My first review for this blog is for the Lowepro Slingshot 302AW. Its an update to the very popular Slingshot 300AW. When I spoke to Tim in Focus held at the Birmingham NEC, he explained how they took some of the suggestions from Lowepro users and added some features that had been suggested. I think this is a great way to evolve your products, and build a relationship with your customers by letting them help you design what they actually want, so well done to all at Lowepro for that.
Ok back to the 302, before I have even unpacked it, I can see an update through the plastic packaging that I know from my own experience with my 300AW it was crying out for. The tripod logo I can see surely means at last a way of attaching a tripod to the slingshot. I tried to adapt my 300 myself unsuccessfully, either the tripod tipped or twisted from side to side or just felt awkward. More about this feature later.
First impressions out of the packaging are that the 302 looks slightly boxier than its predecessor, although still compact, amazing considering the amount of space that is inside, if it is anything like my old 300. I could pretty much pack a whole shoots worth of kit into that bag, which probably contributed to its eventual demise. It still has the single strap that goes over your right shoulder, unfortunately, if you so wished, you cannot 'sling' this bag over the opposite shoulder, so if you have loaded it up and are hiking to a shoot, if your shoulder starts aching you can't swap. That said, the Slingshot 202 and 302 both come with a very stable belt system that fits around your waist and helps stabilise the bag when being worn and relieves some of the stress from the shoulder. Another thing I like about the Lowepro brand is that for large guys like me, they are always generous with their belt systems and I have had no trouble getting them to fit !
Ok, back to the tripod logo, on the 'underside' of the bag, the bit when you 'Sling' the bag around to rest on your stomach, there is a velcro opening just underneath the logo, when opened this reveals a pouch that holds the feet of your tripod when pulled out. Just above the logo are 2 retaining woven straps that I assume hold two of your tripod legs. Further up the bag is a click lock retainer strap that holds the top of your tripod. All in all, the three points of securing hold your tripod securely without it twisting or getting in the way. (Photo to follow of tripod fitted). This feature will be so useful to me when i'm out in the field photographing wildlife etc, and on such a compact backpack the design guys did a great job of incorporating it.
The older 300 had a front pocket, which unzipped all the way around the top, this did in the past, result in me losing some kit from it, usually batteries etc, if I didn't remember not to unzip it all the way, a new feature of the pocket on the 302 is that the zip only unzips 3/4 of the way around, so if it is in the Sling position, your batteries SHOULD stay where they are meant to stay. Inside the pocket you have various pouches to secure your small kit items even more, so you shouldn't have any more problems losing bits, everything should have a home.
A completely new feature is a small zip pocket on the outside of the top compartment. I hadnt thought about this before and can see many uses for it now its there, including keeping car keys or a wallet or phone etc.
The top compartment is slightly different, the netted pocket inside is now on the bag side of it rather than the flap, with a smaller zip pocket now being on the flap. I have to say I quite liked the big netted pocket that was on the flap of the 300, and always managed to stuff it with useful stuff like black bin bags etc for lying down on the wet ground with and small clips. With the netted pocket being at the back of the top compartment now, once full of the rest of the 'useful' gear we all carry around, this pocket is not as accessible anymore and I can see me having to unpack the top compartment when I want my black bag if I were to carry on keeping it in there. The zip pocket on the flap will of course fit a folded up bin bag in, but with being a more secure smaller type of pocket I can see different uses for it, such as my membership cards for my local WWT centre, pens, compass etc. 
Another change is the lens cleaning cloth that used to be on the bottom of the opening as you opened up the side of the bag, this has now been moved to the left of the opening on the side wall out of the way. Im not sure it makes much difference practically, I never had any problem using the old one, but all the same I do quite like it on the side now instead. The small netted pouch that it is stored in is also useful for stowing my tripod head foot plates in etc, and being on the side, the camera now doesn't have to sit on them.
With the bag now fully opened, you begin to appreciate that the 302 is on par with the Tardis, its deep, has plenty of compartments and with the flap opening only unzipped partially, your camera can slide in and out without disturbing the rest of your gear, and this is where the Slingshot comes into its own and shows its uniqueness. This is the reason I like the Slingshots, to just pull the bag around, still attached to you with the strap, open up the flap, which is prevented from opening all the way by the placement of a couple of plastic click locks, and pull your camera out ready to use, is brilliant. Quite often I will leave the bag resting on my stomach and use it to rest my elbows on when steadying the camera for a shot.
The inside of the flap has two small pockets for 2 memory cards, this is the one thing about the new 302 that I think has gone backwards, the 300 had a very capable memory card pocket that held many cards, from memory I think this was around 4 or 6. I can get by with fewer cards and in all honesty I never filled the card slots up completely anyway, but to my mind this was a needless change in the wrong direction, although they do look slightly more aesthetically pleasing. I think this pocket can be redesigned to incorporate the memory cards and the lens cleaning cloth in one, this would mean that you had slightly more maneuverability with the cloth out, the cloths are stitched into the netted pocket to prevent them from being lost. Don't get me wrong, there is plenty enough of the cloth to be useful as it is, I just think it would be better incorporated with the card pocket in the lid.
Finally the biggest test of all, will it fit my kit in it as ably as the 300, have Lowepro in their wisdom decided to shrink the bag in anyway. Im pleased to say that they didn't, and that the 302 is as Tardis like as its predecessor. Here I have a Canon 40D with a 70-200 2.8 L lens with the lens hood mounted backwards fitted, the camera has a battery grip fitted too and there is still some headroom !. The lens fits the width of the bag absolutely fine. On a side note, with my 300 I had a canon 100-400 fitted to my camera and it had more than enough space, so the likelihood is that this version will do too, although I no longer have that lens to test. On the left side I have a Canon 580ex II and 2 Nikon SB-26's fitting fairly comfortably, on the right side I have another Canon 580ex II and a Canon 24-70 2.8 L lens with a small space in between for other oddments. The top compartment is roomy and will easily fit my ST-E2 transmitter, my RF602 wireless kit plus extra batteries and cables PLUS more stuff. 
All in all, Lowepro have done a fine job of updating an already good bag. I look forward to using the new features, especially the Tripod mount. I almost forgot to mention that on the back of the bag at the bottom, is another velcro opening. This houses the Lowepro trademark All Weather (the AW bit in 302AW) cover that can be pulled out and stretched over the outside of the bag should you get caught in a downpour, which I find I do frequently ! Something to do with my British nationality I think ! The quality of Lowepro is exceptional, everything is stitched with thousands of pounds worth of your gear in mind, its very strong. The long zip on the main flap is the smoothest easiest one handed operation you could ask for and no effort at all. I have no problem trusting my hard earned gear to the bag, which at the end of the day is all you ask of your backpack.Thanks for looking, please come back soon to read another review.
All the best
Damon
