One of my many hats is "professional photographer", a side issue of being a photographer is the never ending search for the "perfect" camera bag. I have settled for some Tenba Air cases for real shoot gear capacity..However for my light travel/street backpack the slot have been open. until now.
The Crumpler Local Identity comes with the "heaven" padded insert. the insert have enough room for my Leica M with 35mm and a spare lens. There is actually enough room to fit one sideways on the other side also, but even though i do it, I do not recommend it.
The S size is advertised as a 13" laptop size, however my MacBookPro 15" fit perfectly in the S.
There is a nifty zipper fake bottom which can be closed to prevent stuff from dropping down and mingling with the camera padded case.
The top is roll down with a waterproof zipper, inside is a sleeve against the back and all the way to the top for the laptop, you can comfortably carry a laptop and camera at the same time.
On each side is a vertical zipper for easy access, I put the camera case so I can reach if by sliding the bag down on my left shoulder. On the other side I put a padded lens sleeve for one extra lens. Both of the side openings have a quick connect lock for fast access and it is possible to close it while leaving the zippers open.. (just remember they are open)
This is a LIGHT pack, room for camera + 1 lens in the padded sleeve, and another one on the other side if you have a separate sleeve. you "could" put a sleeve on the top for more gear.. but then you might as well get a bigger bag.
I have been using the Local Identity S to go to the office because it take my MBP 15" and my street camera with a spare lens in serious comfort and padded safety.
If anyone of the crumpler designers read this I would love a XS size, shave off a little size and make it iPad size. with the same camera heaven insert. Thanks guys.
So is this a recommended pack.? I have a hard time using the word "recommended" since this backpack is such a specialized creature, I absolutely love mine, it is brilliantly designed and so well made, it do not swallow huge amounts of lenses, this works great for me but your needs may be different than mine.
First, the good parts:
The bag is reasonably comfortable (I'm 5'5"). It holds (snugly) a 13" MacBook Air in a Waterfield Designs sleeve, a Canon T3i with Sigma 24mm prime and flash (only the camera and lens fit in the little sack, and quite snugly). Maybe also a pouch or two about the size of a pencil case. That's about it. With all that, there's not much room for your lunch. The design is overall pretty reasonable: a top-loading pouch with a zippered divider to separate into two compartments, and two side zippers that allow access to the pouch. It's not terribly heavy, it's waterproof, and looks pretty good. In black, it doesn't really call attention to itself; I can't speak to the other colors.
Now, the not so good:
The main feature of the pack is rapid access to camera gear. Swing the sack over one shoulder, slide it around, unclip the side clip, undo the zipper and slide the camera out of the protective pouch. At least in theory. In practice, the problem comes when running into the side zippers, which curve pretty drastically. Putting zippers on a curved track is generally a recipe for disaster, and Crumpler, as good as they are, can't do anything about this. The first bag I had, the zipper went off the rails within the first week. Because the zippers are "watertight" there isn't any way to repair the bag at home. So it was back to Crumpler for an exchange, which was pretty seamless, but annoying. Now, on bag 2, I'm really careful with the zippers, and it's still pretty clearly a showstopper. There's no way to run the zipper up one-handed -one hand has to grasp the bottom of the case to help guide the zipper up its track. Admittedly, this sounds like a first world problem, but it means that there's no way to quickly close the bag while holding the camera that you've just pulled out.
Second, the female parts of the clips that close the sides of the bag aren't well secured. On one side, one of the little plastic inserts (three prong) that holds it in broke. Not surprisingly, a week afterwards, it was gone. So now I've got one side of the snap flying free. Again, no real way to repair it unless you can find the precise part somewhere. I couldn't.
Lastly, the top folds down and snaps shut. At the point of the fold, the bag material can't put up with the strain of being folded/unfolded and has started to wear through. I expect this will mean the end of the waterproofing when it does.
So the search for the perfect bag continues. I had high hopes for Crumpler, and shelled out for what is clearly meant to be a premium bag. Because of these fundamental flaws, and the way it has worn over the year, I recommend looking elsewhere.
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