Gadget Warezhouse

It’s time for another camera bag review, but with a few differences. First, it’s our first camera backpack review. Second, I actually bought this bag for myself to use, and have given it a good workout over the last month or so. And three, I’ll give you the conclusion right now: If you’re in the market for a camera backpack, buy the Kata 3N1 (three in one. Get it?). It’s not too expensive, it has some great features and it comes in three sizes. Better still, it looks good. So good that the lady even said the rain cover looks cool, and you know how she normally hates nerdwear.

To find out why, read on. Warning: Lots of pictures.

The name 3N1 comes from the three different strap configurations. This bag is the 3N1 20, the middle-sized model. Here it is in standard backpack mode. Even fully loaded this is comfortable enough to wear for hours without feeling it. You can see the padded back, under which the straps can be slid when not in use, and the two hip pads (color coded, more on that in a moment). There is also a thin but effective enough waist strap.

Here the straps are crossed. You can also opt for a sling configuration which just uses one shoulder. Either way, from here you can swing the bag around from back to front and access the main section through the side pockets. If you’re using the red strap (right shoulder) you should pack your camera on the side with the red hip pad.

Pull the clip and open pops the pocket. Both zippers pull open as you do this.

This is what you see. That’s a Nikon 𐱜 with a large-ish lens and metal lens hood, and there’s plenty of room. This is the exact orientation you’ll find when you have slung the bag around to your front. You can get at your camera in a few seconds.

Also inside the pocket is this pouch, which velcros into place and can hold memory cards. It’s handy, I guess, but there are better places for the cards.

This is the same compartment when empty. The yellow inserts can be put almost anywhere, but in practice you can’t stray too much from the standard layout if you want to use the bag as it is meant to be used. The flash is a huge SB900, which runs all the way through the bag but fits fine.

And here is the almost standard layout. If the flash were smaller I would have space at the top to add another lens, and there is in fact a spare yellow divider I’m not using here. Look close and you’ll see a small lip at the bottom of the opening. This is enough to stop things falling out.

These are the side pockets on the upper section. They expand with a dart in the zipper section and have a mesh pocket inside. You can slip in filters or, as in the picture above, something bigger like a flash diffuser. The outside of these pockets is padded.

This is possibly the best part of the whole bag. It’s a zippered section up top which can be used for anything you like, including more lenses and other kit. But because it is separate it’s ideal for all the other junk you don’t want to mix with the camera gear: Cellphones, notebooks, headphones, books, anything. There is an internal zipper so the compartment can be joined to the rest of the bag, but if you’re that short on space buy the bigger model.

This strap lets you mount the bag on a trolley to roll it along, but the bag is so light there’s really very little point.

Finally, the rain cover, which folds into an integrated pouch and doubles as a handy bit of padding for small lenses. The bright yellow color is smart, too, keeping you visible in dull gray weather.

To sum up, the 3N1 is probably my favorite bag I have. It works well for storage and lugging lots of kit but is also very easy to work out of, and that top section means I don’t have to carry my personal junk elsewhere. It’s comfortable and very light when empty, especially in comparison to the Lowepro bags we’ve tested, which are so well padded as to be heavy.

Downsides? A small chest strap would be nice, although in crossover mode it would get in the way. A mesh water bottle pocket on the outside would also be welcome, as would a few extra strips of velcro on the inside for attaching dividers. But these are small gripes. Like I said, if you’re looking for a backpack camera bag, you won’t go wrong with this one. $100.

Product page [Kata]

See Also:

• Hands-On with LowePro’s Quick-Action Toploader Bag
• Make It: Stealth Camera Bag
• Hands On With Lowepro’s ‘Stealth’ Camera Bag
• Three Of The Best Camera Bags You Can Buy
• Hands on With the Lomo Sidekick Camera Bag

BeautyMeter, the app which managed to sneak “child pornography” onto the iPhone, has been pulled from the iTunes App Store.

The application lets users upload pictures of themselves and then other people vote on their face, body and clothes (or lack thereof). The internet was set afire yesterday when it appeared that a 15-year-old girl had uploaded a snap of herself, clearly showing nipples and “partially nude at the bottom” as our own prudish Brian Chen put it yesterday. Probably as a direct consequence, the application is no longer available for download.

The problems for Apple are clear. By setting itself up as a guardian of the store, Apple can’t win. Any time a controversial application is approved, or non-allowed elements are snuck into an application post-approval, Apple is blamed. If these apps are pulled ahead of time, Apple is called out as an evil censor.

In this case, we think that nudity is the only problem. First, if the photo in question was uploaded by the girl herself, who is committing a crime? Second, I have friends who have browsed enough porn sites to know that the ages are almost always revised down. It might say 15 on the page, but that doesn’t mean that it’s true.

See Also:

• Porn Comes to the iTunes App Store
• Child Porn Is Apple’s Latest iPhone Headache
• Apple: No Porn Allowed in iPhone’s App Store
• E-Reader iPhone App Rejected Because Users Can Download Kama Sutra …

Matthias Ries has come up with an ingenious solution for carrying water bottles on bikes, especially for the accessory-phobic fixed-gear rider. The Bottleclip is a standard sized screw cap and a snap-on clip combined into one small plastic chunk. Screw in almost any normal PET water bottle and it hangs from the top-tube of the bike. It might not be quite as convenient as grabbing a bottle from a proper cage, but it is a lot easier to fit and won’t spoil your fixie’s lines when not being used.

It’s simple and cheap looking enough to find its way onto a counter-top display in your local bike shop. We’d like to see a version which could also hold a D-lock to the frame as you ride.

Matthias Ries: New Work [Design Boom]

China’s Spring Airlines has a problem. It doesn’t have enough planes to meet demand for its flights. And while it has ordered more planes, it has another solution: standing flights: “for a lower price, passengers should be able to get on a plane like catching a bus, with no seat, no luggage consignment, no food, no water,” said Spring’s president Wang Zhenghua. It will still be, he insists, “very convenient.”

By herding passengers onto the plane like cattle, the airline will be able to squeeze on 40% more people. They will still have to wear safety belts, however, although it sounds like they’ll be strapped in somewhat uncomfortably. “It’s just like bar stools,” Spring’s Zhang Wuan told China’s CCTV.”The safety belt is the most important thing. It will still be fastened around the waist.”

This doesn’t actually sound too bad, especially if it means that seated passengers could also stand up and stretch their legs without being constantly harassed by flight attendants brutally wielding trolleys. The plan is still in the baby stages, though, and Spring is considering whether to submit the idea to China’s regulators.

Airline To Ask To Stand Passengers In Aisle [Sky]

Photo: lrargerich/Flickr

A new application from AT&T brings voice activated, turn-by-turn navigation to the iPhone. That’s right, AT&T. Now you know that, take a guess as to how you might be paying for this application. A free “thank you” download to iPhone owners? No. An expensive but one-time payment of around $50? Nope.

AT&T, greedy-guts that it is, will charge you $10 per month for a rather pedestrian (ahem) GPS application, which makes it, along with Sirius Radio, one of the first apps to make use of the new in-application payments allowed in iPhone OS 3.

So what, exactly, do you get if you pay AT&T yet another $10 a month for your iPhone? First, the app is kind of voice activated: You can set a destination by talking to the unit, which is arguably the time you need voice control the least — at the beginning of a journey. The maps scroll by in 3D, as you’d expect, and there are voice instructions which issue from the iPhone. You also get routing around traffic problems and can search for nearby ATMs and the like.

Is it worth it? Well, you can buy a $40 (2 x $20) pair of apps that cover the whole of North America and do essentially the same thing without the monthly fee. But the up-to date maps and info it might make it worth $10 per month for many people. The problem, though, is that it’s AT&T, so this just looks like more money grabbing from the telco overlord.

Product page [iTunes]