Things I look for in a camera bag: tons of space, lots of pockets, chest and waist straps, a tripod pouch, and style. It’s hard to find a backpack that ticks all those boxes, and style is usually the first one to go in lieu of practicality.
Chris and I stumbled upon the ProMaster Cityscape Backpack last year in Vancouver at a local camera shop called Lens and Shutter. We shoot weekly vlogs for YouTube, as well as photos on a separate camera, so we were looking for a bag that would fit our whole kit. I have a tendency to buy camera bags that look nice yet unfortunately never work 100% for me – but this one does! The Cityscape 70 has been our go-to camera bag for travel and adventure for the last year, so I thought I’d give you a little camera bag tour and show you just how much we can fit in it.
The Cityscape’s skinny profile is deceiving. It manages to fit my entire kit with the exception of two lenses, which we don’t frequently shoot with. Like any other camera bag, our kit changes slightly depending on what we are shooting, but for these photos I have it packed for travel. Due to the weight, I usually don’t carry my laptop unless absolutely necessary.
Our Kit: 2015 13″ MacBook Pro, Sony a7S II, Sony 24-70mm f/2.8, Sony 16-35mm f/4, Canon 5D Mark III, Canon 16-35mm f/2.8L, Canon 24-70mm f/2.8L, Canon 50mm f/1.2L, ProMaster Variable ND Filter, five Sony batteries, two Canon batteries, Metabones EOS lens adapter, Canon remote timer, Pelican CF card case, Ruggard SD card case, Aspen Mics lav mic, extra tripod plate, Rode VideoMicro, Gorilla Pod, ProMaster XC525 Tripod in Copper, ProMaster CityScape Backpack in Hazelnut.
I love that this bag has both chest and waist straps. It makes adventuring with a heavy bag so much easier. The extra straps take the weight off your shoulders, which can be very helpful if you have any back issues. This is a specific feature I look for in every camera backpack.
Another feature high on my list of must-haves when it comes to camera bags, are outside pouches, and this bag has no shortage. I like to have accessories like batteries, tripod plates, and cables easily accessible. I usually store those things in the top outside pouch so they’re always at the ready and the bag doesn’t have to come all the way off when I need to grab them. The little pouches at the bottom are perfect for storing a pocket hard drive (key for travel), extra cables, card readers, and a micro fiber cloth to wipe down your camera if it gets wet or dirty.
Top Pouch: Lav mic, phone cables, battery pack, lens cloth, tripod plate, glasses strap, micro SD cards, color checker, harmonica. Everyone needs a harmonica, right?
Bottom pocket: WD Pocket Hard Drive, microfiber cloth.
You wouldn’t believe how often side pockets are forgotten on camera bags. The Cityscape Backpack has one on each side. One fits our travel tripod perfectly, and the other we swap out for water bottles, a Gorilla pod, and sometimes I’ll strap in a large blanket or scarf if I know I am going to be on a flight for a long while.
Something else I like to do is keep a small carabiner attached to the top handle of my bags so I can strap on extra necessities like my travel pillow. It’s super handy if you are traveling with just a carry-on and don’t have enough hands to carry that one extra item!
Head over to our Youtube channel to see more of our adventures with our Cityscape Backpack!
I saw a review of this bag once before and I really thought of getting one but the bag I was using that time was still perfectly fine for me so I decided not to get a new one. Yet. I’d always go for a water proof camera bag regardless if it has a rain cover or not because I find it kind of a hassle putting it on and off everytime. How does this bag handle splashes to heavy pours? I really want to get one of these. Great review.
Thanks for the feedback, Michael, glad to hear you liked it! I didn’t find it was too much of a hassle to put the cover on and off, though I didn’t have to do it every day. Splashes were no problem at all with or without the cover, and I had no issue with the cover in the couple heavier rains I did experience. I did have an issue with my own sweat wetting the inner back pocket, so I’d recommend a plastic bag for anything important in there.
I’m taking it to Cambodia tomorrow (in the rainy season!) so I’ll know even better in a few weeks.
EDIT: Sorry, I thought you were talking about my review of the WANDRD PRVKE. This was a guest post, but my understanding is that these do just fine under the rain, too!