After getting my D50 I was pretty skint but still needed a bag.  After a bit of hunting past all the normal cheap bags I found one by UK supplier [Red Snapper][redsnapperuk] that seemed to fit the bill.

The Verso bag offers 2 modes, it can be used as either a back pack or a shoulder bag.  This combined with the low price made it stand out from the crowd and was quickly ordered.

Delivery was pretty fast, and the bag arrived in a great big thick plastic bag which was perfectly adequate for the task.  Once open I discovered a problem when I went to attach the strap while in shoulder mode.  The spring inside one of the clips pinged off and wouldn’t go back in, no matter how hard I tried to persuade it to.  A quick email to Joe at RS and I was promised a new strap in the next post.  It arrived a day later, 1st class post.  That’s service.

The main compartment is reasonably sized with 3 dividers in an H pattern that can be moved on velcro strips.  I can fit in my D50 with a lens fitted on one side, the other lens and a flash in the middle and either my op/tech strap or 2nd SLR (Nikon D40x) in the other side.  So plenty of room unless your lens collection is comprised of big aperture and long lenses .  The padding is pretty thick and takes knocks reasonably well.

Shoulder bag mode

Initially I used the bag mostly in shoulder bag mode as I didn’t have much stuff to put in it.  While this was fine initially I soon started to find issues with this.

As the top half folds down and zips into the lid it makes it very heavy and ungainly to use. It also means that all the pockets and clips are all tucked away meaning you can’t use them.  This was soon  a big issue for me and so I swapped to backpack mode.

Backpack Mode

Once in backpack mode the bag is usable at it’s full potential.  By opening up this top you gain a large internal section with 3 pockets, 2 external zip pockets, a velcro pocket, a tripod holder, waterproof cover and of course 2 shoulder straps.

The lid now opened up gives a nice roomy compartment with a few little pockets which I stuff things like wires and a card reader in. You can easily fit something like a pack lunch or a rain coat in here.

On the outside you have 2 reasonably roomy zip pockets which have room to take 2 batteries and some AAs in one side and a memory card case in the other.  There’s a flat velcro lidded pouch which I use to store a note book and pen in, not sure what else you could fit other than maybe a memory card case.

The tripod/monopod strap is quite a clever design.  After undoing a zip you can pull out a “cup” on a tether for the feet and then at the top of the bag is a elasticated clip to hold the tripod.  It works well and stops the tripod opening up while on your back.  It does however stick out a bit and I have hit things with it on more than  one occasion.

The bag also includes a waterproof cover.  While I haven’t had to see if it’s really waterproof it does fit well and is reversible silver and black, if you want to stand out or be discrete.

There is one reasonably large issue though: The shoulder straps can slip undone.  There’s no “lump” on the end of the webbing which means on a couple of occasions I have had the webbing fall of the shoulder strap.  This doesn’t happen any more so I assume the weight of the bag has set the position but it would be a trivial fix by Red Snapper.

Conclusion

In shoulder bag mode it’s not worth the money.  There’s just not enough space to put things in when a proper shoulder bag will have pockets galore.

Once opened up the bag really becomes worth it’s purchase price.  Okay your never going to fit a load of big lenses in here, but it’s not designed for  that.  For users who want a bag that will take a reasonable amount of gear and still have room for some lunch or new DLR owners with basic kit, this bag is ideal.