Think Tank’s Change Up: Review

All photos copyright Think Tank Photo. Except the one of my big belly and gear.

Ok – here is a brief look at the Think Tank Photo’s Change Up as was requested. The question was asked, if it can be used as a camera bag to shoot from? Absolutely! However, that is not my primary use for it. I use it really like a utility pouch (that is a manly way of saying a purse). Meaning, I use it to carry all my necessities for the flight or the day out around town. I used it this past trip as well as on my last trip to Thailand and found it very helpful. The Change Up is a simple bumbag design, made with D rings on the bag and the hip belt. Normally I take one of the two straps that came with it and snap it to the two D rings on the main bag to make it a shoulder bag. Both in India and in Thailand I used the bag to carry my gear while shooting and found it quite a nice alternative when not carrying a large load.

As I said, the bag can be used as a belt pack/bumbag or a shoulder bag. When using it as a shoulder bag you can tuck away the waist belt behind the back padding. The bag is not big, but the main compartment can hold my 70-200mm f/2.8 Lens and my 24-70 at the same time. The bag comes from Think Tank with a padded insert in the main compartment. One of the first things I did was take that out to give me more space. Then if you really want to load it to the max, you can. Just use the waist belt and add, as I did, either a modular component or one of the Skins from the Skin set. In Thailand I was flying Firefly Airlines. Firefly only flies small regional aircraft, and so space in the plane was limited. I could not bring  my Airport International, so that meant putting as much gear in my Change Up as possible. I had my 70-200mm f/2.8 and my 5DM K II with the battery, but no lens attached, in the main compartment. Then I had the Skin Chimp Cage on one side with my 24-70mm f/2.8 and the skin 50 on the other side with my 85mm f/1.2. If I remember correctly, I put my 17-40 f/4 in my checked bag. I still had space in the bag to put my book (Presentation Zen) in one compartment and my iPhone, wallet, reading glasses in their hard case, lip balm and assorted pens in the other pocket. At one point I even carried a small water bottle in the side neoprene pocket. With all this gear the bag was very heavy and I had to use the waist belt to take the load off my shoulder and my back. By attaching one end of the strap to the main compartment  and the other end to the waist belt;  the weight was spread between my shoulder and my hips. This kept the bag from pulling down my pants and leaving me with plumbers crack. The bag is small, but can carry an amazing amount of gear. Shooting out of it is a little tricky. The bag cannot hold my 5D with any of my normal lenses and the battery grip. But, if you carry the camera on a strap and just use the bag to haul the lenses, you will find it works great. One last little trick I discovered is you can put the bag over the handle of the Airport International like you would the Urban Disguise or many other laptop bags. Just zip up all the pockets and turn the bag sideways. Then slide the handle through the slot where you store the waist belt. It fits perfectly! Like every Think Tank bag I own or have used I can recommend this bag without any reservations. Five out of five stars, ..er little trekker guys or something. Anyway it is a winner!