Tenba Messenger Photo/Laptop Bag - Small

The small is actually only 1.5" less is width and 1" less in height and the same 6.5" depth as the "large" version. I opted for the small as it was less conspicuous by a hair and this was why I was buying a messenger style bag in the first place. It looks like a briefcase or satchel and not at all like a camera bag helpful when dealing with potential thieves and airline gate people.

The 6.5" depth is not a true measurement as there are two internal padded sections to provide for a laptop and this reduces the interior depth for a camera to 5.5" at best. Not a problem with a small DSLR like a Canon 50D or a Nikon D90 but very tight for a full size pro DSLR (which needs a full 6.5 inches).

The small holds a full size DSLR with a medium lens attached (135mm or less) and there is room for one full size lens like a 24-120 or 24-70 lens and one side section that will hold a standard flash or a small lens (50mm prime for example). The interior is well padded and comes in two different colors, a dark gray and a very light gray. The lighter inside makes it a lot easier to find camera items which tend to be black. The large bag is 1" taller and so will do a better job with a 70-200mm lens but on the whole it will not hold much more than the "small" one as it is only 1.5" wider and the same depth.

The bag has a large flap with a lot of Velcro to secure it along with the two buckles. There is a top zipper so you can access the inside of the bag without unbuckling it but it is not going to work with a full size DSLR. The strap is well made and has an offset section that is well padded and "grippy" so it will not slip of the shoulder. As you cannot put more than about 9 lbs. of gear inside for a total weight of 12 lbs. in total these shoulder is quite adequate.

There are several aspects of the bags design that are less than optimum. First is the lack of any exterior pockets large enough for a flash or similarly sized piece of gear. When I want to add a flash to a shot I don't want to have to unfasten the two buckles and open up the bag to get to the inside each time to retrieve it and again to put it back for the moment. It is a waste of time and it provides more opportunities for dust and dirt to get into the bag and into the camera and lenses.

Another drawback is the lack of any provision for a waist or security strap. A waist strap can help shoulder the load, keeps the bag close to your body which helps in both outdoor and urban settings, and a waist or security strap makes it very hard for a thief to grab the bag off your shoulder and run off with it. This is a common oversight and even LowePro will provide waist straps for its junior bags for small cameras but leave them off its Stealth Reporter bags intended for use by pros carrying 15 lbs. or more of very expensive gear.

The satchel has a small amount of material that can be folded in before securing the flap to help keep out dust and dirt and windblown water but it is not going to be all that effective. This is a good city bag but not a bag to protect your camera gear in hostile conditions. Too bad because adding a side section to the cover flap would make a big difference but this is a detail that Tenba overlooked. If you intend to go ahead and get this bag and use it in possibly dusty or dirty conditions it would be worth the expense and effort to have someone sew on the side flaps to the bag using a little coated nylon fabric.

Recommend adding a small flat see-through pouch for all the small items you may want to get to quickly (like a cable shutter release or lens cleaning supplies, filters, etc.) as this bag has none and the exterior pockets are not even big enough for most cell phones.

I looked at a dozen different camera satchel bags by Promaster, LowePro, Tenba, and others and the Tenba was the best, not great but a lot better than the others. I have 4 LowePro bags and the Tenba is as well made as any of them and more reasonably priced.

Be wary of the colors as they are lot brighter than appear in the pictures, especially the "olive" green which is more of a metallic green, and the orange which is also a metallic orange.

There really isn't much to say here because there isn't much to complain about. As with any bag, there are places I might want a pocket and places I wouldn't, but Tenba is so phenomenal at providing an excellent number of different kinds of pockets that I might only move some of them. But then I might not. This bag can hold everything I need to bring, plus all the extra nonsense I don't need but think I do to be prepared, while still staying compact and comfortable.

The bag comes in a number of colors. I chose the olive green. Had Amazon sold the gray I'd probably have gone that route, but you do have options. I would assume Tenba is not exactly weighing aesthetic high on their list of priorities, so I'm not exactly sure why they offer so many color options, but they do exist. This is not to say the bag is ugly, but it's not shockingly good looking either. When comparing it to other camera bags, however, it's often preferable in the looks department.

More importantly, the functionality of the bag is absolutely phenomenal. Amazon has a nice little video from Tenba on the page, and though their videos try to do the Apple product presentation kind of thing and are pretty much missing the mark, the video is very informative and gets all the high points of the bag across that you will want to know about. Two of my favorites are the waterproof bottom of the bag--I shouldn't have to explain why that is such a wonderful thing--and the extremely tough hooks that hold the strap to the bag.

Speaking of the strap, let's talk about comfort. I'd always been under the impression that every strap was uncomfortable when the bag was made heavy from being overpacked by a neurotic individual (me). I was nervous about Tenba's messenger because there is no padding on the strap. For whatever reason, even when this bag is packed heavier than a chiropractor would approve, the strap is still comfortable. In fact, even if the bag is weighing me down it is still comfortable. The padding on the inside is wonderful. It is another great feature of the bag, as it isn't just soft to make you feel good but uses very breathable fabric to avoid overheating its point of contact.

Everywhere on the bag there are pockets galore. You won't believe how much you can fit into this bag. I have a Lowe Pro bag for my video camera, which also is designed to hold a 15" (or smaller) laptop plus everything the Tenba is designed to hold yet it is twice the size. It is an enormous bag. If I were to use the Lowe Pro bag for my still camera, like I do with the Tenba, I could fit the same amount of stuff in both but the Tenba would be half the size and far more organized. I'm still wowed by it.

Another wonderful feature is the removable photo insert. If you're buying this bag you're buying it to take a laptop and a camera with you, most likely. However, you may not always want to take the camera. That's fine. You can just remove the entire camera section, without disturbing the organization of the bag, and put it elsewhere. Alternatively, if you want to only take the camera equipment and leave the bag (which I just did recently), you can pack just the photo insert in your suitcase and have your equipment well-protected. The bag is designed for the camera, a couple of lenses and a flash. Though I only have one zoom lens (the rest are primes), I'm able to fit six lenses, the camera and a microphone. That's only in the camera insert (which, by the way, can be easily accessed from a top zipper so you don't have to completely open the bag to access your camera). That doesn't account for the laptop sleeve and the amazing number of pockets you have available for hard drives, card readers, cables, etc. With every other bag I needed to make sacrifices in what I brought with me. I do not ever have to do that with the Tenba Messenger.

There are many more things I could say in its praise and probably a few minor things I could complain about, but hopefully my point is well taken: this is an amazing bag--buy it. It's probably also worth mentioning that a bag with these capabilities generally is about twice the cost. If you were to buy an equivalent from Crumpler or Lowe Pro you'd be paying more. I am just floored by what his bag can do at any cost, but for it to be pretty much the cheapest in its class is just incredible.

Buy Tenba Messenger Photo/Laptop Bag - Small Now

After perusing probably hundreds of bags to carry for my final year of undergraduate work, I finally came to the conclusion that this was the bag for me. I am extremely particular about what bags and gadgets I use, and the demo video for this bag in particular is what won me over. It seemed perfect. Since the reviews are quite numerous for this bag, I'm going to just stick with my first impressions and the bag's capacity for my review.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS:

When I received my Amazon box, my first thought was that the bag must be folded up inside the box or otherwise just mushed in very tightly. When I opened the box, the bag was indeed flattened, but not at all folded or crammed in. The bag is admittedly smaller than I expected, but only by a fraction. If I had to guess, I thought it to be about 15-20% larger judging by the product photos. I'm above average in size (5'11" and 220lbs.) so maybe it was just my perspective playing tricks on me. Regardless, its size did not turn out to be an issue at all. In fact, it's a strength of the bag.

CAPACITY:

I have a lot of crap. Seriously, when I'm older I might wind up being diagnosed as a gadget hoarder. I prefer to think of myself as a sentimental early adopter...or an electro-connoisseur, if you will. Everyday I carry all of these items to school in this TENBA bag (and this bag alone):

~ 10" Netbook (ASUS Eee PC 1015PN-PU17-WT 10.1-Inch Netbook (White))

~ 10" Tablet (ASUS Eee Pad Transformer TF101-A1 10.1-Inch Tablet Computer (Tablet Only))

-~with leather case (VIPERTEK Multi-Angle Leather Folio Case Cover for Asus Eee Pad Transformer 10.1-Inch TF101 Android Tablet Wi-Fi (Black))

~ DSLR Camera with TWO lenses(Canon EOS Rebel T2i 18 MP CMOS APS-C Digital SLR Camera with 3.0-Inch LCD and EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS Lens)

~ Point-and-Shoot Camera (the large faux-SLR style Casio Exilim EX-FH20 9.1 MP Digital Camera with 20x Optical Zoom and 3-Inch LCD (Black))

~ iPod Touch (Apple iPod touch 32 GB (3rd Generation) OLD MODEL)

~ Nintendo 3DS (NEW Nintendo 3DS Aqua Blue (Videogame Hardware))

~ Nintendo DSi (Nintendo DSi Matte Blue)

~ Flip-style video camera (B-Stock Creative Vado HD Pocket Video Camera 8GB + Accessories Pack (Red))

~ Smartphone (Motorola Atrix 4G Android Phone (AT&T))

~ Headphones in carrying case (Bose® IE2 audio headphones)

~ Large 3DS case w/23 games cartridges plus accessories inside (Nintendo 3DS Pull and Go Folio Blue)

~ A leather billfold-style wallet

~ A small case with spare SD cards

~ 2 laser pens

~ A few ink pens

~ And one very fat over-sized glasses case for when I switch between my nerd glasses and aviator sunglasses

ALL of this fits in the case simultaneously, and without issue. I should warn you that if you plan to pack any more than what I've listed into the bag, you'll start having issues. As it stands, I am using none of the three large flat pockets on/in the bag. I have the front straps completely loosened and the bag is *just* accommodating all of my technojunk as it is. I might be able to fit in a spiral notebook or two, or maybe something small like some more laser pens, but anything big enough to fill one of the large pockets would be seriously compromised by the bag's bulge unless it were flexible (like a spiral notebook.)

All in all, it feels like the end user is given options when it comes to the pockets. I doubt all of them can be used effectively at the same time (unless nothing too large were put in the bag), but I don't thin they were necessarily meant to be. I can definitely see re-purposing this bag in many different ways for trips, new classes at school, taking to work, and so on. I've found the arrangement that works best for me, and it just doesn't happen to take advantage of all of the bag's pockets. Other users might end up using a completely different set of pockets than I have. Who knows?

OVERALL:

This is the best cargo bag I have ever owned. I was tentative at first because of its size, but that wasn't a problem. I considered buying Tenba's backpack instead, as a messenger bag weight down with ll of this junk would put quite a strain on just one shoulder. It turned out that the bag itself was so light, the material so breathable, the frame so rigid (yet flexible), and the padding SO incredibly plush that it isn't at all uncomfortable to lug across campus for me. I am somewhat of a big guy and I am by no means a weakling (quite the opposite, in fact) so my strength is working in my favor, but that's not the point.

Pound-for-pound, everything I put in this bag FEELS much lighter than it does in another bag of equivalent capacity. I'd say that this bag, between all of its features, FEELS 1/3rd as heavy as my Canon camera bag filled with the same amount of electronics and goodies, which is very significant considering that the weight of all my gadgets plus the bag is around 20 pounds on a scale.

If you're unsure about this bag, but are as much a gadget-fiend as I am, get this bag. It really won't do you wrong. Just take caution and DON'T OVERFILL IT....as much as you (and I) may want to. ;)

UPDATE 6 WEEKS LATER: I have added a video to really show off the holding capacity of the bag. There have been some substitutions over the last 2 months, as well. The tablet now has the keyboard dock rather than the leather case (just as thick either way), there is an extra lens on my DSLR (the large lens), there are some extra little bits, and the Point & Shoot camera I listed above was used to shoot the video. Also, the video shows off how well the bag has held up for 6 weeks of heavy use. It has zero flaws other than a few stains so far.

Read Best Reviews of Tenba Messenger Photo/Laptop Bag - Small Here

I am a professional photographer and have been looking for a "small" bag that would easily carry/organize several lenses and my laptop.

I bought this bag and recently put it to the test on an engagement shoot I fit: 580EX II Flash, 16-35mm f2.8, 135 f2, 70-200 f2.8IS, + 2 radio poppers + my 13" macbook pro in the bag easily.

I decided to try to test this bags limits and just put my old 15" laptop + 70-200w/hood + 24-70w/hood +85 1.8 w/hood +35 1.4 w/hood in the bag and I'd say the bag is full but not stuffed. Keep in mind this is with the lens hoods on in shooting position, I'm sure if I turned the hoods back I could get a bit more gear in and I could probably slip a flash in the side as well if needed.

It does not hold a full size camera with battery grip "nicely" but it does fit and you can close the bag and secure it, w/o a battery grip you'd have no problem.

I love all the pockets, love the styling, love the functionality, if I had any complaints maybe it would be that theres too much padding when the insert is in? But that's probably a good thing!

I also love this bag for on the go meetings, I can slip the lens padding out and fit 2-3 wedding albums + laptop into the bag.

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But I bought the wrong size. I chose the small because my laptop was 15.4in. Which fits great, but when I got home from my trip to Hawaii and bought a battery grip, my Canon 300d started to be a tight fit when packaged with the laptop. That being said it does still all fit even with the battery grip, but the depth could be increased by an inch, and I would be happy.

So moral of the story, I guess one size doesn't fit all, and subsequently why they have more than one size. I love the bag regardless, everything does fit, but its abit to cozy for some of my most delicate electronics. This is not there fault so my star rating is independent of that.

Josh