Preface: First off I am not typically the brand loyalist and purchase whatever suits me at a given moment. Witnessed by the fact that in the last few years I have had a Windows phone, multiple Android phones, and briefly danced with an iPhone (until an Apple adherent offered me a mess of money for it), have had Android and Microsoft tablets, and lastly I have spun my way through a few camera brands, namely Olympus, Nikon, and now Samsung. So brand loyalty is not typically my thing. But as I look up I must acknowledge that Samsung is doing a lot right. While no brand of device used was bad, and all had their strengths, lately I have found Samsung a little ‘more good’ (pardon the grammatical infraction). So much so that, not by design, I now own Samsung across the board. Tablet (Note Pro/4G), smartphone (Note 3), and cameras (NX300 which led to the addition of an NX30). Each product was weighed on it’s own merits and each offered a good feature to value to real world usability combination in their respective segment for my needs.
And this even continued on with the selection of a camera bag. I was looking to replace my quick purchase camera bag with something a little better constructed, that offered better rain protection, space efficiency, and a little style would not hurt either. I was skeptical of this NX30 Samsung bag kit from B&H that came with a dedicated charger, and a spare battery (surprisingly an unlisted wrist strap also), all for $99. The battery and charger (currently only available as pre-order) by themselves add up to $70. How on earth can this bag be any good for $29? But because of that price I gave it a shot, I received it yesterday and I am glad to report that I was wrong. Not even taking the kit adds in to consideration this is a great bag that I would have easily paid $99 or more for by itself if I had a chance to see it first.
Likes:
- Sturdier construction provides more confidence than my previous bag.
- Main buckled cover, with strong magnetic clasps, provides overlapping coverage to inner compartments which should hold rain out. My previous bag cover left gaps that could let the elements in. In fact the magnets hold so well that even when full I can pick the bag up by the hand strap without it opening under the weight of the gear.
- Inner double zipper cover gives easy access with additional protection.
- Many inner pockets of varying sizes, including a back pocket and a double pocket behind the main compartment with a Velcro hold that would be nice for a small 8″ or so tablet, each lined with a very nice fabric throughout. Plenty of room for NX300 flash, wrist strap, battery charger, extra battery, etc.
- Generous camera/lens compartment uses very sturdy Velcro dividers. The specs say you can fit one camera with lens and 2 additional lenses, but due to the relative light weight and small size of Samsung cameras and lenses I managed 2 cameras, with lenses attached, along with 2 additional lenses (in their lens bags).
- Very efficient, so even filled up it does not bulge, and while the gear inside does not jostle around, it also does not feel cramped for space either.
Dislikes:
- I got nothing.
If you own an NX30, need a case, and wouldn’t mind a wrist strap, battery and charger thrown in, this is about as close as one can get to a no brainer. Well done once again Samsung.
-ELW
Eric L. Woods 