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Vanguard Up-Rise 48 Camera Backpack Review

By Sudhir Shivaram

 

Vanguard Up-Rise 48 Camera Backpack


Photography is not just buying your camera and lens. You need to put equal amount of study and planning to buy the accessories which includes tripods, ball heads, flash units and above all - one of the most important accessory - The camera backpack. You have so many options depending on the kind of photography you do, equipment you carry, budget, build quality, comfort level etc etc...


I recently got my hands on the Vanguard Up-Rise 48 Camera Backpack and I decided to check out and write a brief review about the bag as this many help many of you out there who are looking for a good quality bag which matches your requirement and fits in your budget.



The Up-Rise 48 has already won a number of awards and for the right reasons. Here’s my pick:

  1. -Superior Orange Interiors

  2. -The Rapid Access System

  3. -The great hide and seek tripod carrier

  4. -The hidden rain cover

  5. -Reinforced water resistance base

  6. -Expansion based on volume

  7. -Laptop compartment

  8. -Accessory Compartment


It is small enough to be easily carried on board the flight as your carry on baggage and big enough to hold a DSLR with battery grip, 3-4 lenses, flash, tripod, accessories and a laptop up to 14”. The build and quality of the bag can be easily compared to that of a LowePro bag.


Let me take you through some of the nice features of bag which I really liked along with area of improvements and additional things I would have loved to see.




The first thing which really strikes is the bright Orange interiors. The colour may look totally out of the place, but when you are out in the field and you want to find something quickly like a small CF card or similar kept in the backpack it’s easy to find it because of the contrasting colour. Most of your equipment and accessory is black in colour and there is no way you can miss finding any of these.


This is quite useful when you have to change your lens or remove the converter and the lens cap is somewhere in the backpack. If your backpack interior is black in colour like some of the other bags, it’s a bit hard to find it and chances are you get tensed thinking you have lost it in the field.


The bag has numerous padded soft velcro organizers which you can easily move around and organize the bag based on the equipments you are carrying.


One of the innovative feature is the Rapid Access System. One the side of the bag is a clip, below which is a handle that operates the zippers to have a quick side opening. This is extremely useful when you have your camera + lens in ready to shoot condition and packed in the bag. You simply open the clip, pull the handle which operates both the zip and the cover opens. You can pullout the camera / lens and start shooting. This feature is important in wildlife photography especially when you are shooting in dusty conditions during the safari.






The Up-Rise 48 also features a nice hidden tripod carrier. If you do not intend to carry a tripod, just let it hide in there.



Once you open the zip, you get the pouch out with a strap and you can easily carry a tripod along as shown below.




The Vanguard Up-Rise 48 is also equipped with a rain cover. It is nicely tucked beneath the back strap on the backside of the bag. When required you can unzip it and cover up the entire bag.




The bottom of the bag has a reinforcement which means it can take some rough use especially placing the bag on the ground out in the field a lot of time.




The other good feature of the bag is its flexibility to take in larger size equipment which occupies more volume in the bag. It has the ability to expand to provide around 2.5 inches of additional gear section of the bag. Compare the above image to the one below to see how it expands.



The final and the most useful feature is the ability to carry a 15” laptop. That compartment is well padded and the laptop fits in with ease.


The front of the bag has an accessory compartment to store documents, passports, tickets, books, magazines or anything of similar nature.





The shoulder straps are very nicely padded which is quite comfortable to carry around the backpack during long treks. It also features a breathable material on the inside which aids in making it very comfortable.


A few areas of improvements:


I faced a small issue with the front zip. There is a locking mechanism and you simply cannot pull down the zip. If you are in a hurry and try to pull down the zip, it simply wont work. You need to expand the the liner(shown in red arrows) which covers the zip and then pull down the zip. I tested this on another different model of Vanguard backpack and found the same issue.

 

The inside of the top cover could have had some pouches to store the CF cards and any small accessories. The pouches are provided in the front big compartment as shown below, but if you keep any equipment there, accessing the CF cards would be a bit tough in case of urgency.




Specs of the Backpack

  1. •Inside Dimensions(LxWxH mm): 300 x 130x 250

  2. •Outside Dimensions(LxWxH mm): 350 x 300 x 515

  3. •Weight(g): 2270

  4. •Inside Dimensions(LxWxH inches): 11 7/8 x5 1/8x 9 3/4

  5. •Outside Dimensions(LxWxH inches): 13 3/4 x 11 7/8 x 20 1/4

  6. •Weight(lbs): 5

  7. •Exterior Fabric: 600D Polyester + 230D*230D Nylon

  8. •Interior Fabric: 150D Polyester + Velvet

  9. •Capacity: One DSLR camera with grip and attached lens and accessories like tripod, 3-4 extra lenses, 15 wide screen size and tripod


Conclusion


For the tag price of around Rs 8000, the Vanguard Up-Rise 48 is an amazing backpack to carry your equipment. Some of the key innovative features like the rapid access system and the expandability helps in making sure you are ready for the shot when needed and stuff in more equipment based on your needs.


The bag is very comfortable to carry around and the small size makes it easy to store in overhead compartments on planes. Though there are areas of improvements, overall the Up-Rise 48 camera backpack is a perfect companion for any travel photographer.


A brief version of the above review has been published on Reviews42 website here.