Customer Rating: 




Summary: Good quality, but one disappointing design weakness and company supports partisan political causes.
Comment: I just recieved this camera bag and it's about what I expected: Nothing fancy, just a well-made nylon & mesh camera bag with a couple of pockets behind a Velcro flap in front. It will suit my needs - 'still waiting on the Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ5A camera that's going in it so I can't judge the fit, but that's my fault and I expect no problems.
What is immediately disappointing is the fact that the belt loop in back, though nice and solid in itself - there's apparently a reinforcing piece of flexible plastic built into the nylon for added stiffness and strength - is only sewn at the top. The bottom of the flap is attached with just a Velcro closure with an opposing 1/2" wide nylon flap with a standard metal snap. This product bills itself as something designed to "protect your investment," and the one thing I do not want to worry about is having bag, camera and memory card with pix on it torn off of my belt via a pickpocket or a stray tree branch. It feels solid despite the detachability but... it's not something I want to have to worry about.
The mitigating factor is that for 15 clams you can't complain about the product overall.
Caveat Emptor alert: Another negative is that the included documentation states that "Lowepro Proudly Supports" four partisan, activist political organizations. They may be benign, they may be some of those frothing neo-fascist types who want to drag humanity back to the material and intellectual squalor of the pre-industrial (read: Medieval) age. 'Don't know. But I would never have purchased this product had I known that I was indirectly contributing to causes that may or may not represent the antithesis of my deepest beliefs, indeed of my very life. Buyer beware.
ADDENDUM: Aside from the flaws mentioned above, I wish I had seen Mr. Gershon's review of November 2 before I bought this thing...
I've since received my camera, which too happens to be a Panasonic DMC-TZ5, and I concur that this bag is an extremely tight fit even empty; if you add anything to the front pocket - your SD cards, f'rinstance - the bag is virtually impossible to close. Doubtlessly it would stretch with extended use, but a simple camera bag shouldn't require a "break-in period."
I'll be using a cheaper (~$7) camera bag I found at a local sporting goods store - which has ample space, a solid belt loop in back that's heavily sewn both top and bottom and has a carabiner hook to boot. Maybe I can use the Lowepro bag to carry a pack of cigarettes to my next political rally.