Tenba Mini Messenger Bag (Blue)

Being fairly new to photography I am learning there are never enough, or the right, camera bags.

I have a Lowepro backpack with the laptop sleeve. It is very nice but not particularly useful for much other than transporting your stuff from one place to the next. Therefore I started the search for a more useable bag.

Two trips to the local (i.e. overpriced) camera shop and I picked the Tenba. Was not too big nor too small. I have a Canon T1, two lenses, extra batteries, and the normal misc stuff. There is plenty of room left in the bag with all of this stuff. My 13" MacBook Pro fits in snugly in the laptop area with a Speck cover on, without the cover it fits perfectly. My goal for this bag was to use it with the camera and iPad, but be able to stuff the laptop in when needed. Having the macbook fit so well was great.

Took the bag to Disneyland and a birthday party over the weekend. Plenty of room for a couple of diapers and a few extra small items along with the camera. Easy to carry around, easy access to the camera via the top zipper, and it looks like a regular messenger bag rather than a camera bag. Much easier to use then the sling bag that I bought and returned immediately after our last trip to Disneyland. The messenger bag was easy to move around when carrying a small child, getting on and off rides, etc. The sling bag was awkward to move around and was in the way every time I sat down.

Quality is very good. Appearance is good. Has metal clips for the shoulder strap so you can replace it in the future if needed. Lots of pockets. Easy access zipper in the top is useful. Price is actually the same in the camera store and on Amazon (there goes my overpriced comment). No tax and free shipping made it an easy choice to buy from Amazon.

Highly recommend this bag if you want to be able to carry a small laptop and your camera equipment together. Easy to use when not carrying the laptop as well.

I received the bag a week ago. As soon as I opened it, I was amazed with the orange color I had bought. Honestly, it's much better than what I imagined it would be like. Then, the space distribution is brilliant, with perfect space for a full size DSLR with a professional lens on it (Canon 5D with Canon 24-70L), and an iPad/Macbook 13". I still have tons of space free after I introduce the afore mentioned items into the bag.

However, the shoulder strap that came with the bag broke 2 days after using it normally. It's not a nice feeling to be walking on the sidewalk and suddenly watching your camera bag, with fragile items inside, crashing against the concrete floor.

Tenba should have better quality control with that. Anyways, if you buy this brilliantly distributed bag, know that you might have to buy a 20 dollars shoulder strap in order to efficiently use it.

Buy Tenba Mini Messenger Bag (Blue) Now

My name is XXX and I have a bag addiction ... yes I admit it. I have tried every photo bag I can think of plus multiple sizes of individual models in search of the perfect bag. The Tenba Messenger line of bags is the best I have found by far. I like smaller bags that will just hold a camera and couple small lenses plus maybe enough room to throw in a windbreaker (and also now my iPad). I just sold my Tenba Small Messenger bag on eBay because I found it too large for my tastes. I turned right around and ordered the Tenba Mini Messenger (in chocolate brown to be a bit less conspicuous). While I would prefer that even it was an inch or so smaller, I am satisfied. It will hold my iPad and camera and minimal other stuff I carry plus a little extra room if I need it. The one feature these bags have that is so great is the zippered access on the top flap that lets you get to the inside of the bag without undoing the straps and the very loud velcro (I really hate velcro tabs on camera bags but they are I suppose a necessary evil). With that zippered access, I don't need to carry my camera around my neck anymore because it is just as accessible to reach through that opening and grag it quickly if needed. The bags are well made and I have never had a problem with the straps or buckles as some have noted. One thing that is not clear in all the descriptions, the Mini does not have the removeable padded camera insert that the two larger models have. That is fine by me because I never took it out anyway. Because the larger bags have the insert, they are a bit more floppy and can "smoosh" or mold more to your body. The Mini has the foam panels sewn in and make it a more rigid design; even when empty it doesn't flatten out. Again, not a problem for me. I rather like it like this rather than the more floppy look. The only other bag (other than the Tenba Messenger Small) that came somewhat close the Tenba bags was the Crumpler bags. I owned a couple different sizes of their Million Dollar Home bags but the thing that was the deal breaker on those bags was the loud velcro closure and difficulty of accessing the bags quickly. The Tenba solves this for me.

Read Best Reviews of Tenba Mini Messenger Bag (Blue) Here

I've used this bag for a good while now, and have liked it for the most part, but it fell out of use in favor of my older messenger bag with the Tenba's camera dividers stuffed in it. Why? Well first I liked:

+ Perfect size. Holds my 13" Macbook, 7d, couple lenses, batteries, drives, chargers, card reader, headphones, wallet, and still has room to stuff paperwork or an ipad in there...and yet somehow not too bulky

+ Tough, mostly (see below) the nylon is great, and it's well fortified and padded. Never worried about electronics inside

+ Easy access zipper is genius

+ doesn't scream "CAMERA BAG!" Trust me, you never want that.

+ Removable camera padding is maybe the best thing about it; I can quickly grab the camera stuff out and leave it behind or use in another bag

+ clip on strap: means you can take the bag off while seated, or change the strap (And you'll want to)

I didn't like:

The strap, the strap. Padding is mediocre at best, oddly bumpy, too sticky, and fixed to the strap (so you pull your shirt inside out when you swing the bag around to take out a camera)

The mesh over the the back padding (designed to be breathable) is wearing already. Fuzzy, coming apart. I'd have preferred Nylon here for both durability and looks

Velcro is not quiet if you're trying to sneak a shot (mitigated somewhat by the access zipper)

As cool as the easy access zipper is, I hardly used it

not the prettiest thing to carry into a meeting. I hesitate to make this criticism because it seems unfair, and yet I got the bag for the specific purpose of have my camera with me ALL THE TIME. Any good photographer knows that's important....so when I find myself tossing my computer into something more stylish before hitting a board room, it does pose a real threat to that original goal. Vain, perhaps, but worth considering.

So...it's a good bag. It's served me well in daily use for a good year, and given the great price, it's hard to complain too loudly. But the strap does need help, and I find it hard to fully endorse given that. Clip on a new strap with a nice, wide, sliding pad, and you have a great bag for everyday carry.

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I wanted a messenger bag that was large enough to carry my D700, 24-70mm 2.8, 50mm 1.8, flash and iPad. It needed to be small enough however, where it didn't feel like a huge burden to carry around and stealthy enough not to scream "camera bag" if I was out tooling about town or travelling with my gear.

Like all of us these days, I went straight to the Internet to start my search. The challenge is I didn't have a whole lot of success in finding bags or reviews that explicitly told whether or not they'd work with full frame DSLRs. Eventually, I was able to find some candidates and narrowed my choices down to the Tenba Mini Messenger and Think Tank Retrospective 7. Both bags were great in their own right, but in the end, the Tenba offered the best value.

Overall, the bag has a business-like look. Upon first glance, the average person wouldn't think it was a camera bag. But when you look at it from the side, the width of the bag tells you that this bag holds more than books and a laptop. It doesn't quite have the hipster-cool look of the Retrospective, but what the Tenba lacks in "coolness", it makes up in utility.

Reviews of this bag knock the fact that you can't silence the Velcro that holds the flap down--ideal for situations where the noise would be distracting (school play, wedding, etc.). What Tenba did instead was include a Quick Access Zipper, which allows you to get right into the bag from the top without even lifting the flap. For me this is a killer feature because it's much more efficient than lifting a flap of a traditional messenger.

Bottom line, this is a great little bag and I simply wanted to share with folks in my position that this bag will accommodate a full frame DSLR w/ 24-70mm 2.8 lens attached. A big bonus is the bag is large enough to hold a 70-200 2.8 and 13" MacBook Pro as well.

What is it:

A lightweight, durable daily laptop/camera messenger bag

Likes:

Tenba quality and durability (1000 Denier Nylon, YKK Zippers, Duraflex Clips)

Lightweight and relatively compact

Better than average utility than competition

Doesn't have a camera bag look

A lot of storage pockets for smaller items

Quick Access zipper is a killer feature

Removable dividers allow for customization of camera gear

Holds full frame DSLR (Nikon D800, Canon 5D MkIII) with attached 24-70mm lens

Can hold a 70-200mm lens

Holds up to 13" laptop (MacBook Pro)

Great overall value

Not Likes:

Not quite as cool looking or stealthy as other messenger bags in this space (eg. Think Tank Retrospective)

Padding on strap could be thicker

No rain cover included--common with camera bags at this price point

No option to silence the Velcro fasteners that hold down bag flap