I often find myself going on camping trips, cross country skiing, hiking, etc.. and wanting to take along my camera. I have taken along my camera but end up sticking it in my backpack. I have tried various solutions. Wrapping it in an unused jacket, letting it ‘float’ inside the backpack, wearing it around my neck, and putting it in a fanny pack (waist bag).
All of these options worked but they all had problems. Having the camera around my neck was very convenient and abled me to take pictures quickly, but the camera was very exposed and if I fell it would get wet, snowy, or possibly break.
Putting it in the backpack wether in an unused clothing item or free floating works well but makes the camera hard to access. If you are going to take along a camera on a trip you should have it available to use. If it isn’t, you wont’ end up using it.
The fanny pack worked well but the one I had wasn’t very well sized, was uncomfortable to have around the waist when I had a back pack waist strap in addition and wasn’t well protected.
Enter the Think Tank Holster 20 
. This pack has been great. I have used it now on a couple trips and have been quite impressed. I ended up buying the 20 series holster but they also make 3 other sizes in various lengths. I chose the 20 because it holds the 24-70 perfectly, with the holster extended you can fit the 24-70 with the lens hood on, or the 70-200 2.8 with the lens hood reversed. Oh yeah, I have also tried the lowepro holster type bag but found it way to bulky. I wanted somthing that would hold the camera give it protection and NOTHING ELSE. I can put batteries, extra lenses, flashes, memory cards etc etc in my backpack. I just wanted the camera to be accesable.
I used the holster with the Think Tank Digital Holster Chest Harness to hold the holster in front of my while my backpack was on my back. My last trip was cross country skiing. I was a little anxious as to how the holster would feel, but actually, when I wasn’t thinking about it, I didn’t feel the camera on my chest at all. It moved very well with my body and was very comfortable. If I found anything uncomfortable I was wearing it was my backpack.
The holster has a side pocket which I used to store my gps tracker and a battery. A rain cover is included but the material seems to be quite water repellent as it is. A good deal of snow fell (and melted) on the holster on my previous trips but the camera stayed snug and dry.
It is great when you can finally find a product the meets your needs. After looking / wanting a pack like this for several years, it was a great find.
– thanks to sharpley_done in this post on microstockgroup for the suggestion of a chest bag.
Thank you for this information. I too cross-country ski and have been looking for a solution to having my camera ready all the time, but need the protection for it as well. I tried some of the same solutions you have which worked, but not very well.
When cross-country skiing, you sometimes encounter cold conditions that really prohibit you from taking off your mitts, opening a fanny pack, getting out the camera and shooting. Having the pouch in front of you on your chest, just seemed like the best option. To have the camera with the lens on, ready to shoot would be ideal.
If you’re looking for a solution for a tripod while skiing, look at the Clampette. This is a small clamp that can be attached to the top of a ski pole. The clampette has a screw mount that can screw into the bottom of the camera. I use a quick release mount on top of the clampette so I can easily slide in my camera.
Hi. I like the way you write. Will you post some more articles?
thanks for the comments, i’m looking for a solution that lets me have a dslr accessible while wearing a full backpack on a multi-day hiking trip. looks like this, or the lowepro version (much cheaper as always), might work for me.
Yeah, it works very well. It gets a little warm, with a back on the front and back, if you are hiking in the heat but other than that no complaints. I have tried the Lowepro bag as well and it stuck out so far. Much farther than this Think Tank model.