How to Choose the Right Camera Backpack: A Buying Guide

Camera backpacks all sound the same on paper. Padded, adjustable, room for a laptop. But the bag that suits a landscape photographer heading up a mountain is not the bag that suits someone commuting into the city with a mirrorless kit and a laptop. Here’s what actually matters when you’re choosing one, and which of our bags fits the way you shoot.

1. Start with how and where you shoot

Before you look at litres or lens compartments, think about a typical day with the bag on your back. Are you hiking to a location and spending hours outdoors? Or are you moving through a city, in and out of cafes, meetings and public transport, with a laptop alongside your camera?

These two uses pull a bag in different directions. Our Tenzing Roll Top range is built around outdoor and adventure photography, with load carrying and a rugged carry system front of mind. Our Metropolis range is built for the opposite kind of day, with a laptop compartment and a rear anti-theft opening in a shape that looks at home in an office as much as on a shoot.

2. Work out how much capacity you actually need

Capacity is usually measured in litres, and it’s easy to buy more bag than you need. For outdoor and adventure use, our Tenzing Roll Top comes in three sizes depending on trip length and how much you’re carrying alongside your camera gear:

The 30L suits day hikes and shorter trips, the 40L is our most popular all-rounder, and the 50L is worth the extra size if you’re carrying camping gear or clothing alongside your camera kit.

For everyday and city use, the litre difference matters less for camera gear and more for what else you’re carrying alongside it, laptop, notebook, a change of layers:

The 16L is a light everyday carry, the 22L is the middle ground most people land on, and the 26L gives you room for a second body or a bigger laptop.

3. A word on weatherproofing

Our bags use a durable, water-repellent nylon with reinforced stitching, and the Tenzing range adds a roll top closure on top of that, which helps in light rain and everyday British weather. To be upfront though, no bag is fully waterproof, and heavy or prolonged rain will find its way in eventually, usually at the seams and zips first. If you’re heading out in properly bad weather, use the included rain cover rather than relying on the fabric alone, and avoid leaving the bag in standing water. Treat the material as water-resistant, not a dry bag.

4. Think about how you will actually get to your gear

Access style matters more day to day than most people expect. Metropolis bags open from a rear panel that sits against your body, so you can set the bag down and reach your camera without exposing the opening to the elements, and it doubles as a simple anti-theft feature when you’re moving through a city. Tenzing bags open from the top via the roll top, giving you a full view of everything inside at once, which makes packing and repacking faster, though it does mean taking the bag off to get into the main compartment.

5. Comfort matters more than the spec sheet

A bag can tick every box above and still be unpleasant to wear for a full day. Both the Tenzing and Metropolis ranges are built around an internal frame, a ventilated EVA back panel and a removable waist belt, which together take real weight off your shoulders once a bag is loaded with a body, a couple of lenses, and water and layers for the day. If you find the standard straps aren’t quite enough on longer days, our additional shoulder pads add extra padding to any Tenzing Roll Top.

6. Build the system around one bag

Kit tends to grow over time, and a good bag should be able to grow with it rather than being replaced. A few small accessories let one bag cover more situations:

Buckle straps for the bottom or front of a Tenzing bag let you attach a tripod, jacket or extra layer on the outside without opening the main compartment.

The Speedy Series Camera Clip and its dedicated strap let you carry your camera on your shoulder strap or belt, ready to shoot, without a neck strap.

And for keeping cables, batteries and memory cards from disappearing into the bottom of the bag, our storage pouches come in 1L, 2L and 3L, plus a folding accessories bag for a water bottle or small drone, and an inflatable air lens pouch if you’re carrying a lens on its own.

Quick decision guide

If you’re still weighing up options, here’s a simple way to narrow it down:

• Hiking, backpacking or multi-day outdoor shoots: the Tenzing 40L Rolltop is our most popular all-rounder. Size up to the 50L for longer trips, or down to the 30L for day hikes.
• Everyday and city use with a laptop and camera together: the Metropolis 22L is the middle ground most people choose, with the 16L for lighter days and the 26L if you need more room.
• Lighter days, or a second camera and lens on top of a main bag: the Tenzing Shoulder Bag 7L is the most versatile of the three shoulder bag sizes.
• Keeping accessories organised inside any bag: the Storage Bag 2L covers most people’s cables, batteries and memory cards.

There’s no single “best” camera backpack, only the one that matches how you actually shoot. Work out capacity, access and comfort against a typical day with the bag on, and the right one becomes a much easier choice, especially with a system of straps and pouches to fill in the gaps.