for you, if you need to have all your equipment and other things in one place, the 450 is an exceptional alternative.
Speaking of, my favourite feature of the Lowepro ProTactic BP 350 AW III makes a return with this bigger 450 model… The modular dividers! If you’ve already read my review on the 350, then it’s exactly the same concept here with the dividers, as well as the abundance of organisation options and customisation that it offers you. This time, though, the Lowepro ProTactic BP 450 AW III gives you way, way more volume to work with!
An Infinite Level Of Customisation
As with the 350, the bigger 450 variant here carries over the idea of including multiple different shapes and sizes for the dividers, as well as varying colours. I’ve found that there’s a near-limitless number of ways you’d be able to customise the primary compartment and position the dividers, even accommodating for oddly shaped things that you’re chucking into the bag. For better protection, the dividers are pretty generously padded.
I also appreciate just how simple and effortless it is to move the dividers, enabling you to quickly swap and move them around with ease. For professionals, this ought to be a fairly valuable feature, seeing that you are probably switching around your load-out and equipment constantly. Whether you’re bringing along one large camera, a couple of smaller cameras, some big lenses, and a day’s worth of spare batteries, you’ll find a way to fit them.
Speaking of, accessing your equipment and stuff, just like stowing them away, is equally superbly simple, as the Lowepro ProTactic BP 450 AW III gives you more than one way to do it. For example, you could simply unzip the entire front end of the bag, to have unrestrained access to that primary compartment. Alternatively, you could also open up the top clamshell, or access the main compartment through two zipped pockets on the side.
Enough Pockets For All Your Gear
Oh, and if you’re struggling for even more space, in addition to the primary compartment, the Lowepro ProTactic BP 450 AW III includes a handful of little zippered pockets elsewhere. These should be nice for tinier items such as memory cards, batteries, straps, and other random bits and bobs, which might otherwise easily get lost or move around a lot. Moreover, if you need to carry your laptop or tablet with you, then you could stuff it in here, too.
Just to give you an idea of how much bigger the 450 variant is compared to the ProTactic BP 350 AW III… Though the latter would fit up to 14-inch laptops, such as my 13-inch MacBook, the 450 model here would handily fit a 16-inch MacBook (or other similarly-sized laptops). Aside from that, there are also those stretchy bits of fabric on the outside, letting you hang other accessories (like a tripod), and a big pocket on the side for your water bottle.
As a bonus, Lowepro includes extra goodies in the bag. Inside a small hard-shell case, you get a pretty neat rain cover for the bag, as well as an unexpected inclusion… A utility belt with some extra pockets that you can stuff your lens (or other stuff) in. As far as modular camera bags go, for around £279.95, the new Lowepro ProTactic BP 450 AW III, as a larger, more sizeable option, is absolutely a fantastic option worth checking out!
