In My Bag: F-Stop Kenti

I’ve been using the range of bags from f-stop for a few years now, more often than not with an appetite for going big. Owning some of their larger backpacks, I was content to fill them to the brim, usually carrying far more than I needed during a shoot. With a ‘big is best’ mindset it’s true that I felt prepared for most eventualities, however mobility was often sacrificed which is something I found limiting in certain situations. When out skiing I feel that I can be out all day (and often am) with a larger pack. Switch sports to say cycling or running though and the more cumbersome design starts to bother me.I’ve found myself becoming somewhat of a bag geek over the last three years, largely down to having a front row seat in watching trail running explode onto the scene. The art of running in mountains is nothing new, but the recent development of running apparel is nothing short of miraculous. In a few small years running bags have adopted a vest like stance, with these super lightweight bags able to carry a surprising amount of gear, all whilst acting like an item of clothing rather than backpack.An example of this can be seen below. This is a picture of my running bag for this years UTMB, a trail running race that circumnavigates Mont Blanc from the town of Chamonix. With a heavily enforced gear list, runners are required to carry all of this (minus the dog, and the Haribo) for the duration of the event.One week after this race I was set to head to Corsica to document a trail running project. Although I wouldn’t be running, I had to be prepared to move very quickly over very steep terrain with a couple of 1,000m climbs in order to get into shooting position. Having had the luxury of spending a summer using running bags, I wanted to make sure that I adopted a similar mindset towards choosing a camera bag for my time in Corsica. The guys over at f-stop had provided me with a Kenti earlier in the summer and I was eager to put it to the test during this project.Whats in my f-stop Kenti then?

• Canon 1d Mark IV
• Canon 70-200 f4 IS
• Canon 85 1.8
• Canon 45 2.8 TS-E
• Sigma 15 fisheye
• Tamron 28-75 (not pictured)
• Canon 1.4x extender
• Think Tank card wallet
• Sony RX100
• f-stop rain cover
• Rocket blower
• Penknife
• iPad
• iPhone
• Energy gels
• Disposable poncho
• Petzl Nao headlamp
• The North Face windstopper
• The North Face fleece
• The North Face waterproof trousers
• 2 x 500ml soft flasks
• Down jacket

Trust me here, that’s a hell of a lot of stuff for such a small formed bag. The key feature of the Kenti is how the camera is held. Most f-stop bags have a rear accessed Internal Camera Unit (ICU), where you take off the bag and open the panel that rests against the carriers back. Unlike these packs, the Kenti has access from both sides. The bottom 2/3 of the pack is effectively one customisable compartment, with a central divider and access on both sides.As you can see in the above shot, compared with the traditional ICU format, the Kenti allows you to store a camera in one side along with a few lenses on the other. This has been designed with photographers who are using smaller bodied cameras in mind, although with a little customisation I was able to fit the Canon 1d attached with the 70-200 in one side, and my lenses (minus the 1.4x extender) in the other. If i’m honest, fitting a pro camera body into the bag was a bit of a squeeze but it still worked.Taking up the additional space is a roll down top compartment, allowing for some clothing and other accessories to fit in. The role down aspect is great as it allows you to slightly increase or descries the volume of the bag depending on what is inside. Going back to talk of trail running, the clothing that outdoor companies are producing right now are so lightweight that they take up very little space in your bag. I found it little trouble to get the clothes pictured into the bag, along with the remaining items. For hydration, the bag does come with a compartment where you can store a water bladder, but like most of the running community i’ve ventured away from bladders to soft flasks. In the image with my running bag you can see where the soft flasks slot in on the straps around chest height. I’m able to drink without touching the flask and when empty they take up no space. I’d love to see this incorporated into future camera bags and for this trip I found that storing them in the roll down compartment was a little too nerve-wracking (with the fear of them leaking on top of my camera equipment).Once on, the bag feels really comfortable and you notice the smaller form factor almost immediately. The project I was on involved shooting over a period of 36 hours, climbing, running and generally being on my feet most of the time. Of course, this bag ladened with a bunch of lenses and a heavy camera body was not going to a dream to move quickly with, but the camera fitted snugly inside and I felt comfortable to run without any of my gear jumping around.This image above shows the bag next to it’s much bigger brother, the Satori EXP. It’s hard to gauge a full comparison from this shot as the Satori was nowhere near full. Still, you get an idea of the difference.Back from the trip and I was straight off to Photokina. Checking out some of the modern camera systems got me thinking how far we could go with camera bags when mobility is key. I’m convinced that technology has come along far enough where i’d be able to shoot an expedition style trip on a camera like the Sony a7r with complete faith in the image quality that the camera provides.  Yes, I would require a couple of lenses along with the body, but it is much lighter and smaller than the 1 series line from Canon. If i’ve already ran distances over 160km carrying a Sony RX100 point & shoot in my running vest, then surely the time will come where something like a camera bag/vest could be possible, blurring the lines between photographer and athlete even more.A niche market perhaps? In the meantime I’m more than happy with the portability of the f-stop Kenti. Through talking with a number of other photographers who’ve experienced this bag, maybe we’re moving away from that ‘big is best’ mentality and are looking for that perfect smaller partner.Thanks to Bastien for the images of me.