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Thinktank Rotation 360

Reviews	Views	Date of last review
1	652	Sun December 30, 2007

Recommended By	Average Price	Average Rating
100% of reviewers	£180.00	10.0

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Find the lowest price for the Thinktank Rotation 360

Description:

This amazing new backpack lets you access the gear inside of the backpack without taking if off of your back. This allows you the comfort of a backpack with the convenience and accessibility of a beltpack. The rotation360º exponentially increases your ability to access your gear as quickly as possible, with the least amount of effort to change lenses and access accessories. Then, just as easily, you can rotate the belt back back into the backpack and out of the way.

Rotation360° vs. Regular Backpacks
A truism of photo backpacks is that the "disadvantage of a backpack is that you have to take if off of your body to access your photo equipment." The Rotation360° allows you to access your photo gear by rotating a belt pack through a hole in the bottom of the backpack, and return it again when desired, without having to take off the backpack.

Supporting a Beltpack
Photographers complain that if you carry a beltpack only, it causes stress on either the front of your body or on your back, depending on where you carry it. With the Rotation360° you do not have to carry an unsupported beltpack on the front or back of your body for hours, which can cause pain. The advantage of the Rotation360° is that it allows you to access your gear in the beltpack only when you need it.

Locking Mechanism
There is a locking mechanism on the side of the belt that when pulled allows the beltpack to be rotated to the front of the body. As long as the backpack is being worn, there is no need to re-lock the beltpack, allowing you to rotate it in and out easily. Before taking the backpack off, be sure to lock the beltpack in place.

Accessing Your Equipment - FAST
To capture the moment when shooting pictures, switching lenses quickly is critical. Access your gear and take a picture within seconds without having to remove your backpack. When the side lock is released, the belt pack can be rotated to the front of the body quickly.

Changing Lenses and Equipment
The distinct advantage of SLR's is that you can change lenses for specific reasons ¬ thus, this heightens the need to be able to change lenses and other accessories very quickly. The Rotation360° allows for the changing of lenses with unprecedented speed, and for returning the beltpack into the backpack, if desired.

Rail on the Backpack
Either side of the backpack has “rails” that can be used to add additional Modulus components, such as the Lens Changers, to expand the backpack's capacity. These extra bags can be used to carry water bottles, extra photo equipment, cell phones, and other miscellaneous items.

Backpack is Self Standing. Beltpack Used Separately.
One very important feature is that the backpack is self standing, with or without the beltpack.
Another very important feature is that the beltpack can be used separately from the backpack itself, so if you do not need the backpack, you need take only the beltpack.

Supporting ONE SLR
Photographers constantly complain about the weight of the cameras on their shoulders or around their necks. With the Rotation360°attachment system, all of the weight is distributed on the shoulder straps, not on your neck or on one shoulder.

There is too much information about this bag to include here. Have a look for yourself at http://www.rotation360.com/breaking_barriers.html

Keywords:

Thinktank rotation 360 bag

Author

VinnyP
Forum Regular

Registered: February 2006
Location: Surbiton Surrey
Posts: 643

Review Date: Sun December 30, 2007

Would you recommend the product? Yes | Price you paid?: £180.00 | Rating: 10

Pros:	Versatile, well made brilliant design comfortable
Cons:	Pretty pricey especially if you add modular accessories.

Right off the bat this is going to take a while so sorry. Camera bags are strange things, I suspect many people are like me and have different needs for different situations and indeed different bags for different situations. This bag goes a long way to address this but beware it’s flexibility comes from the way it works with the various accessories. The whole Thinktank range is well made and designed but that is reflected in the price you can end up spending a lot of money (I’ll talk about the ones I find useful as I go along).

The bag has it’s own website with videos and diagrams galore which go a long way to explaining how the bag works.

The rotation 360 is unique, so far as I have found, it gives you the benefits of a rucksack with the advantages of a belt-pack allowing access to a lot of the kit whilst it is still on your back. It is very well made and in it’s basic form doesn’t scream camera bag which is a big plus. It comes with a host of straps and really loads and loads of dividers, far more than any other camera bag I have ever seen you really could divide every compartment down to the point where it would hold individual DSLR batteries. But I am sure it could be adapted to cope with any photographic situation. The straps that are included are 2 for attaching a tripod, a camera strap that is compatible with the shoulder straps (more on this later) a tie down strap to secure a slung camera and a roll type sling which attaches to the base of the bag that means you could carry anything from a jacket to a bed roll or folding chair.

The key is that it is a rigid backpack with a belt-pack that locks in place.

In use it feels like a good quality day sack with waist belt and chest strap. It’s comfortable and distributes weight really well. The locking mechanism is simple but effective; when you unlock it you can easily rotate the lower portion of the rucksack to the front. This is like a largish belt-pack that can hold a normal DSLR (non pro no extra grip) with a standard zoom attached and another lens and small accessories. I use it almost always with a D300 with 17-55 attached and then the second lens depending on the situation often the 10-20 Sigma. It has a small external zip pocket and 2 elastic mesh pockets. There is a smaller pouch on the belt that is useful for filters tcons or a 50mm.

The upper half of the bag is like a regular backpack. This easily holds a small flask, sandwiches a waterproof and a small first aid kit. With the dividers it holds a pro SLR a 70-200 and a strobe or a large selection of smaller lenses. Below this is fold out organiser pouch which is a good size for all the little extras we carry batteries, memory cards cleaning kits etc. On each side of the backpack and on the belt are attachment points for the think tank modular accessories. These are the key to the configuration options. It the belt-pack and all the modular accessories have seam sealed rainproof covers. Finally there is an external mesh pocket that doubles as base for smaller tripod legs, it also has a drop down pouch for a full sized tripod. The belt pack can be used on it’s own and comes with a shoulder strap for extra support. The rucksack has a grab strap and a rigid base that means it can usefully stand upright.

The supplied camera strap has 2 rings that can attach to the shoulder straps this is a revelation, it is so comfortable and actually helps balance the load. If you buy a second one then you can hang 1 body from each strap. This is the best solution I have ever seen for 2 bodies.

I easily adapted my favourite op/tech strap with a couple of 25mm D rings and it is excellent. If anyone else wants to go this route which I highly recommend just drop me a PM and I’ll stick a couple in the post as I had to buy a pack of 25!

For me the key is that I can use it in a number of different ways but rather than being a jack of all trades it really is master of many.

For trekking I can use it as a day-sack but carry and have access to a camera body and a couple of lenses. Supporting the camera on the straps is as I said very comfortable and stable as you walk. If I am shooting landscapes I can add a tripod. On the belt the are you thirsty holds a water bottle and a snack.
For general photography I often like a 3 zoom one body set up and a monopod. Still a daysack but this time I add the Lens changer 75 pop-down with a 70-200 on the belt and a 1.7 tcon in the pouch. The tripod straps work equally well with a monopod.
For sports/action then it gets a bit more complicated but it works really well with the aforementioned 2 body set up. On the belt a Lens changer 300 helps with lens swapping and can hold the 300. If I need to transport everything packed away then it more than copes. I also have a chimp cage that can hold the pro body, but I haven’t had cause to use it and it was probably a bad idea.
Finally for travel, as a carry on it’s ideal for camera kit and whatever. The locking zips could be a big help here. Then when I get there it can be used as above or the belt-pack on it’s own as a “bum bag” (***** pack for the US visitors) with the accessories as needed.
Here are even more ideas with pictures
I know I have really gone on but it’s hard to do this bag justice. The only downside I have is a limitation of it’s size viz no grip or pro body in the bum bag portion and the cost but it is worth it in my opinion even with the extras.

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