Even if you have a camera worth £50 or a kit worth over £10,000, the importance of a safe, sturdy camera bag or pouch can't be underestimated.

Up until around 6 years ago I'd been using a variety of different camera bags for different situations. They were all good, but I wanted one that would do everything.  My demands weren't that exhaustive; I wanted a bag that would fit my Pentax K20, three lenses of various sizes and a flash gun.  It also had to have enough space to carry a Gortex jacket, butties, a flask, a 13” Macbook Pro and a host of other bits and bobs. Not only that, but it had to be small enough to be hand luggage on a flight, comfy to carry, have quick access to the camera and be discreet, not 'Hey, look at my flash camera bag, it's got expensive equipment inside!'. See, not that much.

And that's where the Kata3N1-33 came in…..

Whilst the large top compartment holds personal gear, butties, coats etc, there are so many internal pockets that even I haven't managed to fill them yet.  A nice touch is that the entire interior is yellow, which makes it easier to find things.  The entire main compartment is completely customisable (which I'm sure is a word), with a divider system, so whatever the size of your camera and equipment you can adjust it to fit, but the best thing about the Kata 3N1-33 are the ways in which you can carry it. 

There are three different positions to carry the bag, either as a backpack with two straps, or in a sling position where the bag easily swings around from back to front giving you quick access to your camera and lenses. So what about the third, well there is also a sleeve on the back that allows you to slide it over your suitcase's extending handle; an absolutely brilliant addition for when taking it on trips abroad.

So, having lived with the Kata for around 6 years what do I think of it? 

I love it, it’s sturdy, practical and dependable.  The only damage that’s occurred are a couple of the zip's pull tags (the handle bits) have broken, so I fixed them with Sugru. 

UPDATE: Since I’ve owned it, Kata has been bought by Manfrotto, and the 3N1-33 has grown into 3N1-35 which means that it’s grown a little and has more pockets.  Even if you don't need a camera bag the size of the 3N1-35, have a look at the rest of the Manfrotto range, if they're all built to the same standards of quality to mine then you won't go wrong!

Prices:  Around £199.00, but prices do vary significantly.