Kata D-3N1-33 3 in 1 Sling Backpack, Large

Comments about Kata D-3N1-33 3 in 1 Sling Backpack, Large:

I use this bag daily. I shoot daily and seldom plan my shoots, I just go out and find stuff. I have my camera body with a lens attached and three other lenses. My back up Point and shoot. Small gorilla pod,large three section tripod, 7 in 1 27" reflector, chargers and cords, 2 spare batteries for main, 1 for back up, small first aid kit, 2-4 power bars, phone, eyeglass case, camera rain gear, Oh and my sensor cleaning kit (I get out in the boonies and dirty). Might be a few more items. Still have an empty space for a laptop and room to spare for its power supply. This bag is room and not as bulky on my back as I had expected. More than large enough for my random trips and hikes. Built well and the only design flaw is with the straps in the standard back pack configuration lacks a cross chest strap. Same with sling configuration needing a tension strap like my other sling bags had. This was easily remedied at a local hardware store with some webbing strap, a few friction buckles and a couple quick release buckles. Rides like a dream on my tall frame. Won't carry all my gear for an over night excursion up a cliff face, but it does fine for an afternoon outing. One other thing I would have added to the design is a water bottle pouch, but you can get past that with a clip bottle. Just plan on it. The lower d rings will be handy for that.

Comments about Kata D-3N1-33 3 in 1 Sling Backpack, Large:

Perfect for hiking or long walking, because of the kidney belt, very comfortable, durable and secure. (It is a Kata after all)
Surprisingly fits a lot of gear.
Quite a few clips to make it secure, find it a little tricky to shoot from the hip, but rather it be secure, living in South Africa and all.

Comments about Kata D-3N1-33 3 in 1 Sling Backpack, Large:

I got this pack for an upcoming trip to Rwanda where we'll be doing some gorilla and chimpanzee treks in the mountains. It holds everything I want to bring and seems quite comfortable for my frame (I'm about 5'11" and weigh around 210).
I'm very impressed with the construction and the flexibility - not only of the interior compartments, but also the changeable shoulder straps. The rain cover is also a plus. I added the tripod sling to finish off the package.
In addition to the upcoming trip, I shoot a lot of sailing photos, often from small skiffs, so I really need something that will hold all my gear and protect it from the elements.
If it works out as well as I expect, I hope to get many years of use from it.

Comments about Kata D-3N1-33 3 in 1 Sling Backpack, Large:

I needed a bag that would hold a laptop for business travel as well as my digital Rebel rig. the Kata fills the bill as promised. It is bigger than I expected and easily held a single Rebel body and a 70-300 lens with 2 or 3 compartments left over for cords, chargers and a GorillaPod. the Laptop sleeve in the rear of the bag easily holds my 13" Macbook Pro with room to spare.

I am flat out in love with the Sling function of the bag and the one hand grab system of retrieving your camera on a moments notice. the side locks (on both sides of the bag) open easily to reveal your equipment quickly and give you a reassuring click when closing them. All of the hardware has a very rugged feel to it. The back straps are easily changed from traditional backpack mode to sling mode and tuck away when not it use, very convenient and functional. These straps aren't as padded as some other ones I've seen, but they are well padded and look consistent with the rest of the bag to present a very slick and professional look.

The compartments inside are easy to configure to your gear and the bright yellow material makes it super visible in low light situations. that's a very thoughtful touch.

My one surprise is that the top grab handle runs at 90 degrees to most other bag handles - so when you grab it naturally and walk, the width of the bag sticks out from your leg instead of next to you like most other backpacks. The opening of the top compartment makes it easy to access on a airplane.

Well done Kata and well worth the money!

Comments about Kata D-3N1-33 3 in 1 Sling Backpack, Large:

I have just used the bag on my trip. I am getting used to it. I think as I get to use it more it will become integral to my photography.
Thanks for all the recommendations

Comments about Kata D-3N1-33 3 in 1 Sling Backpack, Large:

When i graduated up to a Nikon D7000, and larger lenses, my LowePro sling wasn't enough to carry it all.

This is a good bag for us to travel with. I can fit my camera gear, and still have room for "stuff" to travel with in the upper compartment. When we are running around airports, and taxi's, or thru busy terminal stations, I converted the bag over to a back pack - but sling it over one shoulder 90% of the time. It fits nicely in overhead compartments too.

I have enough room to carry 2 cameras easily if I want, and may start doing that soon.

I'm working on getting good water bottle to attach somewhere, that is my only item I wish the bag had.

Comments about Kata D-3N1-33 3 in 1 Sling Backpack, Large:

I stepped up to this largest of the 3N1 bags from the mid-saize after I acquired the 70-200 leans that wouldn't fit the old one.
Superior fit and finish, enough space for everything, rain cover, etc. Just wish it came with a tripod holder... a bag this size should because you wouldn't use it unless you had EVERYTHING with you.

Comments about Kata D-3N1-33 3 in 1 Sling Backpack, Large:

It is such a versitile bag. sling right sling left backpack it or cross sling it, its comfortable in any configuration! To be quite honest, I need to buy more gear because I still have more room in it. I searched for almost a year to find the right bag and i have found it. It is so well built and thats one thing that was a must for me.

Comments about Kata D-3N1-33 3 in 1 Sling Backpack, Large:

It's my second one. Very durable,easy to use.

Comments about Kata D-3N1-33 3 in 1 Sling Backpack, Large:

In a nutshell I was going to buy a competitors backpack but after seeing them side by side I at a local photo shop it was a no brainer - - the Kata bag was FAR superior. I wasn't disappointed it when I got it and started working on it to fit my needs.

One thing I didn't realize was the size. It was about 25% bigger than I thought it would be ... and that ended up being a good thing.

I recommend it highly - buy it.

Comments about Kata D-3N1-33 3 in 1 Sling Backpack, Large:

I wanted a bag that would be good for taking a lot of gear around in.Unfortunately in sling configuration the bag is quite heavy if you have any amount of gear in it. It's not the bag's fault but definitely consider that when you buy it. That being said, the bag can be configured as a backpack or with a "crossed straps" configuration which is a nice touch.The top section could have been organized a bit better; right now it's just one big pocket with some little holders for pens/trinkets.The side pockets could be larger. As they are now they aren't very useful because nothing would fit in there except memory cards, but Kata provides an alternate pouch for that in the bottom compartment anyways.The bottom compartment is harder to configure than I would like because of the zip lid. It's stiff and velcroed to the top portion. Even though you can undo the velcro it's still a bit of a pain.I also got the kata tripod holder with this bag, which was very hard to attach (bring tweezers). In my opinion it should have been built into the design of the bag, but they charge an extra [$] for it. With a tripod attached, the bag is much harder to sling.

Comments about Kata D-3N1-33 3 in 1 Sling Backpack, Large:

I travel overseas a great deal in Asia and the Middle East doing portrait work and candids in remote locations. I need a bag that is easy to get into, carries my gear, and stows easily in the overhead space of even pretty small aircraft. It also needs to be rugged and have protection against monsoon rain in places such as Bangladesh and Indonesia. The Kata bag is perfect for my purposes. It is extremely flexible, allowing easy access for "targets of opportunity", is well built without being too heavy, and has room for the travel essentials such as laptop, passport, iPod, etc. Most useful bag I have ever purchased and I love bags. The price point was good too. The only things I have not tested adequately yet are the durability of the zippers.

Comments about Kata D-3N1-33 3 in 1 Sling Backpack, Large:

At first I thought the bag was a little big for all my gear. But once I got everything in it - plus some extras, it all fit perfectly. Great buy!

Comments about Kata D-3N1-33 3 in 1 Sling Backpack, Large:

Easy to use, can carry my Sony A55 plus a Sigma 50-500mm lens with no problem, plus all my cokin filters, a couple of smaller lenses and tons of other gadgets and of course my laptop too. Easy to carry, handle and you really do not feal the weight.

Comments about Kata D-3N1-33 3 in 1 Sling Backpack, Large:

We used this pack for the 1st time on a 10 day trip to s. africa, including 6 days on safari and multiple flights on everything from a 747 to a sinlge engine prop. Its winter in the s. hemisphere ... and we had 2 days of cold rain, the bag's looped zippers worked great with gloves on.

Only negative would be that the bag would be in even better with some built in slots for filters to save some room.

Comments about Kata D-3N1-33 3 in 1 Sling Backpack, Large:

LOVE the way Kata bags are made - great yellow interiors (why doesn't everyone do this?), and the quality is really good...strapping system to switch from sling to backpack is cool, but straps aren't quite wide enough to be really comfortable. The slings works OK, but as a backpack, I much prefer any bag from LowePro. In addition, the bag profile itself is fairly large for what you can fit in it...The 33 is larger than my LowePro CompuTrekker AW, but you can carry a LOT more equipment in the LowePro by far. I also tried the 3n1 20 (didn't really care about laptop space) but it's just too tight for the Canon 5D + 24-70 2.8L. Overall, nice bag, just not quite right for me.

Comments about Kata D-3N1-33 3 in 1 Sling Backpack, Large:

I use if for photographic equipment and intend to use it for a laptop too, and occasionally for other small items, like a rain jacket

It is very well made, and versatile, three ways of wearing it on your back.

My only complaints are that:

Adjusting the dividers is tricky and it seldom works out so that the size and shape of the compartments is just right.

In the sling position ,the pack can get somewhat distorted by the weight so that closing the zipper can be difficult.

Accessing the top compartment is essentially imposible while wearing

Comments about Kata D-3N1-33 3 in 1 Sling Backpack, Large:

This camera pack is fine for holding gear but after three months of use on day hikes I think the design has several drawbacks for carrying a full load of camera gear for several hours, whether on a trail or around town.

USE: To hold gear when I am primarily out to take pictures. I've used it around town, on trail hikes and on off-trail bushwhacks. I use a D7000 and have a mixture of pro, semipro and consumer lenses designed for both DX and FX.

PROS: The camera storage compartment is designed well and is easily configured into a variety of options. Access is good. I particularly like having side access both sides of the pack. The other compartments are also useful. The tripod attachment is a smart design and works well. I'm now trying to retrofit it onto another pack.

CONS: The shoulder strap design is awkward (probably because of the complications caused by trying to have a sling/pack hybrid design). More importantly, there's no sternum strap. The lack of a sternum strap means this doesn't carry a full load of gear without sagging and pulling. it's also difficult to adjust and the extra material on the straps gets in the way. I've tried to solve this with a velcro strap I use to provide chest support across the straps, but the bottom line is loading this pack with a DSLR, three lenses and other gear is more than it can comfortably handle.

BOTTOM LINE: This is probably fine for around town, lightly loaded. I'm using it now for storage, having moved to Clik Elite packs for real trail use.

Comments about Kata D-3N1-33 3 in 1 Sling Backpack, Large:

I've had this backpack for a month and I like how I can use it as a sling or regular backpack. The quick access to the camera makes this bag a winner. I've used Lowepro, Tamrac and Thinktank which are good, but this Kara 3n1-33 is a pleasure to use and is carry-on acceptable on airlines. My Nikon D300 with 70-200 lense fits nicely. KATA please keep producing this bag.

Comments about Kata D-3N1-33 3 in 1 Sling Backpack, Large:

I kept looking for the formula: Camera + laptop in many brands and backpacks shapes until I came across a Kata model that could be used as sling one and bring it to the front to access the camera from a side zipper! awesome idea... I checked it out but saw the 3N1-33 which included the Laptop too... I thought it was a bit big but it works as intended. The Camera area is big enough to include +3 lenses, flash and anything else your heart desires to protect your valuable equipment.