This is part One of a very quick, down and dirty review of the ThinkTank Citywalker 30. I am at my office as I write this and preparing to leave later this afternoon for a four-day work/personal trip up north. I received the Citywalker 30 a few days ago and I have been using it for about a week now as my daily commuter messenger bag. These are just my initial impressions, and how I have it packed and ready to go on this trip.
The first thing I did upon opening the box is I took the huge insert out. I mean, it’s huge. If I were still shooting FX dSLR such as my D800e and my bevy of Nikon lenses it would be just about right to fit it all in, but man it would weigh a ton.
The bag is a ballistic nylon; very well made. I got the black with the blue piping/stripe which looks really sharp and I’ve received several compliments about it at the office. The interior is just huge– I’ll talk about that a bit more in the images which follow as to what’s in the slots but the second thing I did upon opening the box was to place my old Jill-E insert in. The bag dwarfs the insert but it works and doesn’t take up too much room. This short four day trip will give the bag a true workout. It’s the only one I’m taking with me! A normal trip for me involves taking all my gear in a backpack, then one or two smaller bags to swap gear as needed. Unfortunately I don’t always get to swap gear from the backpack into another smaller bag, especially if I’m running late getting to a location — Case in point, back at the end of March I was photographing some old pier and pilings on the North Carolina Coast and put my backpack down in the sand. An rogue wave grabbed the backpack and was dragging it back into the ocean! Thank goodness I had it closed tight; and, if it hadn’t been for my daughter that was shooting with me who snagged it with the tripod leg of her rig, the next wave that was coming in would have swamped the bag completely! Had I had my messenger bag over my shoulder as I normally do, this would not have happened. But luckily, catastrophe avoided!
Anyway for this short, four-day trip I decided to only pack a few folders I need for work with my Macbook Air, and as far as camera equipment goes I loaded the X-T2 with the 16mm, 23mm, 35mm and 60mm lenses, leaving behind my zooms. This is a first for me.. I love love love my 18-55 and my 55-200! I just hope I don’t miss them too much!
I also packed only one of my four battery chargers to go with the three batteries – instead of my usual eight. A polarizer, a ND filter, tripod and remote shutter release rounds out my rig.
Here are a few images of the bag, and what’s in the pockets. As I mentioned earlier, I pulled out the huge insert that came with the bag and am opting for the smaller Jill-E insert to see how this performs in the field and on the road. One thing about the original insert that I can say is that it keeps the bag much more rigid overall, but I wanted a more flatter, close to the body profile. In all honesty I think I made a (intentional) mistake in getting the Citywalker 30 as it has a compartment which will fit up to a 15″ laptop – instead of the CityWalker 10, or the 20 that only hold a small iPad or such. But, for the price of 79.00 brand new, and free shipping from B&H I couldn’t pass up the deal when this same bag sold from anywhere between 145.oo to 200.00 US just a few short months ago.
Overall, as a work bag to and from the office on a daily basis I think it’s absolutely fantastic! I can’t be happier. This weekend will be test of the CityWalker 30 as a camera bag first and foremost.
Not shown in these images is the rain pouch which comes standard, nor the ThinkTank strap where I can put my keys, or my ThinkTank Pocket Rocket memory card holder, etc.
Overall: An excellent value and a kick-butt utilitarian bag that will serve my purposes for many years to come. Roomy, safe, secure, large. Heck, if you are going away for a weekend you can probably pack some overnight clothing, a jacket and snacks in there and still have room for your gear!
This trip will be it’s first official outing as a dedicated camera bag instead of a to-from the office messenger bag. I’m very much looking forward to working with it and I’ll prepare an update when I return.
Thank you for reading.
Well now I have a good sense of the stitching of the bag, could you back up a foot and take a picture of the bag as a whole? Did you only have a macro lens available? Geez these are close.
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Hey, This weekend i’ll be posting part II and I have photos of the entire bag, in the rain. And no, I didn’t just have a macro lens… LOL. I’ll try to get some better images to post.
Thank you
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Hey bud,
Just wanted to give you a heads up and let you know I posted part II of my Citywalker 30 review. And this time, I didn’t focus so much on the stitching… 🙂
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Great review, but looks like the bag has been disco’d. At least at B&H and Adorama. Did Think Tank replace it?
thanks
Paul C
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The bag “may” have been discontinued however B&H had them on sale for like 79.00 AND free shipping. Amazon had them used for like 95.00. If you like it, I’d get one now…
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I see you found it on Amazon… Higher price? I personally don’t like shopping at B&H but for the price, couldn’t be beat.
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Hi Paul, Just wanted to let you know i posted part II of the Citywalker 30 review.
Best,
J
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Found it still on Amazon.
Paul C
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Hi Paul,
I reached out to Thinktank and they “just” discontinued the CW30. The rep said the best apples to apples comparison if you wanted a CW30 and couldn’t find it is the Urban Disguise Classic 50. But man! the price~! Ouch.
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This weekend I’ll be posting my impressions of the bag overall on a very wet trip to Maine. I will also take better images than the iPhone ones I have here, plus I’ll put back in the insert that came with the bag.
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