Think Tank Photo Perception 15 Review

When I made the switch from DSLR to mirrorless, it meant having to re-think my camera bags, all of which were made for DSLR’s and bigger lenses. Tamrac’s Evolution 8 was just way too big, but there really weren’t many options for mirrorless camera users. I didn’t want another shoulder bag since the Think Tank Retrospective 7 I wasn’t using suddenly was just about the right size. But backpack choices were non-existent, until Think Tank released the Perception series.

Think Tank Perception 15 - what's in the bag — The Perception 15 – obligatory what’s in the bag shot.

Features
The Perception 15 was the size I went for, having a sleeve for a 15” laptop, which proved a suitable home for an A4 pad, which is what I used it for.

Perception laptop sleeve — The Laptop Sleeve fits a 15 inch laptop.

The outside of the bag has two pockets. The larger bottom one holds the rain cover, and really isn’t much use for anything else once the rain cover is in there. (I wish Think Tank would stash the rain covers under the bag like they do with some of their smaller pouches and like Lowepro does)! The top pocket is useful for storing a memory card wallet, a phone, snacks and other odds and ends. A small tuckaway pocket right at the top of the bag holds a small strap to hold a tripod.

Inside the bag there are two pouches attached to the bag of the bag. One designed for the camera with a lens, and a second for a lens. These are a great size and took the Sony A6000 with Zeiss 16-50, the 55-210 lens sitting comfortable in the other pouch. Under the pouches is plenty of room for other things such as gloves, a small jacket or a spare lens. I filled a Cable Manager 20 with odds and ends and had the Sony 10-18 F4 in a neoprene pouch and another pouch with filters. All fitted without any problems.

Think Tank Perception inside view — The Inside of the bag, showing the two pouches, pockets and the gear you can stow at the bottom. (My Olympus OM2n sitting in for my Sony A6000)

The inner front of the bag has Think Tanks usual assortment of pockets. If there’s one thing Think Tank excels at, it is the number of pockets and pouches available for organising things. I’ve yet to find a company that does this better.

Comfort
This is, without doubt, one of the most comfortable backpacks I’ve ever used. The shoulder straps have lots of padding. Let’s face it, the bag is not heavy with mirrorless gear in it, but even when loaded with the laptop, you barely feel the weight and I was happily carrying the backpack for a full day without feeling the need to take it off and give my shoulders a rest. It doesn’t have a waist strap to balance the weight and to be honest, it doesn’t need it.

Think Tank Perception backpack in use — A very comfortable bag and not too bulky

Size
The bag is a bit chunkier than some mirrorless backpacks that have started to appear – thanks mainly to the laptop sleeve, but it is still a small, compact bag. I never felt I had to be careful in shops or moving through crowds like I did with the Evolution 8. It’s also an ideal size for a daypack, stowing everything I needed for a day’s outing.

Ease of Use
It was all so promising, but this is a typical backpack with typical backpack problems. in order to get at your gear, you have to take the backpack off, put it on the floor, and root around for what you want. Accessing the lens at the top of the bag is easy and quick, but getting at anything underneath the pouches is awkward and soon gets irritating.
Although you can fit a travel tripod onto the front of the bag, it’s not the best. It does tend to crush the top of the bag and with a tripod attached, it’s even harder to access anything stashed below the two pouches.

think tank Perception with tripod attached — With The 3-Legged Thing VYV tripod attached

Final Thoughts
On the plus side, The Perception 15 is a good size, comfortable and has lots of space for gear. It’s also a nice looking backpack, certainly one of the more pleasing designs Think Tank have come up with.
On the negative side, it is just so awkward getting at everything and I found myself becoming increasingly frustrated as the day progressed. Think Tank have addressed this with the new Trifecta bags, which have side panels like Tamrac’s Evolution.
If you don’t mind taking a bag off to access gear, or don’t need to access anything often beyond the lens pouch, then this is a bag worth looking at, otherwise you might be better off with a shoulder bag, or something like the Trifecta.

Think Tank Retrospective 7 Review

The Retrospective 7

When it comes to camera bags, I can’t help myself. Finding that perfect bag is a lifelong quest and each photographer will have their own requirements. I love using the Tamrac Evolution 8 as my main goto bag, but sometimes it’s nice to have the ease of a shoulder bag.

I’ve used Think tank’s modular components for a while now and love them, so when I saw the Retrospective 7 at Focus on Imaging this year I decided to pick one up. It was a good deal and I love the look of the bag. Admittedly, it was an impulse buy, and I didn’t really need it. But have I said how good it looks!

Features
My baseline for a good shoulder bag has always been Lowepro’s Reporter series of bags. I have a first generation Reporter 300 which now serves as my lighting bag. A comfortable pocket rich bag with more nooks and crannies than you can shake a stick at. Think Tank have that same approach. There are pockets and pouches everywhere – just like a good bag should have.

The strap is a solid one that doesn’t detach and has a comfy pad that slides along the strap. Main compartment for the camera gear. Pocket for memory cards, pens, batteries etc.

A front external pouch for assorted stuff which Think Tank say can hold a camera body. Not sure I’d trust it with a camera body, but plenty of people do. There are small pockets on either side of the bag. A zip up pocket at the back to fit up to a 10 inch tablet. Rain cover, sound silencers (basically some clever velcro trickery) and side straps that will take modular components and expand the bag.

And it looks fantastic.

Comfort
The pad on the strap is a spongy one and is really quite comfortable. The bag isn’t so big that you can overload it with gear anyway, so the bag was never too heavy when loaded up.

It is a messenger style bag, so not so chunky and being a softer type of bag it doesn’t hold rigidly to its shape.

Size

The Retrospective 7 is not a massive bag, neither is it a small one.

You can fit quite a bit of gear in it – as you can see above – but it is a tight squeeze and I found stuffing this much gear into the bag made it difficult to get at the lenses. For me, it just needed an extra inch in the length to make it better.

Ease of Use
The front flap of the bag flips up to give access. There are no zips. The flap is held down by a couple of large velcro patches, which can be folded over so the flap lifts up and over without any sound. A very simple solution if you want quick and quiet access during a shoot.

The velcro patches hold the flap down well, but at the slightest hint of rain and you’ll want the rain cover on.

This, for me, is a massive drawback, especially in the North of England where the weather does what it likes and tends to annoy us whenever it gets a chance. The gear is quite exposed to the elements.

Getting at each of the pockets is quick and that is the real benefit of this bag. Indeed of most Think Tank bags. It only becomes a problem when things get tight and then certain spaces inside the bag get awkward to use.

Final Thoughts
This is a strange bag for me. I absolutely love the look and design of the bag. I love the way it has been thought out. You can tell the bag has been designed by photographers. I like the open flap design of the bag – something Lowepro have now copied for their Pro Messenger AW bags, but I don’t like how it leaves my gear exposed to the ever present Northern rain and drizzle.

I also wish I could give some anecdotal tales of how great this bag was in use, but it has never left the house. Often I’ve loaded the bag up only to find it wasn’t quite big enough – in which case I’d load up the Tamrac – or was just a bit too big for what I wanted – in which case I’d load up my holster and add a lens pouch.

I’m sure for some, this bag is the ideal size. For me, it just needs to be either an inch bigger or an inch smaller.

There’s no denying this is a well made bag. The phrase ‘you pay for what you get’ certainly rings true with Think Tank. It’s just not quite right for me.

Think Tank’s page for the Retrospective 7 is here…http://www.thinktankphoto.com/products/retrospective-7-blueslate.aspx

Pure Class

When I first decided to replace my Nikon F60, I decided I wanted something smallish and quiet. Something unassuming so I could use it around the streets of Leeds without everyone hearing the motor drive. My first choice within my price range was Nikon’s FG. Then, by accident, I noticed an Olympus OM-2n for pretty much the same price as the FG! I couldn’t believe I could get a top of the range OM for the same price as a bottom of the range Nikon. Well, that seemed like a no-brainer!

I found a nice condition OM-2n with 50mm F1.8 Zuiko lens, and to make it better, the seals were renewed, which saved me a job. All for the price of a Nikon FG. Go figure!

First Impressions
It maybe down to personal taste, but there is something about the OM-2n that looks fantastic. It is small for an SLR and light and it oozes quality. Every button, switch and dial feels as if someone gave a damn when it was built. Not disappointed.

In Use
Being compact, my fingers tended to struggle to find a comfortable grip. Yet when out shooting with it, I didn’t notice it. I grabbed it, shot and held it without thinking or being bugged. Even with large hands, it’s nice to shoot with.
The viewfinder is big and bright and it has a match needle for metering. This is the only let down for me really – I’m not a fan of match needles as they can be hard to see. This one is particularly tough. The viewfinder appears so big, that the match needle is about a half a mile over to the left. Thankfully, metering on the OM-2n is near bullet-proof.

Left on aperture priority, I was quite pleased with the exposure here. A mixture of highlights and lowlights and the camera has exposed the shot evenly.

For adjustment in auto, a chunky exposure compensation dial sits near the shutter button that can compensate in thirds of a stop with firm clicks. Nice. The exposure compensation dial is also where the ASA is set.

For manual mode, the shutter is placed around the lens mount, which does take some getting used to if, like me, you’re used to it by the shutter. it doesn’t take long to get used to it though. The one thing I did struggle with however was the location of the aperture ring. If it had been in front of the shutter ring, it wouldn’t have been a problem, but I kept having to look for it at the front of the lens. Thankfully, many of the Zuiko zoom lenses place the aperture ring at the back of the lens.

50mm lens
Nice though the 50mm F1.8 is, I’m just used to zooms and so a 35-70 is on the cards at some point. Another issue I had with the 50mm was the focus ring. Although only 3/4 of a turn from minimum focus to infinity, it seems to take several turns to focus it. I found I needed to change my grip on the lens to focus it, then change my grip again to adjust the aperture. There’s no denying the image quality of the 50mm, it’s just not the easiest 50mm to focus.

Results
If it was going to be my main lunchtime camera around Leeds, I needed to test in and around Leeds, ending up at the Central Library again. Loaded up with Fuji Pro400H colour negative film, it produced some nice results, with no over or under exposed shots.

Not the greatest composition, but nicely exposed.

Conclusion
The OM-2n earned a reputation as a reliable workhorse and I can see why. I’d rate it as the most consistent and reliable manual focus SLR I’ve ever used. It’s not perfect, but then again, what is? For the price though, this has got to be the best used manual focus SLR money can buy.