Review: The New ThinkTank “TRIFECTA 8″ Mirrorless Backpack

The lower compartment has two large side flaps. The inside of the flap on the left side has three pockets that are secured with velcro flaps. Two of these pockets are made to hold memory cards and are constructed of clear plastic. The third pocket is made of a mesh fabric and is designed to hold spare camera batteries. The right side flap is the same size as the left side flap, but it does not have pockets on the inside. The lower compartment comes with four dividers: One tall vertical divider, One wide divider for the side holding the camera body or an extremely large diameter lens, and two smaller dividers for smaller lenses or gear. These dividers are held in place with velcro. In order to custom configure the position of the dividers for your specific gear you must zipper open a very large flap in the front of the bag. When closed this flap rests against the small of your back when the bag is worn on the shoulders. This design decision by Think Tank is extremely smart as it offers maximum security of the contents when you wear the bag. On the inside of the large front flap is a pocket designed to hold a computer tablet with a screen up to 8 inches. This means it will easily hold an iPad Mini, but please note a full sized iPad will not fit in a Trifecta 8.

HOW TO USE THE BAG

Because I usually hold the camera body in my right hand as I swap lenses with my left hand, I configure the bag in the following way. I put the camera body with one lens attached into the right side compartment. And I put the extra lenses into the left side compartment. When I want to shoot I remove the strap from my left shoulder and swing the bag to my right side. I then open the right side flap, remove the camera, zip up the flap and put the shoulder strap back onto my left shoulder. Now if I want to swap a lens, I remove the strap from my right shoulder, swing the bag over to my left side, zip open the flap, get the lens, swap lenses, put the unused lens into the left compartment, zip the flap closed and return the strap to my right arm. The same left compartment can also be accessed if you need a memory card or spare battery that is in the pockets of the left flap.

Now if you need to carry a tripod or a monopod, the Trifecta has a simple solution. Halfway up the back of the bag is an open top pocket made up of a stretchy spandex like material. Also on the back on a pair of nylon ribbon loops. Included with the bag is a removable strap with a quick disconnect buckle that attaches to the nylon loops. This allows you place one or two legs of a compact tripod (or an entire monopod) into the pocket and the strap holds the long item securely against the backpack. Granted this back pocket is not as theft proof as the side flaps. But the strap is pretty secure and makes it hard for the tripod to be removed without you noticing. I rarely carry a tripod, so in the back pocket I usually put a few inexpensive items that I don’t mind losing, such a small bottle of water, a compact umbrella or a cheap selfie stick (that I sometimes attach to my Ricoh Theta spherical camera).

Additionally, Think Tank includes a rain cover in a small pouch, that can protect the bag from torrential rain. It’s not something that I would usually need, but it is a nice thing to have just in case.