Camera bag manufacturer Shimoda has launched its Kickstarter campaign for the Action X Camera Bags, its latest camera bag series that builds upon Shimoda’s Adventure Series. The Action X series includes three backpacks, two updated roller bags and a number of add-on accessories.
Pitched as an ‘ultra-aggressive line of camera bags and accessories,’ the Action X Series is made to withstand nearly any environment you throw at them while offering plenty of flexibility to fit your needs thanks to the internal Core Units and modular accessories.
Action X Backpacks
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| The X50 backpack is the mid-sized model that offers 50 liters of internal capacity at its smallest and up to 58 liters when the roll-top section is completely filled. |
Starting with the backpacks, Shimoda is offering three sizes: the X30, X50 and X70. These bags offer roughly the internal volume, in liters, of their respective names and offer a roll-top design that can be used to shrink or expand the internal volume as needed.
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| Rolling the top closed is a fairly straightforward process, but in the event you forget, don’t worry—Shimoda included instructions right on the bag. |
Like their Adventure Series counterparts, the bags offer a number of features, including height-adjustable and swappable shoulder straps, a 15-inch laptop sleeve on the back panel, dual carrying handles, weatherproof designs and countless straps and attachment points for attaching almost anything to the bag, be it a water bottle, tripod, helmet, skis or even a sleeping bag.
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| Tucked inside the bag is a 50ºF down-alternative sleeping bag, a single-person hammock and an insulated sleeping pad with a windbreaker jacket underneath it all. |
The most noticeable difference between the Adventure Series and Action X Series is the new roll-top design that compresses and expands to your needs. However, there’s also a new removable belt and a number of new shoulder strap options, including a trio of female-specific shoulder straps, to ensure the most comfortable fit possible.
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| This is what the bag looks like folded up with the gear from the previous picture inside. |
We were sent a pre-production X50 review unit (with a DSLR Medium Core Unit) to take original photos with for this article and test out before launch. Having spent time with Shimoda’s Adventure Series bags in the past, it’s clear from our time with the X50 backpack that Shimoda has been hard at work fixing a number of sore spots within its inaugural camera bag lineup.
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| The Core Unit’s side flap now folds neatly into a little slot on the backpack’s side access point, which makes it much easier to access a camera kit quickly without removing the bag from your back. |
The most notable improvement from our experience with the bag was the updated side access pockets. On the original Adventure Series camera bags, side access was possible, but it seemed like a bit of an afterthought. The Action X Series dramatically improves side access with the V2 Core Units and a clever little slot in the side access panel that now allows the Core Unit to open with the side access panel on the backpack, making it exponentially easier to access a camera or drone without the need to entirely remove the backpack.
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| The side access is nice, but when you need access to all of your gear, this is how you’ll get it. |
The roll-top design of the Action X Series also proved to be a nice change of pace from the Adventure Series. Not only does it clear up clutter on the top of the bag compared to the Adventure Series, it was also beneficial when we needed to shrink or expand the internal storage depending on what gear we were carrying with us on a given day.
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| The shoulder straps attached to our X50 pre-production model were the standard straps. Also available is a padded strap and three different female-specific straps with thoughtful contours and padding location. |
We didn’t get to test out any of the new female-specific shoulder strap designs or the padded ‘Plus’ shoulder straps, but just having the option to swap out shoulder straps is a welcomed feature that very few other camera backpacks offer.
Updated Roller Bags
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In addition to new backpacks, Shimoda has also launched updated roller bags: the Carry On and a new DV (Digital Video) version. The Carry On is essentially the same as the previous roller Shimoda offered, but improves durability and adds new 100mm wheels, which provide more clearance from the ground and are both smoother and quieter than the first-generation roller bags. The new DV version is identical to its Carry On counterpart, but larger in each dimension to offer more real estate when carrying larger video equipment and/or super telephoto lenses.
Core Units
As with Shimoda’s adventure series, the new Action X Camera Bags work alongside Shimoda’s Core Units to protect camera gear inside the bag and make it easy to transfer gear from one bag to another or from a backpack to a roller bag. The updated Core Units come in five sizes: Mirrorless Medium, DSLR Medium, DSLR Large, DV Large and DV Extra Large. Shimoda has provided the below graphic to show what bags are compatible with the different Core Unit sizes.
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Aside from the new side-access functionality, the V2 Core Units are essentially identical to the first generation units, aside from the addition of two larger sizes.
Accessories
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| The Top Loader accessory is large enough to carry a camera body and lens or a small drone kit. |
In addition to new bags and updated Core Units, Shimoda has also added a few new accessories, including a new Top Loader bag for smaller kits, a 4 Panel Wrap for organizing cables and a Stuff Sack Kit for compressing clothes and other gear.
Wrapping up
Shimoda has already surpassed its $ 30K goal on Kickstarter. There are countless kit variations available through Kickstarter, but the basic X30 Starter Kit — which includes the backpack, a Medium Mirrorless Core Unit and a Rain Cover — starts at $ 250. Prices go up from there depending on the size of bag you want and the Core Units and accessories you want alongside the bags.
The first backpacks are expected to ship December 2019 to ‘Anywhere in the world.’
Disclaimer: Remember to do your research with any crowdfunding project. DPReview does its best to share only the projects that look legitimate and come from reliable creators, but as with any crowdfunded campaign, there’s always the risk of the product or service never coming to fruition.
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