A camera bag is a camera bag isn’t it? It’s there to do a job, simple! Well the reality is that things actually aren’t quite that simple. Believe me I’ve had more bags than hot dinners over the years and I guess I’m no different to many other photographers, that’s evident by the number of manufacturers and the amount of models that are churned out every year. But when I came across the Wotancraft Trooper I was intrigued, here’s what I found.
Who is Wotancraft?
So who is Wotancraft and what exactly is the Trooper? Wotancraft are a Taiwanese company founded in 2009 who set about manufacturing a range of camera bags along vintage military aesthetics inspired by the ethos of the Swiss Army knife. Incidentally Wotan was the Chinese God of War and the company’s principles were to use the best quality materials and reliable craftsmanship in the production of their handmade bags. Wotancraft have since developed their range to include shoulder bags, backpacks, slings and pouches and the Trooper is a one of their Shoulder bags.
A bit about me
Before I get into the detail let me give you a little background. In my work as a photographer my bag needs are different according to the genre I’m shooting. When working on Landscapes I will use a backpack because not only does the bag need to hold my camera gear but I also need to carry varying amounts of other personal and safety gear, often walking over long distances. Taking photographs is a little more considered and most often includes the use of a tripod so the whole process is deliberately quite slow. However, when shooting travel and social documentary I will be using less gear, probably lighter and with less reliance on using a tripod. Here I need quick and easy access to my gear whilst keeping it as safe as possible. In these situations, I prefer to use a shoulder bag. I shoot with the Fujifilm X Series cameras and lenses, typically with a range of zoom lenses but I do sometimes use primes which are ideal for stealthy street shooting.
What do I need from a camera (shoulder) bag?
When looking at the criteria that I set for my bags it splits into two, what I must have and what I would like.
The first requirement is that the bag must be able to hold the camera(s) and lenses plus all the range of accessories that I need on my shoots. As this can change according to the job I need a bag that can offer flexible layout options including the ability to accommodate a laptop and it must be easy to access the contents. The bag needs to protect my equipment, and whilst I admit to taking care of my gear, I hate bags that are over-padded and as a result are bulky and heavy. It must be comfortable to carry as, although I’m using the relatively small Fujifilm equipment, a body and three lenses are still not feather light when walking around a city for a day. In particular, the strap needs to be wide and have a well designed pad for shoulder protection. The material needs to be quality, preferably water resistant and it really helps if the bag doesn’t look like a camera bag avoiding the risk of attracting “undesirables” who might want a share of my gear! Although it’s a camera bag wouldn’t it be great if it could have a bit of style, perhaps useable for other things and be a bit of a head turner or conversation starter. Oh, don’t let’s forget, it needs to offer value for money, notice I didn’t say cheap – good things don’t come cheap but if I could achieve all of the above there is a price that’s worth paying.
Me and the Trooper
I have to admit I hadn’t heard of Wotancaft until recently but then I found a few mentions on Social Media and, intrigued, I dug a little deeper and researched the company and the products. I was impressed with what I saw. The Trooper looked like a bag that matched my needs, so I reached out to them and asked if they could provide a bag for me to test and review.
The Disclaimer!
Wotancraft have provided the bag for review, they haven’t paid me anything nor have they influenced my thoughts and comments.
So How did I find it?
They say first impressions count and when I took the bag out of its protective cotton dust sleeve I wasn’t disappointed. What struck me first was that the material wasn’t as shiny or as distinctly camouflage effect as I had seen in the photographs. The olive green fabric, with tan leather trim, didn’t feel like waxed cotton nor did it feel like nylon but it felt robust and lightweight. Indeed, the whole bag was lighter than other similar sized bags I have owned. In fact the bag is actually made from a 500D Cordura based fabric that is water resistant, tough, abrasion resistant and lightweight. The leather trim, vegetable tanned cowhide leather, on the straps and on the base of the bag was quality too and the whole design was very stylish and upmarket.
The shoulder pad provided was wide and well padded with latex, good enough to offer protection when carrying for a period of time. There is an elasticated expandable pocket to the front and a smaller pocket within that, ideal for carrying a wallet or phone. These pockets are hidden when the top flap is down in its normal position. At the side of the bag there are two concealed zip pockets that would easily accommodate a small lens or small water bottle, very useful. On the top of the bag there is a grab handle, again appropriately padded, and there is a zipped pocket for documents or passport, my ipad fits in there nicely too. The bag also features a luggage handle slot to place over the handle of your suitcase. The leather straps on the front flap aren’t there just for style, you could carry a thin jacket or small tripod here if you wished and though the leather was fairly shiny and new I’m sure it would soon bed in and adopt that worn, characterful look. The zinc alloy and brass strap clasps and loops together with bronze, rustproofed, YKK zippers seemed very robust and heavy duty, I would have no concerns over its ability to hold my gear safely. Overall I was very impressed with the external look and feel of the Trooper.
Let’s take a look now at the inside and this brings me to another big positive, its sheer versatility. Although you may be buying this bag with the intention of using it to hold your camera gear it can also be used as a briefcase for the office or as a general day bag to hold a variety of things according to your needs. However, I wanted it as a camera bag so the next surprise came when I opened the bag as I was presented with a range of dividers and “interior modules” designed to hold gear and offer a flexible way of laying out the bag. These holders have a special type of short hook Velcro which sticks to the inside of the bag so you can arrange them as you wish and you can change that layout if your needs change. I know some photographers have a bag into which they dump their cameras and lenses which rapidly take on a few scrapes and scratches, an appealing look to some. If you’re one of those then the ability to do just that but still have some pouches or holders to securely hold batteries, SD cards and other accessories fixed to the side of the bag would be a real benefit. For me, I’m looking at protecting my gear with the range of dividers that were provided. I found these to be very good not only in terms of their ability to protect the equipment without being too padded but also their flexibility to be able to fold the tops over creating two tiers, or a shelf onto which more gear could be placed. In terms of protection the bag is lined with a wonderfully soft medical grade micro fibre which feels really good. I found this Medium sized bag to be deceptively spacious, it was bigger than it looked from the outside and certainly had the ability to hold more gear than I needed it to.
I mentioned earlier that I also would find it useful to be able to carry a laptop, well the Medium bag can accommodate a 13” macbook and a large divider is provided that sits within the bag along the length of it and the lens dividers then fix between that and the other side of the bag with this very effective Velcro type material.
The bag itself was fairly deep and would easily accommodate a 70-200 f2.8 lens vertically. The top flap of the bag features a “sea shell” design, a round opening that closes neatly without folds or creases. Two sets of magnets in the fabric to the left and right hand side of the bag ensure that the top flap is held in place without the need to use the leather straps, a great security measure which works really well - it would be difficult not to notice someone trying to access your bag. The contents of the bag are also protected from the elements by the design of the bag folding over in the corners so there can be no ingress of rain or snow.
Click on the images for full size and scroll through
What does it hold?
This is the gear I put in the bag, though it would hold more.
Fujifilm XT3
XF10-24
XF18-55 or XF16-55
XF55-200 (it could take the XF50-140)
Batteries
SD Cards
Cleaning Cloths and brushes
Filters
Phone & iPad Mini
Please note for non Fujifilm users, a full frame DSLR and three lenses would fit easily into this bag.
My Wishlist
Although the Trooper is a very, very good bag there were some niggles or things that I would like to see, though this is of course unique to me and my style of shooting. The “sea shell” design which sees the bag folds inwards at the top is good for keeping the elements out but I did find it a little restricting in terms of accessing my gear. On the whole though I think the feature is good.
Whilst one of the main benefits of the bag is its versatility my needs are for a layout to be used for camera gear and to have the option of carrying a laptop. Although this can be achieved by fitting the large divider I found that switching between the two layouts with the Velcro sticking to whatever bits of the bag it could, like a limpet to a rock, was a little frustrating. It’s not a bag that I would want to be changing the layout every five minutes. I would have preferred a bigger zipped pocket on the outside at the back of the bag to take my laptop.
The bag is deep and easily accommodated my XT3 body and three zoom lenses, in fact there was some room to spare either side of the body – I used the folded dividers either side with the body and lens down resting on the dividers. I guess it’s better to have some spare space but it did seem a bit of a waste. I probably just need to spend a bit more time re-configuring the bag.
The gusseted, zipped side pockets were a nice touch and could hold a small lens, cable release, tools etc but it will only hold a small, 300ml, water bottle. It would have been nice if a more standard 500ml bottle fit or one of them was an expandable mesh pouch.
Value for Money
The Trooper Medium sells for $249 or c£200 which means it’s certainly not the cheapest bag though it’s not out of line with other similar style handmade bags. But the versatility, quality and design features, mean that this bag definitely represents good value for money and how do you put a price on one of the most stylish bags you can buy?!
In Summary
The Wotancraft Trooper is an excellent bag. It’s versatile, functional, tough, really well made and very stylish. When I assess its performance against the criteria I’m looking for and against similar competitor bags it scores very highly. The quality of the material and craftsmanship stands out, the bag can be configured for different purposes and, as a camera bag, it easily holds the gear I want it to. The various little design features only really become evident as you use the bag but they are innovative and very useful. There are only a few things that I would change and whilst the price might be a barrier for some, for those who are prepared to invest this sort of money for a bag you certainly get value for money and you’ll look the part too!
I have no hesitation in recommending this bag.
Specifications (Medium size)
Dimensions (W x D x H)
Interior: 33.5 x 12 x 25 cm
Exterior: 38 x 15 x 26 cm
Front pocket: 14 x 17 cm
Front slot: 14 x 18 cm
Back pocket: 31 x 20 cm
Left & Right side pocket access: 18 cm
weight ± 1.30 kg
Material
Vegetable tanned cowhide leather
W.A.L waxed canvas (Cordura © 500D based)
Medical grade micro-fiber lining
Zinc alloy & brass hardware, with vintage finish
Bronze YKK Zippers with rustproof coating
High-density EVA foam padding (for bag & dividers)
Latex foam padding (for shoulder pad)
Package includes
Main bag x1
Laptop/iPad divider x1
Dividers, large x2
Dividers, small x2
Detachable shoulder strap x1
Detachable shoulder pad x1
Cotton dust-proof bag x1
Price & Availability
The Trooper is available in a range of sizes XL, L, M, S , XS (mine was the M size)
The Medium bag retails at $249 and is available directly from Wotancraft
Shipping is Free and there is a 7 day Return & Refund policy – see website for more details.
Alternatively, in EU, the bag is available from Vintage 217 at a cost of €242.95 including P&P. They offer a 14 day return policy.
Other Retail partners around the world are detailed on their website.