Lowepro Shows Off the Slingshot 300 AW Camera Bag at the PhotoPlus Expo

At this year's PhotoPlus Expo, Lowepro came prepared to satisfy the wishes of the professional photographer.  Joining two smaller models, they added a new Slingshot 300 AW sling backpack to accomodate larger professional camera bodies with an attached long zoom lens. 

(view large image)

At last year's show, Lowepro introduced the Slingshot 100 AW and 200 AW.  With a highly functional sling design, photographers can move quickly from “carry” to “shoot”.  However, the first two bags weren’t quite large enough for professionals with larger bodies and a larger stable of lenses.  The bags also included a weatherproof cover that stows away in a hidden pouch.

Lowepro responded by introducing the Slingshot 300 AW, which is large enough to hold a “pro” camera body and five to six additional lenses, flash units, memory cards and personal accessories.  To handle the larger weight, a waist strap was added.

I stopped by Lowepro’s booth at the show to get a tour of the bag.  While it’s “just” a larger version of the previously introduced bags, they didn’t just increase the dimensions of the bag.  They paid attention to how the bag would change.  It’s going to carry more, so they added a waist strap.  Since a standard padded waist strap could get in the way in “shoot” mode, they added something as simple as a seam so that the strap would fold.  A strap acts as a zipper stop so the main pouch doesn’t open accidentally to dump your stuff.  So, overall, I was pretty impressed with the bag.

The Slingshot 300 AW has an MSRP of $129 and will start to be available, in limited quantities at first, in about 3 weeks.

(view large image)

(view large image)

(view large image)