Vanguard Up Rise 45 review by Steve Davison

We recently held a competition on David Fleet Photography with a great prize of a Vanguard Up-rise 45 camera backpack up for grabs courtesy of Vanguard.

The lucky winner was Steve Davison, a landscape photographer based in Yorkshire and after an extended amount of time with his new Up-rise 45 he has been kind enough to provide with his Vanguard Up Rise 45 review which I thought would be helpful to anyone considering a new camera bag.

 

Here’s what he had to say:

“I’ve given the Vanguard Up-rise 45 backpack a thorough test through a few of the Dales in all sorts of weather conditions and pleasingly there have been no leaks, which is a great start for a very stylish looking backpack.

The generous padding, cushions the small of my back and shoulder blades well so for comfort of carrying its scores a resounding success. The strapping is easy to adjust and holds the backpack comfortably in place.

 

Whilst access to all storage pockets is not a rapid exercise, compared to other bags, it is easy and multiple access to the main gear storage pocket is a really clever idea. The main access is cunningly concealed in the cushioned “Air System” padding on the rear. The pockets themselves are very generous in size and comfortably held all the gear I would wish to take with me on a field trip, that being a Canon 50D body and 3 or 4 lenses.

External support pockets and concealed strapping unzip to connect a tripod. The expandable front panel allows extra gear to be accommodated inside and maps, timetables and notepads fit easily in the front pocket. A large extra pocket at the top is plenty big enough for smaller gear such as filters, batteries and flash units.

A rain cover is concealed in one of the padding pockets on the back. The Up-Rise 45 was found to be well constructed and stood up well to some rigorous treatment. The construction materials are sound and clean easily. In 3 months of testing I have had no cause for concern with any part of its construction with all zips, straps and buckles standing up well.”

Want even more storage space?

So it sounds like a resounding thumbs up for the Vanguard Up-Rise 45 backpack from Steve. It’s great to hear what a photographer thinks of kit like this after thoroughly testing it out for an extended period of time.

Steve did provide one note which may interest to those of you who like to take your laptops with you on trips:

 

“Whilst I am extremely grateful for the generosity of David Fleet Photography and Vanguard in providing me with this prize, I have just one misgiving. Had I been buying it myself I would have bought the Up-Rise 48 which would have housed my laptop. Having said that, if you don’t need to carry a laptop with you I can thoroughly recommend this product”

Thanks again to Steve for his feedback , you can check out his website Steve Davison Photography

If you found this review helpful then please purchase your Vanguard equipment or anything else for that matter through our links as the small commission we get helps to keep the site running, it doesn’t cost you a penny more.