Think Tank Photo Retrospective 20 Shoulder Bag - Pinestone

I had trouble deciding on the Retorospectve 10, 20, or 30 but I am glad I got the 20. The bag is larger than I expected, but had it been any smaller I would not be able to carry a griped body and a 70-200 size lens attached. Bags are subjective...the perfect bag for you needs is hard to find because needs vary so much. This bag is good for not looking like a camera bag too much and being big enough to let you carry a body, long lens, short lens, flash, cards, filters, and a few other odds ad ins. Its good for a day long shoot but not a wedding, I use it for more journalistic situations, or for events where I know a few lenses is all I need. The bag is small enough where you are not tempted to take too much gear, a sling bag with too much weight over any period of time will punish you. The shoulder strap is actually very comfortable, and I love the smaller carry handle. The bag sits upright on its own just like advertised which is another pulse, you can sit it down and grab things as needed. The rain cover is pretty extensive, if it rains your gear will stay dry. My only complaint is that even though its really not big, sometimes it just feels big on your arm, makes no sense I know, but just my two cents.

After searching for the best bag for working out of, I believe this is it! I needed something that would allow me to access everything comfortably and easily without taking the bag off. While the backpack has it's place, and I have three of them, I was sick of sitting it down and having to access it while on ground or off my body. This is not a convenient method nor a good one in crowds or bad weather.My Main Criteria during my search was:- Store my D700 (with grip) with my biggest zoom on camera, and allow for up to two additional lenses and/or flash and/or other body with other accessories all for easy access fully packed on body.- Water resistant or waterproof without necessarily a weather jacket. The weather jacket is a big plus.- Durable and tough.- Most of all, comfortable and able to be carried around the shoulder / chest all day long if needed.- Secure and also noiseless (for shooting sensitive events like weddings, church functions, etc.)- Preferably under $200 USD.This bag meets my criteria and then some admirably. I just bought this bag a few weeks ago as of this writing. The trial was taking the kids and bag to the Zoo for at least three hours. I placed the loaded Think Tank Retrospective 20 bag on my shoulder. I had my zoom Tamron AF 70-300mm f/4.0-5.6 SP Di VC USD XLD for Nikon Digital SLR Cameras , the portrait lens  Nikon 85mm f/1.8G AF-S NIKKOR Lens for Nikon Digital SLR Cameras , and I had my flash  Metz 58 AF-2 MZ 58324N Digital Flash for Nikon Cameras  in one of the inside pockets. The Nikon 85mm 1.8g was attached. I also had a few flash modifiers like the  Demb Flash Diffuser Pro Articulating Panel 5 X 5 Inches Plus Tiltable Front Diffuser  and other accessories in the outside pockets. I brought as my main body my Nikon D700  Nikon D700 12.1MP FX-Format CMOS Digital SLR Camera with 3.0-Inch LCD (Body Only)  with grip  Nikon MB-D10 Multi Power Battery Pack for Nikon D300 & D700 Digital SLR Cameras - Retail Packaging . All fit perfectly and admirably with room to spare. I wanted a bag that I could walk about the city or stand at an event all day and work out of, but not haul all my gear. Just enough to have the zoom ranges I need, maybe a flash, extra batteries, filters, memory cards, the usual. The bag weighed guesstimate 20 lbs. Felt hefty when I first put it on like "Aww man I made a mistake. I am going to be sore tomorrow if I haul this thing all day!". I thought I was done. After the first shock of having something on your body that's a little weighty, you don't notice it. I had it on all day for 3-4 hours and let me tell you I did not feel a thing. I am perfectly great the day after. Normally even with a backpack I would have a sore back or something. Not with this. The strap is all they say it is!The bag itself is made of high quality material. It is a nice heavy canvas that is somehow soft (as soft as canvas can be I guess) and heavy duty stitching and zippers. The velcro is plenty and will keep the bag contents pretty secure against your body when engaged. When it is not engaged with their built-in noise suppressors (basically built-in flaps that go over the velcro so the front flap isn't engaged on anything, it just folds over your bag) it is pin quiet so you can access your main compartment and the inside with no noise and minimal fuss. The only gripe I have so far is the side pockets. The pockets are very narrow and won't allow much in them. It would be great to have those bigger for beverage holders. There are belt attachment thingies here where you can attach accessories. It just so happens that my Tamrac  Tamrac M.A.S. Water Bottle in Padded Carrier (Black)  Bottle holder snaps onto this belt on the side perfectly and holds either my 16-20 oz mountain dew bottle or my  Contigo AUTOSEAL West Loop Stainless Steel 20-Ounce Travel Mug .Besides the change in the side pockets, the only other thing I would suggest is maybe a magnet or snap type clasp on the main flap to keep in engaged when the velcro is in "silent mode". That would keep the flap more secure.All in all this bag is a keeper. I think I found myself the perfect messenger / work bag. It is not too big, not too small for my full frame, but just about perfect. I highly recommend this bag to anyone looking for a top quality bag that will outlast anything. Way to go Think Tank!

Hi,I have been running around with this bag for a few weeks and it's proven to be a gem.The pros:- In bag padding is good.- The outer portion of the bag is thick and has a substantial feel. It looks nice too.- The shoulder strap is really good, far better than anything I've ever encountered.- It holds my D7000 with the Nikkor 70-200mm 2.8 vr2 lens attached.- It has plenty of room for two more lenses or other gear.- It has a rain cover.Cons:- It weighs 3.2 pounds alone.- The rain cover isn't as easy to get on as it looks.It looks like a heavy bag, but really, it is lighter than a lot of the laptop bags out there. My laptop bag weighs about ten pounds with just the bag, laptop and a portable mouse. I carry that bag every day and the shoulder pad is so thin that it is fatiguing after just 15 minutes and it is a relief to take it off. I figured that my twenty-plus pounds of camera gear and bag would be downright painful.I took it for a short hike the day it arrived. The thick shoulder pad is really nice. I didn't notice it very much at all. I stopped a few times, yanked the camera out, took a few shots and put it back in. I was walking to specific spots for specific shots. Then a sudden thunder storm hit and I pulled out the rain cover. I had to set the bag down while putting on the rain cover. I dragged in some dirt and pine needles in the process, but I think of this as inexperience. The cover wraps the seams, front, top and bottom of the bag but leaves most of the lower 2/3rds of the back open. The back is rubbing against you anyway, and anything that could let rain in is covered. The cover leaves the strap completely open so you can keep carrying it on your shoulder. I ended up walking for about two hours before finishing everything I wanted to shoot. I was surprised that my shoulder was not sore at all when I put it back in the car.I took it for a five hour city walk the other day and it was about 90 degrees out. I really didn't have any problems. The camera was easy to get out when I needed it. No problems putting it back in. My shoulder was not as sore as my feet and I wasn't particularly tired.I've bought four camera bags including this one. I've only kept one backpack that handles my personal laptop, cables, power supply and camera gear. I've lugged the backpack around with just the camera gear, but there really was no comparison. The retro is far more comfortable and easier to work with. It is worth every penny.

This is an absolutely superb camera bag, and a perfect solution for carrying expensive kit without looking like it. It's designed with great attention to detail, a good choice of materials and the quality of finish is excellent. My criteria was that is should be able to take my full frame DSLR with my longest lens (Canon 100-400L - the same size as a chunky 70-200) attached, and it does this admirably with room to spare. Most days I carry two or three lenses, a Speedlite or two + wireless system, a couple of polarisers, strap and hand clutch, hat, water, phone, wallet, notebook, pens, batteries etc. I can even get my full NISI square filter system in and still have space left. After a month of use I even discovered two large pockets outside, and dedicated pen pockets inside that I didn't even know it had! The strap is great, well designed and stays on the shoulder. Overall it's very comfortable to carry, and seems to weigh less fully loaded than the items it contains! Thoroughly recommended.

For wedding shoots I tend to take along a huge ThinkTank Airport Security trolley bag so that I have most of my gear to hand. For other events this bag is the perfect solution as I typically take 2 full-frame camera bodies, one with a 24-70 f2.8 attached and the other with the 70-200 f2.8 attached. Sometimes I'll also take a couple of prime lenses as well and usually a flash & this bag fits the lot without looking ridiculously big. It's great that it's long & flexible rather than fat & rigid. This is a high quality bag that offers convenient (and silent) access to my gear and I find this more comfortable than having 2 cameras around my neck strangling me and with their straps getting tangled. I use hand straps on my cameras instead of neck straps and am currently finding this to be a better solution. Yes, the bag is low on padding, but professional DSLR kit is very robust. The bag protects my gear from scratches, which is all I really need. Love it.

Just received this after some weeks of debating whether to buy it or not. A friend of mine had one and convinced me that the ability to just pull out the camera out and shoot was worth the money.This bag is extrememly well made of high quality materials. I do a lot of Wildlife photography and this bag is ideal for walking around nature reserves without looking like an obvious photographer. Beacuse it doesn't look like an obvious camera bag, it would also be ideal for use on a city break without attracting attention.It is big enough for my Canon 50D with battery pack and 100-400 L lens with space for an additional 24-105m L and 1.4 x extender plus still plenty of room for water bottle, bird guide and the usual stuff.Mine also came with a couple of padded dividers on the bottom of the bag to add additional protection for lenses plus a bag of three more spare dividers. Plus a neat raincover.There are so many pockets and straps that you can tailor this bag to suit whatever combination of gear you have. The shoulder strap is well padded and wide to spread the weight plus a handy carry strap as well. I have a Lowe backpack for more adventurous trips and a Tamrac expedition 7x for mainly transport and storage of most of my gear but this think tank bag is the best constructed of all of them.Highly recommended

I've had mine for four months now and it's an amazing product. I can fit a 5D Mk III, 24-70, 70-200, 50mm, flash, batteries, cards, filters and various accessories with room to spare. You can easily fit three flashes in the front pocket and three big lenses and a body in the main compartment.It's solidly built, modular inside and the strap is thick and stiff as any I've seen, the shoulder pad is very rugged the only negative point I can find is the rubberized grippy stuff on the underside of the shoulder pad is coming off very slowy, but surely. I should imagine it will take a good couple of years to all go, but I am sure Think Tank will replace it for a small fee, no big issue.All in all it's a very impressive bag, big, rugged and without a doubt built to last.If you're even considering buying one, buy it, you won't be disappointed.*UPDATE, 4 years on!*This bag is STILL going strong, it shows few signs of wear and I've shot a LOT of weddings with this bag, it can't be beaten. =D

I bought this bag because I wanted a bag that was big enough to carry a full-frame sized DSLR attached to a 70-200 f2.8 lens, together with some other lenses and equipment. This turned out to be ideal for the purpose, as well as being a nice colour and material that does not scream 'camera bag!' to all the thieves and pick-pockets that one is likely to encounter these days. At a pinch it will carry three zoom lenses (wide, standard and long) and a couple of teleconverters and smaller lenses, together with various accessories and documents. It will be pretty heavy if completely filled like that, but the bag is very convenient and there aren't many 'messenger' style bags which are big enough for a camera with a 70-200 2.8 attached like this one is. In addition, the bag is easy to open (but not too easy!) and the amount of velcro holding the flap down is adjustable to suit your preference or circumstances. The downside? Well, frankly, it is expensive, and there isn't as much padding as there would be on some other (larger) bags, but that shouldn't be a problem; the only other downside is the weight of the bag being supported on just one shoulder - if you have a lot of gear to carry you might be better off with a backpack style, but then you'd lose the rapid access that this kind of bag provides. Like another reviewer said, pity I can't give 4.5 stars - he rounded his up to five, so I'll round mine down to four!