Photography by Tom Zeman - REVIEW: ThinkTank Urban Disguise 40

I’d had been using a Tamrac 5605 Pro 5 bag for walk around shooting, and it worked extremely well. Prior to a recent trip, I realized I was going to need something that would hold everything the 5605 does, plus an additional camera body. I decided to try the ThinkTank Urban Disguise 40.

Like the Airport Addicted, this bag is very impressively made with a no-nonsense, low key black exterior. It has nice dimensions and a slim depth, that are very similar to the Tamrac 5605, except turned ninety degrees. “Perfect,” I thought. An extra body in a bag about the same size.

Unfortunately, it didn’t quite work out that way. Despite its write-up on the ThinkTank website, the bag is oddly proportioned. It’s too shallow to fit a camera sideways on the inside, and even if you could, it wouldn’t leave any room for lenses or other stuff. There are two expandable pockets under the main flap that you can slide two bodies into. But the pockets only hold the bodies (without lenses), and when used this way, they bulge alarmingly causing the bag to swell to twice its previous size. It all makes for a very awkward package, and there is no provision for carrying a camera with the lens on.

I really wanted to like this bag, because it is beautifully made, but I can’t for the life of me figure out who it’s made for. I think you could use it with a smaller, consumer sized camera internally, but a pro sized SLR won’t fit. Using the pockets is unwieldy and not really very conducive to shooting.

Right now the bag is in a closet. It was too nice to send back, but I can’t figure out what to do with it…

You can find more information and order ThinkTank products at www.thinktankphoto.com.