Who I Am; A 23 year old amateur photographer, favoring Macro photography and (at the moment and for the past few years..) classic and modified cars. Due to the subjects I'm usually photographing, and the locations (99% of the time are moving/static cars at car shows), I don't carry a great deal of gear with me. My usual kit at the moment consists of a Nikon D90, Sigma 10-20mm, Sigma 150-500mm, and Tokina 100mm Macro. Sometimes I may only take the super-telephoto, sometimes it's just the 10-20mm. Hence why I have 6 different camera bags. Obviously, the professional photographers I know tend to carry
more gear.
more gear.
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| Definitely my favorite component - the Lens Exchange 200aw. |
I was first acquainted with the Lowepro S&F System (or rather, Street and Field), when one of the Lowepro reps was kind enough to demonstrate it in store. The main attraction was, of course, the shoulder-free feature. After years of backpacks and shoulder bags, my shoulder's not in fantastic shape.
The second feature was, to be honest, the simple looks. It's not easy to design a modular belt system, in my opinion, that doesn't look too clunky. It's plain black, it doesn't have any unneeded straps, buckles, etc.
Third? The price. You don't have to buy all of the components, but even if you do, they work out at a reasonable cost.
The components I ended up choosing were the following;
S&F Utility Bag 100:- This is big enough to hold my D90 with a few batteries if I'm not taking my toploader. If I've got my toploader, it tends to hold a few cables, batteries, lens caps, various other accessories I tend to accumulate.
S&F Utility Belt:- This is the smaller of the two S&F Belts - I tend to use this if I'm taking little equipment,
(I like the look of both, so it..also depends on my mood.)
S&F Technical Belt:- I reckon it comes down to personal preference, but I find this one more supportive for heavier lenses. It is wider though, so it can get a bit awkward if you're continuously kneeling down all day.
S&F Lens Exchange 200:- Now this really is a fantastic bit of kit. It's a pouch, (well done me) that folds outwards to reveal two compartments - the clue's in the name. What do you do when you want to change a lens on your camera? Give it to a friend? Crouch on the floor and try and balance it on your knee? Not anymore. This (sorry, but it is brilliant) fantastic pouch enables you to safely put the first lens in one side of the pouch while you switch over to your other (precious, I assume?) lens. Second lens on, and you can move the first lens to the back of the pouch, zip back it up, and you're done. I also use it to carry my 70-300 lens. Awesome.
S&F Phone Case 20:- not the first smartphone case to come with a belt loop, but not many of them are rugged enough to drop (with the phone in, I may add, and no, please don't try it just because of what I'm about to say!) without any breakages, and of course, it also has the Slip Lock on the back so, along with everything else, it'll fit onto the belt so you don't have to try and dig your phone out of your pocket from underneath the belt.
I also purchased several Lowepro Lens cases for the various bits of glass I carry about, so I'll run through these too to give you an idea of what the two belts can handle;-
9X13cm's - It'll take my 105mm Macro Lens, or my 10-20mm wide-angle if I don't take the lens hood (the lens hood can fit inside the Utility Bag 100 quite happily).
Lens Case 4 - now, this is an older series of the Lowepro Lens case series, but I use it to carry my Sigma 150-500. This lens isn't a huge lens, & the new lens cases are either too small or too big. Nothing against them, it's just not the right size for this particular lens.
Other products I own that'll fit on this system? The Cokin P-Series Filter Wallet. Lowepro does have a Street and Field Filter Pouch 100, but those are designed to take any filter up to 100mm - in my opinion, my P Series filters are overwhelmed - the filter pouch is quite slim, but as I said, it is designed for larger filters. Personal preference again though.
A few people have asked why I don't have as much of the Street and Field components as some people might like to know about;
A) I can't take that much around my waist, because I'll fall over. I'm not joking, I have actually overbalanced. Not funny.
B) I'm not a professional photographer, and I also tend to do a lot of photography with natural light. This cuts down on the need to buy the case for the flashgun, for example. I mainly photograph cars, so I don't take that many lenses with me. I also don't include audio and filming in my range of "talents", (not yet, anyway) which has also eliminated the need to purchase the Audio and Video designed product in the ranges, (the Audio Utility Bag, the Technical Vest, etc.)
I also like to limit myself. I have the same problem with these as I do with my camera bags (I've got quite a few..) - if I have too much space, I'm tempted to take too much stuff. For the time being, I've purchased the products I need, not the products I want.
Overall, it's a brilliant, compelling system to have. It's extremely comfortable, (like I said, I'm loading my 150-500 on this..), and I do usually end up carrying it around, more or less, for the entire day. It's so easy to use - pack up, clip on and go. The only downfall is that not all of the products in the range have an All-Weather (AW) cover built into the bottom. The Utility Bag does, but the lens cases and the phone case doesn't. They are all water resistant, but I wouldn't recommend going for a swim.
Not that that's everyone's first idea when you're loaded up with your kit. Ahem.
It's just what I needed, all the components are rugged and hard-wearing, and truth be told, it's just brilliant. 4.5 out of 5 stars for price, simplicity, and because I'm a girl and I do care about this sort of thing, the look of it too.
PS; Because the Utility Bag has the same sort of slip-lock compatible bands on the side, you can attach a lens case on either side, and, in a sense, make it into something extremely similar to a Lowepro Outback. The D-Rings on the Utility bag mean that you can, of course, use it as a shoulder bag too - don't
want to wear a belt all day? That's fine, because you get a shoulder strap with the bag!
PPS: I also own a Lowepro Stealth Reporter D400AW, which has those slip-lock bands on the side too - so if for some reason I do need extra space, such as a water bottle that I don't want to put IN the bag, I can attach the Street and Field Bottle Pouch on the side of this bag to take a small bottle or a can of drink (unopened, of course.)
Like I said, it's incredibly versatile. And really just quite cool.
The second feature was, to be honest, the simple looks. It's not easy to design a modular belt system, in my opinion, that doesn't look too clunky. It's plain black, it doesn't have any unneeded straps, buckles, etc.
Third? The price. You don't have to buy all of the components, but even if you do, they work out at a reasonable cost.
The components I ended up choosing were the following;
S&F Utility Bag 100:- This is big enough to hold my D90 with a few batteries if I'm not taking my toploader. If I've got my toploader, it tends to hold a few cables, batteries, lens caps, various other accessories I tend to accumulate.
S&F Utility Belt:- This is the smaller of the two S&F Belts - I tend to use this if I'm taking little equipment,
(I like the look of both, so it..also depends on my mood.)
S&F Technical Belt:- I reckon it comes down to personal preference, but I find this one more supportive for heavier lenses. It is wider though, so it can get a bit awkward if you're continuously kneeling down all day.
S&F Lens Exchange 200:- Now this really is a fantastic bit of kit. It's a pouch, (well done me) that folds outwards to reveal two compartments - the clue's in the name. What do you do when you want to change a lens on your camera? Give it to a friend? Crouch on the floor and try and balance it on your knee? Not anymore. This (sorry, but it is brilliant) fantastic pouch enables you to safely put the first lens in one side of the pouch while you switch over to your other (precious, I assume?) lens. Second lens on, and you can move the first lens to the back of the pouch, zip back it up, and you're done. I also use it to carry my 70-300 lens. Awesome.
S&F Phone Case 20:- not the first smartphone case to come with a belt loop, but not many of them are rugged enough to drop (with the phone in, I may add, and no, please don't try it just because of what I'm about to say!) without any breakages, and of course, it also has the Slip Lock on the back so, along with everything else, it'll fit onto the belt so you don't have to try and dig your phone out of your pocket from underneath the belt.
I also purchased several Lowepro Lens cases for the various bits of glass I carry about, so I'll run through these too to give you an idea of what the two belts can handle;-
9X13cm's - It'll take my 105mm Macro Lens, or my 10-20mm wide-angle if I don't take the lens hood (the lens hood can fit inside the Utility Bag 100 quite happily).
Lens Case 4 - now, this is an older series of the Lowepro Lens case series, but I use it to carry my Sigma 150-500. This lens isn't a huge lens, & the new lens cases are either too small or too big. Nothing against them, it's just not the right size for this particular lens.
Other products I own that'll fit on this system? The Cokin P-Series Filter Wallet. Lowepro does have a Street and Field Filter Pouch 100, but those are designed to take any filter up to 100mm - in my opinion, my P Series filters are overwhelmed - the filter pouch is quite slim, but as I said, it is designed for larger filters. Personal preference again though.
A few people have asked why I don't have as much of the Street and Field components as some people might like to know about;
A) I can't take that much around my waist, because I'll fall over. I'm not joking, I have actually overbalanced. Not funny.
B) I'm not a professional photographer, and I also tend to do a lot of photography with natural light. This cuts down on the need to buy the case for the flashgun, for example. I mainly photograph cars, so I don't take that many lenses with me. I also don't include audio and filming in my range of "talents", (not yet, anyway) which has also eliminated the need to purchase the Audio and Video designed product in the ranges, (the Audio Utility Bag, the Technical Vest, etc.)
I also like to limit myself. I have the same problem with these as I do with my camera bags (I've got quite a few..) - if I have too much space, I'm tempted to take too much stuff. For the time being, I've purchased the products I need, not the products I want.
Overall, it's a brilliant, compelling system to have. It's extremely comfortable, (like I said, I'm loading my 150-500 on this..), and I do usually end up carrying it around, more or less, for the entire day. It's so easy to use - pack up, clip on and go. The only downfall is that not all of the products in the range have an All-Weather (AW) cover built into the bottom. The Utility Bag does, but the lens cases and the phone case doesn't. They are all water resistant, but I wouldn't recommend going for a swim.
Not that that's everyone's first idea when you're loaded up with your kit. Ahem.
It's just what I needed, all the components are rugged and hard-wearing, and truth be told, it's just brilliant. 4.5 out of 5 stars for price, simplicity, and because I'm a girl and I do care about this sort of thing, the look of it too.
PS; Because the Utility Bag has the same sort of slip-lock compatible bands on the side, you can attach a lens case on either side, and, in a sense, make it into something extremely similar to a Lowepro Outback. The D-Rings on the Utility bag mean that you can, of course, use it as a shoulder bag too - don't
want to wear a belt all day? That's fine, because you get a shoulder strap with the bag!
PPS: I also own a Lowepro Stealth Reporter D400AW, which has those slip-lock bands on the side too - so if for some reason I do need extra space, such as a water bottle that I don't want to put IN the bag, I can attach the Street and Field Bottle Pouch on the side of this bag to take a small bottle or a can of drink (unopened, of course.)
Like I said, it's incredibly versatile. And really just quite cool.
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