- Product:
- Urban Disguise 35 (company site, Amazon
)
- What’s Good:
- Well built, Lots of room, Comfortable to carry
- What’s Bad:
- Not much. (some may find the pockets too narrow)
This is a continuation of my review of the Think Tank Urban Disguise 50 (UD50) and how it compares to the slightly smaller Urban Disguise 35 (UD35). They are very similar bags but yet feel very different in use.
The company description:
The Urban Disguise shoulder bags allow you to travel in style and protect your valuable equipment without attracting attention to yourself as a photographer. Holds SLR and up to a 13.3” laptop. This is the perfect size for photographers on the go, since it holds up to a 13.3” laptop with a standard-size SLR or up to a 10” laptop with a Pro-size SLR with lens attached. It features a large opening for easy access to equipment and can be attached to a roller. It can be used as a backpack with the Shoulder Harness (sold separately).
Two months ago, I had mentioned in my UD50 review that I had an interest in comparing the UD50 with the new UD35 for size and weight. On paper, the newly released UD35 model seemed to fit the equipment I own better. Since receiving my UD35 about 45 days ago, I have carried it everywhere and the results have been mostly positive.
The ThinkTank Urban Disguise 35 is another high quality camera/laptop bag similar in size but positioned vertically. (Why vertically? I don't know.) The pockets are the same but more narrow and much deeper.
For this review, I'm mostly going to focus on the differences between the two styles.
Official sizes: (the L and H have been switched to adjust for how they are carried)
UD35: 10.5” L x 13.5” H x 6.0” D (1 lb 8 oz - 2 lbs 6 oz)
UD50: 11.0” H x 15.0” L x 6.0” D (2 lbs 10 oz - 3lbs 10 oz)
It's very hard to judge the size by comparing numbers and reading reviews. (here are the two bags compared next to a 70-200 lens) The overall quick summary: The UD35 compares in size but feels much smaller in use. The much deeper and more narrower pockets will make it slightly more challenging to retrieve items buried at the bottom but for me, this has not yet been a problem.
What will it hold?
Let's get the laptop out of the say and say it's an absolute perfect fit for a 13" Macbook but take notice if you use a pro SLR or a battery grip, you'll need to adjust the dividers leaving room for only a 10" laptop. This also introduces the requirement to remove the camera, before the laptop.
It will hold almost everything the UD50 will hold but with the one difference on how accessible items are. How difficult it is to access items at the bottom will depend on how you setup the dividers. ThinkTank seems to ship more then enough extra custom dividers with the products I have purchased to date.
The photo above shows the UD35 and the UD50 with a Canon EF 70-200 f4 IS lens with the hood on.
With the switch to the vertical standing bag, the UD35 only has one SLR fold out pouch instead of two in the front. This is something I personally have never used but the extra space is there if I ever needed it.
I had mentioned that the UD50 would just hold my Giottos table tripod if the center column was removed. The UD35 is more then tall enough to carry a small table top tripod. It's not a full size tripod but it's reasonable.
Comfort
In general, I feel the UD35 bag feels better to carry around. It is also is a much better candidate for the Shoulder Strap for backpack use. The UD50 looks a little too much like a strapped on brief case.
Conclusion
Which one do I like better? Flip a coin. They are both amazingly well built bags and I love using them both but I have been enjoying the UD35 more. It's simply a better fit for my day-to-day travel needs. I'm only 5'8" 140lbs and the UD50 tends to look big on me.
View my full Flickr set of photos.
Search all of Flickr for photos.
Free Gift Offer
If you would like to buy anything from Think Tank Photo directly, they have provided this coupon code AP-296 that will allow you to select a free gift at checkout for orders over $50.
Comments
Eugene Rencontres - June 25, 2009 7:27 am
This is a great backpack! I am using the UD35 and it's just perfect for what I need...which is space for my laptop and my camera.
Joffrey Petit - September 9, 2009 6:19 am
This bag looks really cool. I am using the UD35 and I have ne awful bag which is not confortable. I am thinking to buy this on.Thank you
Stephen Bay - March 27, 2010 9:57 pm
Agree with the reviewer. The urban disguise is an extremely well designed and well built bag. My only comment would be that the entire line (except for the 35) looks like a laptop bag and would still invite theft.
After I got my UD35, think tank came out with a new bag line called the Retrospective which seems like a better disguise than the UD line (looks less like it stores valuable stuff). I might have gone for that bag instead if it was available.
Anyway, I also wrote up a review of theurban disguise 35.