I own some of Peak Design products, including 2 sling bags, some camera straps, and clips. The craftsmanship and material of their products are always top notches and I was never worried. The only factor in buying their product or not was DESIGN. If you read about my previous camera bags review, you know I am always chasing a perfect camera backpack, and the mission is never-ending.
Peak Design Everyday Backpack version 1 was very attractive and yet I was not convinced to buy one. Although the function matched most of my needs, the top cover pushes me away, because it was not a complete seal cover. Moisture and dust would go inside the bag. I was also not a fan of its outlook. This year, Peak Design release the version 2 as well as the ZIP version, and the ZIP one ringed my bell.
The function of ZIP is the same as the previous everyday backpack, except for some minor differences and the capacity. The first thing caught my eyes are ZIP's new outlook design, four all-around zip fully seal the whole bag. With all the advantages of the Everyday Backpack, and ease the negative of it, ZIP seems a good buy for me. I ordered it once it releases, took it to a 2 weeks trip, several weekend hiking and some city-walkings. I would like to share some good and bad about the bad.
LOOKS
This may be subjective, but the Peak Design Everyday Backpack zip is my cup of tea. I like the smooth and simple look. The color option is also great. As mention, the material of the bag is also very good. One note for the material is that it is kind of dust-magnet, although it is easy to clean up by just a wet towel.
taking the backpack to hiking
the material of the bag is dust-magnet
DESIGN and FUNCTIONALITY
The most important part of a camera backpack. This bag match 90% of my needs. Weather seal, durable, customizable compartment, side access (which is a must for me), while I wish there's a small zip pocket in the should strap for my phone. One of the best things excels all other camera backpack is the 3 big handles around the bag. It is so easy to pick up the bag and it feels balanced when holding the bag by the handle. I could easily take out my gears from any angle, which is a big win for shooting in the wild.
COMFORT
In Short: NOT comfortable for long usage. This should be the disadvantage for most of Peak Design Products. The guys in Peak Design consider so many little details, they somehow failed in the comfortability department. The should strap are soft, yet seems too narrow to distribute weight well. The straps are also too close to each other and cause negative feelings even I am only a thin-body person. If you are a big guy, this bag will defiantly be made you feel bad. On a weekend hike with my 5Dmk4, Mavic2Pro, and a bottle of water in the backpack, I felt pain in my should and upper back. On another hike, I only took my Drone and water, it didn't cause me pain though. Comparing my Shimoda Explore 40L with even more gears and stuff, I could feel tired but not pain in the same trail.
Packing these already made my should pain
CONCLUSION
Peak Design Everyday Backpack ZIP fulfilled most of my checklist, it is so good in the functionality and design, but fail to be a perfect backpack due to its comfortability. This is a great backpack for one day shooting with casual usage. If you need to be full gear and tons of action, I would recommend for Shimoda backpack series. My chasing of prefect camera backpack is still on going~
If you interested in the equipment I used, please check the links below:
- Shimoda Action X30 Backpack ----- https://amzn.to/2SJXdwC
- Peak Design Tripod ----- https://amzn.to/2IajlhD
- Peak Design Everyday Backpack Zip ----- https://amzn.to/33IEAQ1
- Canon 5D Mark IV ----- https://amzn.to/2SJXz6q
- DJI Mavic 2 Pro ----- https://amzn.to/33IKaC3
- GoPro Max ----- https://amzn.to/3nxqPvs
- Manfrotto PIXI Mini Tripod ----- https://amzn.to/2SECuKI