A look at the Think Tank Retrospective 20

Firstly let me just say that I recommend this bag.

Now, let me tell you why.

I can't say enough about the quality of this bag. It is made of strong sturdy material. It's like the difference between a lower end camera and one with a metal frame in it. It just feels so much better.

Because of the quality and thickness of the bag, I don't have to be as worried in the rain. It does come with a rain cover, which is one of those little things that just make you love Think Tank a little more because of their thoughtfulness, but I've been caught in the rain without throwing that on and everything was still dry inside.

This guy has a good amount of pockets as well, all of which I use. The front-most pocket, which is under the main flap, is really useful to toss things in that you constantly grab. You can access it without opening the main flap. I have note pads and such in there.

Just inside the bag are more pockets for smaller things like pens, memory cards (I think at least those slots are for memory cards, I have no idea what else would be intended for those small slots, that are very deep though which makes me wonder.), and what ever else. The main compartment has pockets on either side that house my small Kodak ZI6 and my Zoom H2. There is also a zippered pocket on the back of the main compartment which is where I put my memory cards and batteries, but would be a perfect spot for really important stuff like a wallet or phone as well.

The main compartment itself is deep, made for holding a 70-200mm with a body attached. I am a poor college student, so I don't have one of those but for an extra 10 bucks i figured it was worth it over the Retrospective 10, which is a few inches shorter. I carry my Nikon D200 with a 18-70mm on it in that compartment. It takes up about 2/3 of the bag width wise. I use one partition among the three or four they give you and on the remaining side I put my extra lens and other random stuff like my lunch and whatever.

There's a final pocket on the back of the bag, which I really applaud Think Tank for throwing in. There are more notebooks and papers I throw in there that I don't want ruined or anything.

But that is a good lead into some of the minor draw backs of the bag. I use this bag without my camera a lot. It's my main bag that I carry to class, because it I really like it, but it could be a little more versatile. You might be thinking well it's a camera bag, and it does that real well. You're right, but is it wrong to want just a tad more, especially when it's already almost there?

The Retrospective 20 is listed as 13 inches wide, but in that back pocket, which stretches across the bag, I struggle to fit a full length piece of paper in. I usually fold anything that goes in that pocket. The width of this bag has been a peeve of mine. If it were just like an inch longer, maybe even a half inch, it would truly be perfect. I can snugly fit my 13" Macbook into the bag, but it's really tight. Another inch would make it so much easier. But like I said it fits.

Another wish, is that those side pockets on the outside of the bag were big enough to accommodate a bottle of water. At least one of them. That seems minor, but it's something that I've continued to run into. It does hold my umbrella however and is a great spot for my Ipod.

And I think my last gripe would be the lack of dedicated memory card slots. Granted I can just get a pixel pocket, but I paid nearly $200 for the bag, so give me a couple slots for those cards.

But overall, this is a fantastic bag. When they first came out I was extremely turned off by them, but once I moved to New York City I wanted an inconspicuous bag. And it doesn't get more inconspicuous than this bag. Think Tank has the Urban Disguise, (which does have a lap top space) but I think this bag is much more appropriate for a name like that.

The only place that there is the mention of Think Tank, is a small square on the back of the back and a zipper on the inside back pocket. And the bag is kind of ugly if your considering fashion standards, if you get the pinestone one, which adds to the inconspicuousness of it. But it's not horribly looking, I mean I dig it, but fashion isn't my thing.

This bag would be perfect for the photographer that travels light, wants something low-key and is looking for a lot of use out of a small package.