Tenba Messenger Photo Daypack - Orange (638-294)

I'm a journalist. I bought this to carry my camera gear and travel essentials when flying. For that purpose it is the absolute best bag I have ever seen, heard of or used. And I have seen, heard of and used a LOT of bags. I currently own at least three dozen bags of varying sizes, because finding the perfect bag has been a career-long journey. That journey — for me — is over. What I enjoy about the bag is the utility, thoughtful design and quality of manufacture. It's sturdy. I dare say bomb-proof. I'm not worried about this thing wearing out or braking down on me. It also has just enough pockets in just the right places. The large, front-opening gear compartment especially is genius. It's good enough to get me through few days on its own and makes a good carry-on for longer trips. It's the perfect carry-on size and fits into any overhead and under most seats. With this bag I can carry one DSLR, three lenses and accessories, plus a change of clothes, a MacBook pro, toiletries, snacks and all my various chargers and miscellaneous reporter stuff. I carry my camera gear in the bottom, my laptop in the laptop sleeve, a change of clothes and other essentials in the top compartment and various chargers and things in the side pockets. This is literally the ONE BAG I've been looking for over many years of working as a traveling reporter. Now for the downside: It is HEAVY and not a great solution unless I'm traveling with my camera gear. Although the padded gear pocket is removable, the vast, empty cavern of space it leaves behind is awkward to fill with just clothes and things, and the dimensions of the bag, while amazing for something capable of carrying so much camera gear, aren't great if you don't have to carry that amount of gear. Although 90% of my travel is for work (and this bag goes along with me on all of this trips) I still keep a separate carry bag for when I'm not lugging 20 pounds of shutter crap. Bottom line: Although the top compartment and various other pockets allow for a good amount of extra stuff if you pack light, this is a camera bag first and everything else second. If you want to carry a decent amount of photo gear AND a laptop AND a bunch of other stuff, this bag is a rock star. That's kind of a specialty niche, though, so make sure you need that kind of bag firepower before you pull the trigger for this price.

I have a bunch of bags and this one seems to be the standard lately. You can't carry A 70-200 mm in the lower compartment, so you have to use the upper bag for a large zoom, but the lower section holds my DSLR with kit lenses, another 50 mm, 2 battery chargers (dslr and compact), and power cords. Upper bag holds the large zoom, SB600 flash, and some other small items. Extra pockets hold all other gear. Filters, batteries, memory cards. Nice laptop area, holds my 13" Macbook or iPad. There is a nice top pocket that holds keys, meds, passport, etc, and the shoulder straps and waist belt are comfortable, although the belt gets in the way when you only use one strap for a fast over one shoulder carry. Love the color too! Overall, nice bag.

It is an extremely heavy bag. Adding my camera equipment made it almost impossible to travel with. It is very well made. I hope it was lighter.

I bought this bag 8 months ago. I really like the compartments and was advised by someone at B&H that this was a really good bag. However the right strap broke away from the bag 2 days ago. I emailed the company to complain about this and haven't heard anything back. I am hoping I can find a seamstress shop with a heavy-duty sewing machine to sew the strap back into place for me. I am disappointed that this bag broke after less than a year of medium use. As you can imagine, this back pack is not a back pack with only one shoulder strap.

This backpack has some good features, but the quality is horrible. I bought this bag for my trip to asia, and on my flight there, i lost the belt clip. It easily came off and was lost on the plane. The stitching on the shoulder strap came lose a couple of days later, as well as the stitching inside the bag itself. Tenba, has the right idea with the features and pockets, but the quality is horrible. NOT WORTH MY MONEY!!!

Professional and amateur photographers alike will know the never-ending search that is trying to find the perfect camera bag. Most of us end up compromising on some aspect--design, functionality, space, etc. The Tenba 638-292 Messenger bag has turned out to be the perfect bag...for me. I say "for me," because it may not be nearly as good for others depending on your requirements. My requirements were: 1) I am a professional photographer and need a bag that will hold my 17" Macbook Pro, 2 rangefinder camera bodies, 3 lenses, a flash, an external hard drive, a notepad and tape recorder, and a whole mess of extra batteries and accessories; 2) It had to be comfortable. This is not my "shooting bag"--there is no way I'm hauling around my laptop when I'm actually on a shoot. However, this is my "I-need-to-carry-everything-around-with-me-in-one-place-for-the-day-bag" and also my carry on bag for flying. Before the Tenba, I used a messenger bag that was not only killing my back but didn't even hold my laptop so I had to carry that separately. This backpack is super comfortable and has great padding and back support; 3) It had to look reasonably "not-like-a-camera-bag" and I think it does that fairly well. I even like the color (got the olive one). In sum: Likes: Holds everything that I need on a daily basis in one spot. Holds my 17" inch Macbook Pro perfectly. Great back support, rugged, built well. Looks good. Dislikes: Not really an issue for me but those of you with big DSLRs and large glass are going to be hard pressed to fit your gear in the bottom camera compartment. I'd guess a D700/5D Mk2 and 24-70 might fit (w/o lens hood) and maybe you could squeeze another small lens or flash in the bottom. Again, I don't own any of that so I'm just speculating. My rangefinder cameras and lenses are much smaller so I fit two camera bodies and three lenses in the bottom which fits snugly. Verdict: If your gear fits and you are looking for a backpack that holds camera gear and a laptop then I suspect you'll find your "perfect" bag in the Tenba messenger as well.

I am very pleased with this bag. I bought it to use as a personal carry on for my camera, lenses, binoculars, and what ever accessories would fit. I used it in conjunction with an IT suitcase in order to meet strict LAN airlines carry on requirements. With careful adjustments and using all the straps I was able to easily carry close to 20 lbs. (including the bag), and I am a 60-something year old woman. I was amazed at the amount of gear that fit into all those nooks and crannies. I bought a light weight packable day pack to use when hiking on my trip but lost it on my first night. The Tenba bag happily carried lunch, jackets, extra lenses, water and whatever else I needed during day hikes, and, while heavier, did it much more comfortably than the packable day pack would have done. The extra pockets and compartments were invaluable as I moved from place to place: once I settled on locations for cards, chargers, filters, granola bars, etc. it was much easier to keep organized. The bag received some heavy use and is none the worse for the wear. Highly recommended!

Bought this bag back in 2010 and this is buy far the most secure and sturdy backpack I have ever owned. After a good amount of use it still looks brand new, coincidentally this is also why I'm giving it 4 stars. My personal preference is I want to have the bag have some wear and tear eventually, a bag that can tell the stories about where it's been. War stories I guess you could say. Horrible reason to take it down a star but hey it's my review.