Excellent result and congratulations!

Could we see the image please? Am very intrigued...

Any joy?

I have a lovely but no longer made "Compact AW", which is like a Magnum, or small Commercial AW. Recently acquired and is just the right size for what I want, but no dividers. Contacted Lowepro UK who, not unreasonably, said as the bag was no longer in production they had no spares... OK, can quite understand that.

Not giving up that easily, I asked around and tried the dividers from a friend's Nova 200AW which were good enough for me, although not absolutely perfect. Given the Nova 200 AW is a current product I thought there's be no problem getting any spare dividers, so you can imagine my surprise when I get this reply:

Many thanks for your enquiry. I have forwarded your request to our
warehouse to see if we have any spares for this at all. Apologies, we
have had a good look and unfortunately we do not have any at the moment.
I can keep you details on file in case we get any in the near future?

So, if anyone has had any success with Lowepro UK, I'd love to know!

Vic

If not alreasy done so, have a Google of the Pacsafe Carrysafe 100 I've just ordered: I think the fittings are metal, but there are pull-down sleeves to stop them knocking against the camera. It might not be what you want but could be worth a look?

Richard

Great idea - thanks!

Hi Bret

Thanks for that - I did email them and, although very helpful reply, they couldn't help at the moment.

It would appear that the Lowepro Compact AW DV dates back a few years, something that didn't occur to me when I received the bag, it being in as new condition.

The problem I have is that the cross-sectional size (i.e. internal height times front-back depth) is like no other current Lowepro bag I can see! The height is 19cm and depth 19.5cm - obviously could tolerate a slightly lower divider and maybe even a slightly too wide divider - but all the Nova range are too small, as is the smallest Magnum model, whilst the rest of the latter range are too big... The internal bag width is 33cm, but that's less relevant.

Apologies to others for going off-topic...

Hi Vic,

Thanks for your reply and I do agree with much of what you write. I like the Pentax strap - secure enough for me, comfort OK - but I'm not a fan of having the logo brightly emblazoned on it for all the world to see, especially in some less affluent environments.

Secondly, I use the camera on a Kaiser copystand for probably about one-third of all the exposures I take, and the strap does get in the way then. Does the strap get in the way of the shot? No, but it does manage to get awfully close to some extremely hot halogen lamps and I worry about the risk of fire.

As a relative newbie, I'm beginning to marvel at the tremendous volume of help/advice available on the forum. I may just have to start a new thread to help me find some replacement dividers for a discontinued Lowepro Compact AW DV....

Richard

Absolutely perfect!!! Just what I had in mind and the steel strands in the strap are a bonus (the 'security' aspect I had in mind was simply not dropping the 3Kg of dead weight that is my K-5 and Bigma).

I have now ordered a Pacsafe Carrysafe 100 from Menai Ski & Outdoor, through a certain auction site, for £15 (plus £3 P&P). Will let you know how I get on with it, once I've had it for a while.

Thanks to everyone for their views and useful comments.

Richard

Thanks for all your useful comments.

I have to say that safety/security must be my main priority, comfort second and an easy remove (not necessarily quick) as a distant third priority. Cost is, within the normal price of these things, largely irrelevent (the mini-karabiner idea being primarily to satisfy security, especially if using a screw-gate version).

I'm not sure that a sling-style is for me, but that's largely due to personal preference, and possibly a reluctance to try anything radically new (been in Devon for far too long...).

The Op/Tech looks good, but I may just add a couple of cable-ties when using it with a particularly heavy lens for the first few times !

[Added at edit] SmutjeUK - just spotted your comment - thanks! The arrangement you suggest looks good, too, but I'm not a fan of the sling and I generally keep a Manfrotto QR plate permanently attached to the bottom of my camera to save hunting around for it when needed for tripod/monpod. Might just be too wobbly with all that plugged in!

Very grateful for all your help.

Hi all,

I'm looking for a new strap for my Pentax DSLR, but don't feel convinced by those straps (that I've seen so far) with plastic 'quick-release' buckles won't 'quick-release' at the wrong moment and with a heavy load! Could be a very expensive mis-hap with a new K-5 and Bigma...

What I'd like is a couple of short lengths of the usual 1/2-inch webbing (4-5 inches long, say, just to keep the metalware away from the camera body) with D-rings at each end, which could then be attached using a small karabiner-type attachment, or even a dog-lead swivel perhaps, to a padded collar-piece. All of this preferably with no branding and in black to attract the least attention.

Am I being unduly worried about the quick-release buckles?

Do any manufacturers have such confidence in their products that they offer an insurance-based guarantee (perhaps covering upto £2k) against component failure of their straps?

Richard

I've bought (and still use) 16Gb cards in my K10, as well as assorted smaller cards, but am not planning to replace them when they do go belly-up as any size of card can do, at anytime. I've had a couple of cards fail on me now - both of which would be classed as reputable brands - and been unable to recover any data from them.

I've just checked and the 4Gb card in my new K-5 at the moment will store 79 shots (RAW+JPG), which is still too many too risk losing, but I seldom need more than 2-3 cards of that size for a day out. I find it's no big deal to change a card compared with the potential inconvenience of losing massive amounts of data.

Obviously if you're taking hundreds and hundreds of shots in burst mode you may have a different perspective...