Designed for cinematic gear.
I am pretty picky when it comes to my camera gear. I want my stuff – no matter what it is – to work and work well. This leads me down the path of finding companies I trust and sticking with them. I still tend to check out new gear from all sorts of companies – that’s my job – but when it comes to wedding and event photography, I have a trusted set-up I always try to use. One of the benefits of being able to try out new products is that sometimes you find something that works better than my usual gear.
Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve had the opportunity to test out a camera backpack from HEX — the Glacier Camo Cinema Backpack. It’s designed to work specifically with cinematic gear like the Canon 1DX with lens attached. Many camera backpacks aren’t deep enough to accommodate the larger body DSLRs, which is why this bag is such a nice find.
DETAILS & FEATURES
The HEX Cinema Backpack is made with premium, water-resistant materials. It is fleece-lined and padded with configurable, removable partitions. In addition to the large main compartment, there are also 3 mesh and velcro pockets for additional storage. Weight distribution is key when it comes to camera backpacks and so HEX designed a special padded lumbar support belt into the frame of the pack. This
The backpack’s main compartment opens on the backside of the bag, but there is also a top opening for easy access to your camera. There is a separate storage compartment that can accommodate laptops up to 17 inches in size (17″ MacBook Pro was used as example from HEX). The back panel and straps are padded with EVA foam and finished in air-mesh. The bag also includes quick access tripod straps on the bottom of the bag.
SPECS
Water resistant - Deep design for cinematic gear, i.e., Canon 1DX with lens attached
- Padded waist belt for additional lumbar support
- Premium 900D poly exterior
- Stash pocket on the waist belt for quick access to memory cards, cash, etc.
- Quick access into the main compartment from top and side
- Large adjustable mesh water bottle pocket
- Quick release premium metal buckles on front flap
- Fits up to 17″ Laptop
- ID/business card holder
- Organizer in
front pocket - Large mesh zipper pockets on interior
- EVA foam protection
- Adjustable sternum strap
- Adjustable Interior dividers allow you to customize your setup to your gear
- Exterior tablet/phone pocket
- Thick padded shoulder straps with air mesh lining
- Tripod straps
- Premium poly web belting straps
- Non-skid accents
- Custom YKK® HEX zipper pulls
- Pewter Grey tricot lining
- Dimensions: 20″ H x 12.5″ W x 6.75″ D
- Volume: 27.6L
USER IMPRESSIONS
The HEX Glacier Camo Cinema Backpack arrived in a simple cardboard shipping container and it was wrapped in a plastic bag for protection from the elements. My first impression of the bag was that it was a decent size and looked really cool. I’m not one for camo cloth, but I do enjoy this glacier camo design. It’s unique and still professional-looking.
I was impressed with how lightweight the bag is without any contents loaded into it. For its size, I thought it would weigh more than it does. Because of the mesh on the back and straps, the bag is very breathable. I really appreciated the waist and chest straps because they made the bag much more comfortable for me to wear for longer periods of time and the bag stayed secured. As much as I liked the breathability of the straps and back, I wasn’t a huge fan of the padding. It was a little thin for my taste. I like to have a bit more padding than the HEX bag provided so that the weight of a full bag doesn’t dig into my shoulders.
One thing I wasn’t a big fan of was the fact that the main compartment is back-loading instead of front-loading. Yes, there are openings on the top and side to be able to access certain items quickly, but to be able to look at everything, you have to open the main compartment from the back. To me, this is a little bit of a hassle because you have to fold the straps out of the way. This is definitely a matter of personal preference and not something that is ‘defective’ in the design. I did notice that the dividers on the inside were a little softer than I am used to and I do have a concern that maybe my lenses will bump into each other. It hasn’t happened yet, but since they aren’t quite as rigid as other options out there, I am not sure how well they will hold up over time.
CONCLUSION
For the most part, my experience with the Cinema Backpack has been pleasant. I love the look of this camera bag. It very stylish and HEX really did a great job on including plenty of pockets for storage. At the time of publishing this article, this backpack is selling for around $240. Based off of the structure of the bag and its premium materials, I think it’s worth it.
