What’s up guys, Sagi here and welcome to another Tech Gear Talk. Today we’re going to check out a great-looking bag from Tenba, the DNA 15 Backpack. This is a beautiful camera and everyday carry bag. I’m still doing a bunch of camera reviews and I’m always looking at different camera bags that are versatile and can accommodate different dslr and mirrorless setups. I usually like to carry a drone with me as well, so that’s usually a factor for me. Let’s take a look at what this bag can do.
Overall this is a super well made bag. It combines the features of a camera bag with what I would be looking for in an everyday carry. It has a removable configurable padded insert that can fit a mirrorless camera with 3-4 lenses or a Full DSLR with 2-3 lenses, up to a 70-200mm.
The DNA 15 Backpack has an expandable main compartment and has a padded laptop sleeve that can hold laptops up to a 15” macbook pro.
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Tenba DNA 15 Messenger Bag
The look of the back of the bag is just as nice. We’ll touch more on this later but the shoulder straps, padding and hardwear all look really high-end. The bag only comes in this color in this nice dark, graphite color.
The padded camera insert can be used in the bottom of the bag, which is how I used it. I like the easy access and the fact that this compartment only partially opens so I don’t have to worry about anything falling out. If you want to use the bottom compartment for something else, you can remove the padded insert and place it inside the rolltop compartment.
I do want to mention that the divider between the two compartments is removable. So if what you want is just one very large compartment, you can easily remove it, and then have access to the large compartment from the top and the front. Moving on, the front flap of the bag unzips again to reveal an excellent accessory compartment. This is great spot for your phone, an external power source, filters, additional camera batteries, etc. And then, on the outside of the bag, there is another large zipper pocket.
Because of the rolltop design, the bag can significantly increase the capacity by simply unrolling the top compartment and then extending the top strap. Rolled down the bag is approximately 17L and rolled up about 21L. What’s great about this is that I can always make this bag just the right size for what I have, without having an oversized bag. Also, because of the rolltop design, the bag remains water repellent even when extended which is a great feature.
I really, really like the Fidlock magnetic clip. It’s a super clever and secure design. You can easily unclip it with one hand, and the simply secure it by holding one part of the clip next to the other. The magnet immediately snaps shut. So basically, there is no way to have it “sort of” locked. As soon as the magnets get close to each other, BOOM! And I tried really hard to pull them apart… nope.
But to undo it, you just slide them, and you’re good. I was using this like a fidget cube for a while until people started looking at me funny.
Let’s start out by looking at the padded insert. There are several dividers that can be set up to support a large number of setups. I mentioned before that you can easily pack a mirrorless camera with 3-4 lenses, or a DSLR with 2-3 lenses, all the way up to a 70-200. I also found that I could easily pack my drone and remote together with a full DSLR with a 24-70 2.8. The dividers are nice and padded, and definitely protect you gear and prevent the different components from banging against each other.
The main compartment is quite big, especially if you have the bag unrolled so you can fit a ton of stuff in there. At times when I’m testing multiple cameras, I actually put my drone there so that the cameras remain in the padded insert. The large compartment has 3 additional small pockets where you can just put some miscellaneous items.
As far as laptops go, you can fit up to a 15” MacBook Pro if you have one. I prefer smaller laptops so I have my 13” Dell XPS. The laptop compartment is really nice and is padded both on the back and the portion facing the bag itself.
The rolltop compartment does not have padding on the front or the sides so I would probably not use it for photography or video equipment without additional protection. For my drones, I always buy these small carrying cases so I don’t have to worry about them getting damaged. Again, I like that this compartment is separate from the equipment so that if I have food, or anything like that, I’m not too worried about
Alright, let’s move on to the front panel. We can unzip this first zipper to reveal a large accessory compartment. This is great for the million little things you need to carry with you on a shoot or on a daily commute. There are 2 elastic compartments and a larger zipper, and I wish there was a smaller compartment for memory cards. I end up putting them in the business card holder and they have never come out of there. There is also the bonus of being able to see that they are there.
My guess is that Tenba is assuming that you’re using a card wallet where you store all of your cards rather than having them loose in the bag, but either way works for me. There is a large internal zipper compartment and finally another quick access zippered compartment on the front.
I have zero worries about this bag tearing, and this bag has held up to some serious abuse. At the bottom, we have a TPU-coated , abrasion resistant body armor base panel. This help protect the bottom of the backpack. The weather resistance continues on to the zippers. The camera pocket uses YKK #8 inverse coil, and the front pocket uses #5. The zipper pulls are nice and big and the zippers operate really smoothly, even when the bag is packed.
Something that I noticed about the construction of the bag is that it holds its shape, even when fully unrolled. This makes it really easy to pack because I don’t have to keep unrolling it and it doesn’t collapse on itself. There is also a piece of material on the front and back of the rolltop which keeps that area firm and makes rolling and unrolling really easy.
I’m extremely happy with the build quality of the bag. I’ve had it for a couple of months and have taken it on several day trips. When I test equipment, I’m not particularly careful with it because I want to see how it holds up to real life use. But I just wiped this bag down and it pretty much looks new.
Let’s move on to the shoulder straps, which you can see are attached with about an inch and a half of hypalon. This is part of Tenba’s Pivot-Fit system which is designed to automatically adjust to different body types and then give each person a more custom fit.
As far as comfort, these straps are awesome! They have a nice structure to them and are soft and firm. On the inside, you’ll see the ventilating 3D Air Mesh so that the straps still allow air to flow through even when they are against the body.
The same 3D air mesh is also used on the back of the pack, on each shoulder blade and the lower back areas. There are also these large air flow channels, so again, the bag is not flat against your back. This makes a huge difference on those hot days and again, makes this bag super comfortable. There is a top handle which makes it convenient quickly grab the bag when it’s when the shoulder straps are easily accessible.
And finally, most of the hardware is anodized aluminum with a nice matte black finish which give those area some cool, tactical accents. And the rest of the clips are make of a lightweight plastic.
First, both sides of the sternum straps can slide up and down on this channel so that you can position the strap at whatever level feels most comfortable to you. There is also an elastic band on the back which keeps things nice and tight.
There are also accessory loops on each strap where you can clip any type of pouch or accessory that you want to have easily accessible. Alright, let’s move on to the side pockets. On the one side, we have a mesh pocket with an elastic band that will hold a nice sized water bottle. On the other side, there is a reinforced side pocket and a security strap which can be used to carry a tripod or even a small slider.
The next feature I want to go over is the waist belt which is pretty nice. It doesn’t have any padding but it’s wide enough to easily take the weight off of your shoulders. I love the fact that it’s removable since most of the time I don’t use it and would rather not have it attached.
The bag also comes with WeatherWarp rain cover that is completely removable and reversible. The one side is silver which is designed to reflect the sun, and the other side is black for all those mission impossible stealth approaches. Whether you end up using this or not, I love that Tenba included this rather than making you have to buy it as an add-on. It’s what I expect from a premium bag.
The last feature I want to talk about is the luggage strap that lets you slide the backpack on top of rolling luggage.
The rolltop design is modern and elegant, and I super appreciate having the flexibility to add capacity and at the same time keep my bag water resistant. This is an outstandingly comfortable bag, the shoulder straps and the back of the bag are nicely padded and were great even with a fully packed bag being carried all day. So if you’re looking for a versatile, durable and comfortable camera and everyday backpack give the Tenba DNA 15 Backpack a look.
It currently retails for $199.95, and I’ll put links in the description to where you can pick it up and at the same time help support my channel for free. I really hope I was able to give you a good overview of the Tenba DNA 15 Backpack. If I did, please let me know by giving this video thumbs up, tweet it, share it, and if you haven’t yet, hit that subscribe and notification buttons.
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Good luck and see you soon.
Love the look but prefer a messenger camera bag?
Tenba DNA 8 Messenger Bag
Tenba DNA 10 Messenger Bag
Tenba DNA 11 Messenger Bag
Tenba DNA 15 Messenger Bag
