Lowepro Commercial AW camerabag

[Didi Schoeman]

Hi All

I need to order a camera-bag for my XL-H1 which should "aircraft hand-luggage" friendly. My camera supplier suggested the Lowepro Commercial AW camerabag, but since this is an order over the telephone I need to find out wether my camera will fit without any problems.

Does anyone have experience with the Lowepro Commercial AW camera-bag? Does the XL-H1 fit in this bag or do you have to disassemble it, e.g. take off the microphone?

Thanks for the advice

Didi

[Ken Diewert]

Didi,

I have a Kata CCC-10 soft bag that works exceptionally well for transport.

The camera just barely fits when it's fully assembled. I will be flying with it in a few days so I'll find out if they give me any grief. I was planning on taking my big hardcase to the airport just in case I have to repack it a check it.

I'll let you know the results.

Ken

[Didi Schoeman]

Hi Ken, thanks for that... I have a slight suspicion I'm going to beat you to it though, I'm flying to Mozambique on the 7th and then to Zimbabwe on the 14th of September, why I need to order the thing ASAP. My camera is supposed to arrive on Thursday which has me extremely excited!

[Ken Diewert]

Originally Posted by Didi Schoeman

Hi Ken, thanks for that... I have a slight suspicion I'm going to beat you to it though, I'm flying to Mozambique on the 7th and then to Zimbabwe on the 14th of September, why I need to order the thing ASAP. My camera is supposed to arrive on Thursday which has me extremely excited!

Didi,

I just phoned the airline I'm flying and gave them the dimensions of the Kata bag. With the camera in it's 12"X12"x26" long. It's slightly larger than allowed but they're allowing it because the weight is well short of the 22 pound limit.

If you can find the bag dimensions... try calling the airline.

FWIW, I reccomend the Kata bag highly (well priced, rugged, big enough without being too big, even has a metal crossbrace well located to protect the EVF) and as mentioned the H1 fits easily. Normally I don't even remove the the dual battery holder off the back. I will when flying though, just to help keep the weight down.

Without doing a commercial for Kata, I also bought their raincover for the H1.

Good luck.

[Didi Schoeman]

Hi Ken

I'm going to try an locate an agent for the Kata bag in South Africa, have one listed on the Kata website and will give them a call tomorrow morning during office ours.

I've also recently bought the KATA rain cover on e-bay for my XL1s, it arrived a week ago, never got to use it though, but I see it fits on the XL-H1 so GREAT!

Thanks again for phoning the airline and getting the information trough to me, I really appreciate it.

Didi

[Barry Goyette]

Didi,

I have the AW bag, and while my xl2 fit snugly in it, the xlh1 is just a little uncomfortable in it's fit....you feel like you're cramming it in to make it work. It works ok for tossing in the back of the SUV, but for travel...I think it's a bit small.

The main problem is the microphone/evf sled. If you don't mind removing it from the body for travel, then you should be alright with this bag.

Barry

[Didi Schoeman]

Thanks Barry

I had a slight suspicion that that was the case, I think the KATA might be a better buy, but I'm not sure whether I'm going to be able to get one on such short notice... I suppose the chances are still pretty good that I will have to buy the AW if I can't find a bigger bag.

I suppose it will not be the end of the world to take off the microphone on long trips, as long as your still able to zip it up with it on for shorter trips, would be a pain if you have to take the mic off every time you want to close the lid...

[Oskar Sjodin]

I have the CCC-10 Kata bag and have travelled around the balkans for abouth a month this summer. I can only confirm that a fully assembled h1 with a mounted microphone does not fit the bag very well. But on the other hand the airlines seems to have no objections concerning the size of the bag when you bring it as hand luggage. That is Austrian arlines, SAS, Lufthansa and Marlev.

[Barry Goyette]

Didi,

I just played around with my AW bag, and after removing all the foam inserts and trying the camera in different directions...I'd say that you'll be ok with this bag. It fit better than I thought it did. The microphone gets pushed in slightly, but with the antishock mount, it's really not an issue. I like this bag a lot, mostly because I'm a still photographer and I'm used to the camera bag style (flip open lid with pockets on the front and sides.) The Kata's are very popular here at DVinfo, and yes they do fit the camera better, but I've never been fond of the duffle bag style of the Kata, for what it's worth.

Barry

[Ken Diewert]

Originally Posted by Oskar Sjodin

I have the CCC-10 Kata bag and have travelled around the balkans for abouth a month this summer. I can only confirm that a fully assembled h1 with a mounted microphone does not fit the bag very well. But on the other hand the airlines seems to have no objections concerning the size of the bag when you bring it as hand luggage. That is Austrian arlines, SAS, Lufthansa and Marlev.

Oskar,

Yours doesn't fit well? It must be cause it's PAL.

LOL