Photo Bag News

Lightening the Load: MindShift Gear Intros 3 New Ultra Lightweight Photo Backpacks

Cynthia Boylan | Jan 8, 2016

These just might be the lightest photo backpacks ever.

Outdoor photographers can now go faster and farther with MindShift Gear's new ultra lightweight photo daypacks. The UltraLight series from MindShift Gear includes the UltraLight Sprint 16L (weighing in at just 1.9 pounds including rain cover!), UltraLight Dual 25L and UltraLight Dual 36L. The side-panel designs of the three packs allow quick access to cameras, lenses, and accessories without first having to take off the bag.

The UltraLight backpacks offer generous space for personal belongings, zippered storage, a hydration reservoir and electronics. Additional features include an integrated tripod mounting system and breathable shoulder straps.

The UltraLight Dual 25L and UltraLight Dual 36L also include a removable camera compartment (and shoulder strap) that can be worn separately when users wish to drop their full pack and bag a peak with even less weight.

The UltraLight Sprint 16L model can safely hold one large (un-gripped) mirrorless body and one to two standard zoom lenses (or primes) or one compact DSLR (Rebel 3300 or 5300 series) and one to two lenses. It can also hold up to a 10-inch tablet or most 1.5 liter hydration reservoirs and it has nine liters of capacity for personal gear. The max lens size is mirrorless: 70-200mm f/2.8 equivalents attached to body or DSLR: 24-70mm f/2.8 attached to body.

The UltraLight Dual 25L model can safely hold one standard-size DSLR (5DM3 or D810) and one standard zoom lens or two primes or one large (un-gripped) mirrorless body and two to three lenses. It can fit up to a 15-inch laptop or most 2.5 liter hydration reservoirs and it has fourteen liters of capacity for personal gear. The max lens size is mirrorless: 70-200mm f/2.8 equivalents attached to body or DSLR: 24-70mm f/2.8 attached to body.

The UltraLight Dual 36L model can safely hold one standard-size DSLR (5DM3 or D810) and two to four standard zoom lenses or one gripped DSLRs (1Dx or D4s) and two to three standard zoom lenses. It can fit up to a 15-inch laptop or most three liter hydration reservoirs and it has twenty liters of capacity for personal gear. The max lens size: 24-70mm f/2.8 attached to body with 70-200 f/2.8 detached.

For water resistance all of the exterior fabric used in the creation of these bags has a durable water-repellant coating, plus the underside of the fabric has a polyurethane coating. It also has high-quality YKK Fuse zippers, 100D nylon shadow rip-stop, 420D high-density nylon, 210D velocity nylon, 320G UltraStretch mesh, 350G airmesh, nylon webbing, 3-ply bonded nylon thread.