Review of the Lowepro Nova 200 AW camera bag

General
A reader asked me on AmateurNikon's Facebook page a few days ago for camera bag suggestions. He specified that he needed a large enough bag that can fit two DSLR camera bodies, plus a few lenses. I've tried several bags in the past (now I've only kept this basic sling bag) and my personal favorite has been the Lowepro Nova 200 AW. Here's a quick rundown of its plus and minuses, with a more elaborate opinion further below, in the "Final Verdict" section

I certainly didn't want to drag the Lowepro Nova 200
when I went to Iceland, but there are uses for it, so read on

Pros/Cons
+ its space seems endless. It really does fit a lot, probably more than you would guess from a quick look. Fully
+ high manufacturing quality, this isn't a cheap generic bag with breaking seams and zippers.
+ AW stands for All-weather, and the waterproof cover (neatly tucked underneath the bag) will protect your equipment in torrential rain (I've tested this!)



- big, heavy (when full), with not the best shoulder strap
- although the velcro separators are customizable, it's a pain to insert/extract or adjust
- a lot of (too) small pockets. Good for memory cards, but I'd rather have less bigger pockets than 10 places for memory cards.



Final Verdict
Obviously, this bag is excellent for its intended use and poor for any other. This might sound self-obvious, but what its scope really is probably isn't as clear to quite a few people. As I told the reader who asked the question, bags of this size are intended to transport your equipment from point A to point B and that's it. If, in other words, you're a pro shooting on location and you need a camera bag to transport your 2 DSLRs, 2 flashes, and 3 lenses to the place, the Lowepro Nova 200 AW is superb for the job. Even if you're just an enthusiast traveling to a place and you need a good bag to store your equipment on your way there, this is a great option.

Conversely, this is not a good bag if your intention is to drag it along in the location itself. In other words, don't take this bag along on a photo shooting walk - this is not its scope. To give a concrete example, please don't be like those idiots I see at amusement parks, carrying 2 camera bodies and 3 lenses (among them chunky fast telezooms) to take pics of their kids.

Get it here (new) or here (used)