Field Tests
Lowepro Dryzone 200
Photo © Chris Watson
Have you noticed that however many camera bags you have, you never have quite the right one for any given trip or assignment? It’s either too big, too small, too heavy, awkward to carry, insufficiently protected, won’t accommodate a laptop, not waterproof, or simply too uncool. So, if you’re like me, you’ve probably ended up with quite a collection to suit every eventuality. In my case, dating right back to a 1980 vintage Billingham bag - coolness in spades, but totally impractical for wildlife work. Having tried various designs over the years, the Lowepro backpacks are definitely my favourite and have proved the most practical and dependable. On the rare occasions things have gone wrong, once with a broken plastic clip and once with a ruptured zip, the lifetime guarantee has been invoked and I’ve been thoroughly impressed to receive a replacement bag free of charge. So their after sales service has been exemplary in my experience.
Changing requirements have recently necessitated a re-think and less reliance on my trusty Photo Trekker AWII, in which I used to carry a couple of professional Nikon film camera bodies and a 500mm f4 super telephoto lens, amongst other things. The digitally evolved me needs a bag for a more compact Nikkor 200-400mm lens and just a few CF cards in place of masses of film. The cosmopolitan me is conscious of airline cabin baggage allowances, and the need to fit an Apple iBook as well as all my precious camera gear into a single bag. And the sea-going me wants something which is absolutely waterproof in case the Zodiac gets swamped or I fall in – not such a rare event as I might wish. Hence my decision to acquire a Lowepro Dryzone 200.
When you first encounter this bag, your immediate reaction is that it looks like a piece of diving kit (especially the canary yellow version). I found that reassuring. Looking under the bonnet, so to speak, I found lots more to be positive about.
Dimensions and Capacity
Exterior 48.5 x 37 x 29 cm
Interior 43 x 30.5 x 15 cm
BAA hand baggage allowance at British airports is currently 56 x 45 x 25 cm, so please note that this bag exceeds the permitted size in one dimension. Just. Lowepro understandably won’t endorse this as suitable for airline carry-on, but in practice you’ll probably get away with it. I have, so far. And if pushed you can always offer to detach the harness.
The equipment I manage to load inside includes: Nikon D2Xs, Nikkor 200-400mm f4 VR lens, Nikkor 70-200mm f2.8 VR lens, Nikkor 17-55mm f2.8 AF-S lens, Nikkor TC-14E teleconverter, spare EN-EL4a Li-ion battery, Jobo Giga Vu Pro, rocket blower, card case, plus a few sundry filter, cables etc. In addition, the front pocket will just hold my 14-inch Apple iBook in a soft sleeve, solely for flying purposes - but this is inadequately protected and again I’m sure Lowepro wouldn’t recommend the practice. However, the purpose-designed Computrekkers are much too deep for BAA, so you’ve little choice.
Security
The bag hangs on a strong metal frame and is well connected with a series of welded tabs. In addition to the main harness, there’s a sturdy rubber carrying handle at the top. A water-resistant outer fabric covers a fully waterproof inner “drypod” which in turn is secured by the clever TIZIP™, just as you might find on a diver’s drysuit. This TIZIP™ is crucial to the concept, and is said to provide total waterproof protection and flotation, so you need to ensure it’s properly sealed and well-maintained. Close and unclose carefully and methodically, check there are no gapes (if so, go back and start again), keep lubricated with the silicon grease supplied, and take care not to stress or kink the zip. As you can imagine this does slow you down somewhat, but what price total protection? The inner camera compartment is more familiar with the customary foam-padded dividers - far more than you need, but useful to have spares.
Access
There are a lot of zips and flaps on this model! It all makes sense though, when you realise that you don’t need to fasten the heavy-duty TIZIP™ in everyday situations when less protection is needed. The presence of the TIZIP™ though does make access to the camera compartment a little awkward, as you can’t really bend the top flap far enough out of the way, with the result that some items toward the bottom of the bag can be difficult to get in and out.
As usual with Lowepro backpacks, you have to remove the bag and lay it on its back to open from the front. I’m used to this by now, but critics point out that this sometimes means getting wet mud and sand all over the carrying harness which then transfers to your clothes (low coolness quotient). And I don’t think any manufacturer has really resolved how to get into a full harness backpack whilst still wearing it.
Comfort
A primary reason I choose Lowepro is for the ability to carry my gear, hands free, in relative comfort. Sometimes for several hours at a stretch, for long distances over rough terrain. I hate doing it, the more so as I get older, so it’s vital that qualities such as balance and fit have been thoroughly taken into account, together with harness design, materials and padding. On the whole, the Dryzone bag fulfilled all of those requirements in the time-honoured Lowepro way. A recent development is the ingenious adjustable harness which allows you to position the bag higher or lower on your back, and that works very well. Shoulder straps and waistband are fully adjustable of course, and there’s a chest strap for good measure. Actually I found that I needed this more than I would have expected, as the shoulder straps had a tendency to slip off my shoulders otherwise. Overall I found carrying the Dryzone 200 not such an onerous burden, whilst never exactly an enjoyable experience, and I’ve yet to discover a more comfortable camera backpack system.
Performance in the field
This bag performed extremely well for me on a recent ship-based expedition to the Falklands, South Georgia and the Antarctic. The main thing was that my camera equipment was well protected against torrential rain, snow, saltwater spray, and penguin poo throughout many amphibious landings. Happily there were no capsizes or bag overboard situations on this occasion, so I can’t tell you whether the bag really does float when fully laden – for the moment I’ll have to take that on trust. I can report that it responded well to a thorough dowsing in the shower (for the purposes of penguin deodorising) and that there was absolutely no trace of dampness inside the drypod. The slow and laborious process of opening and closing the bag was frustrating at times, especially with cold wet hands, but you just have to regard that as a small price to pay for peace of mind.
Conclusion
There’s no doubt that the Lowepro Dryzone 200 has instantly become a mandatory piece of equipment in my working life, as I often find myself hopping about in Zodiacs and RIBs these days. Anybody who does a lot of watersports photography would no doubt appreciate it for the same reasons, though I suppose if you don’t have to be mobile and fleet-footed with your kit you might still prefer an Oyster case. Other than that, I can’t really see there’s a serious competitor.
When not working afloat, I still prefer to re-pack the same gear in the similarly sized but more accessible Nature Trekker AWII.
Photo © Chris Watson