Video

Thanks for watching, always nice when people find the video helpful.

Very good overall, what with global happenings in the last year I’ve only been able to take one flight with the bag and I experienced no issues, obviously your mileage may vary but i took it carry on no problem.

Glad I could help you with your decision, I haven’t been disappointed so I hope you have as good an experience as I have.

The materials are excellent, and overall it’s a very good bag. However if you don’t need the photography specific features then I don’t think there’s any advantage over a quality hiking bag from deuter or osprey, both of which have excellent bags for less money and since they don’t need the rear opening, they’re actually more comfortable for long hikes.

@@georgekelenyphotography4311 thank you!

Really glad you’re having a good experience. A lot of filters have a colour cast (Lee are famously blue) so I certainly think ease of use and sharpness are more important. If you want perfect colours the I would take a shot with a grey care after you put the filter on and as long as you’re shooting with a fixed white balance and in RAW then you should be able to correct it pretty much perfectly in LR or capture one.

Hi, I don’t actually have the lens or camera you are referring to, but based on the dimensions of the lens I can say no it won’t fit in either the mirrorless or medium DSLR core units. You will need ether the large DSLR core or the extra large DV core, which fit in the x50 and x70 bags. Their longest dimensions are 37 and 46 cm’s respectively, and there are more specification on shimodas website if you want to measure your kit to see if it will fit.

@@georgekelenyphotography4311 Thanks you so much for your answer! I want a X50 with a XL core, but acording to the web page it dont fit, only the large dslr :(

Hi Sara, I have taken the bag on a plane but I didn’t actually attempt this, which is an answer of sorts I suppose. If I recall correctly the width and depth off the bag would probably allow it to be inserted under a plane seat. But the height would mean that at best you would have absolutely no leg room at all, and more than likely the cabin crew would ask you to stow it anyway. The camera cube probably would fit under the seat but do bear in mind that the cube is entirely open on one side and the cover that comes with the bag has no padding, so your gear is essentially exposed on one side. Hope this helps.

Thanks so much! It was fun to make and I’m glad you enjoyed it.

Hi, just to be clear I don’t have a pro max size phone to test any of this properly so this is all hypothetical. Assuming you mean an iPhone 12 pro max? The 12 pro max dimensions are 160.8mm and 78.1mm, so my answer is, probably? The pocket defiantly seems to be deep enough, the width would be tight but looked like it would just about fit. This is without any case on, so even a light skin case would potentially make it too wide to fit. I think it would definitely fit in the expandable pocket on the other shoulder strap but this will offer a lot less protection. Have you had a look at the Plus shoulder straps on shimodas website? I don’t have these so I haven’t measured them or anything, but on the website it says these have larger pockets for bigger phones.

@@georgekelenyphotography4311 hi i ve just receved nine shimoda iphone 12 pro Max fit perfectly but with bumper official Apple it fit but its tight thx

That’s great, I’m glad it fits, hope you enjoy the bag :)

@@georgekelenyphotography4311 its increíble my Best bah ever !!

Yeah I was really pleased to see that when Fuji announced it, it’s a great lens

I haven’t actually tried to do this when I’ve been on a plane, but from experience with other bags I’m fairly confident in saying that The x30 will not fit under an airline seat. You might be able to stuff half of it in but I’m pretty sure that the rest of the bag would stick out so much that you would have zero leg room and the flight attendants would ask you to put it in the overhead locker. If its only the camera gear that you’re concerned about then I think the camera cube itself would probably fit under the seat. Just be aware that the cover that comes for the camera cube is not padded and offered zero protection for the gear on the one side of the cube that is open. So you would definitely want to be careful when putting it under the seat. Ultimately if fitting your camera bag under the plane seat is a priority for you then I would suggest maybe looking at the wandrd prvke 21 or some of the smaller Mindshift bags. I don’t have personal experience using either so I can’t say for certain that they would fit, but they would probably have more of a chance than the shimoda

That’s the exact scenario I was in, and precisely why I made this video so I’m really glad it was helpful! And yes, it was extremely frustrating, so thanks for being understanding

Obviously it depends on your specific load out but as long as you’re willing to travel light I would say yes. Depending on how you pack things around the camera cube, there’s about 15lts of space in the main compartment so this should be plenty so long as you’re travelling light.

Sounds like a great set up, have fun!

Awesome, I hope you like it as much as I do :)

@@georgekelenyphotography4311 k

Well you want both :). I only have the 10-24 but if you're going to have just one lens then I would actually suggest the 16-80. 16 (24mm equivalent) is already wide enough for general purpose landscape etc, and the extra reach makes it really versatile. It's also weather sealed. That said if you already have other lenses to cover the longer focal lengths, then 10mm really does open up some interesting possibilities for compositions that just don't work otherwise. If you know that you're going to get both in the long run and you're really asking which to get first, I would say the 16-80 because its newer. You never know when fuji might update the 10-24 but the 16-80 will probably stay relevant for a while.

It’s been a while since I checked the website but I think the 3 peak variant is only offered in the polarisers and the variable ND’s. Not sure what the reason for this might be. The filter in the video is a 2 peak one.

@@georgekelenyphotography4311 My bad. You did mention the ratings at the end. I don't know why they don't have the 3 peak rating in the basic NDs, maybe we'll see that eventually? Also, the SCHOTT glass is also available in the 3 peak UV filter. My wife and I both have 3 and 2 peak UV, ND, and polarizing Gobe filters and we're both super happy with them. My only complaint is that the action of the polarizing filter is a little stiff. Not really a big deal though. Cheers

Thanks, that’s amazing. And thanks for letting me know. It’s really good to hear that other people are having similar experiences because it reassured me that there isn’t serious sample variation. Really not sure how Gobe are getting this quality at this price point. Lee should be worried lol 🙂

Thanks for watching, have fun with it! If you have Instagram feel free to tag me in what you create, it’d be cool seeing what people do with it. (@georgekeleny)

Thanks for commenting, my fiancé travels with a 30L and I was always amazed how much she could carry. It’s part of why I was confident choosing the X30. The 7L expansion does come in handy though :)

I’m afraid the only answer I can give to that is a tentative ‘maybe’. The width and height of the mirrorless and DSLR core unites are the same, however the DSLR unit is 4 cm deeper. It is also around 2 cm deeper than the internal dimensions of the x30. So, maybe, I think I’ve seen others saying that it does fit, however I cannot confirm that and I’m afraid I can’t recall who I saw saying it. I would say that if it does fit then you probably won’t be able to fit much in the front pocket and you may find that the side access doesn’t function properly. Good luck and let me know how it turns out if you decide to risk it.

No the filter tested here is a fixed 10 stop filter. Gobe do make variable ND filters however I have not had any experience with these. Un fortunately variable and fixed ND filters work in very different ways so I can’t say if the image quality seen here would apply to their variable ND filters.

Hi Geoff, the internal depth is certainly greater than the mirrorless ICU, but only a bit. I’m not sure why this is, the mirrorless ICU is the only one that Shimoda officially says will go in the X30. I have seen some people saying that the medium DSLR unit will fit, however i have not been able to confirm this as I can’t try it myself. If it did fit I would imagine that the side access probably wouldn’t work very smoothly due the the opening not lining up very well. Bear in mind that the main compartment can intrude into the front pocket so if you use a larger core unit then you might not be able to fit much in the front pocket. The laptop sleeve does protrude into the main compartment as well so you are right to consider this. A very quick measurement from the seam at the front of the bag to the one at the back suggests that the 15.5 cm figure from shimoda is roughly accurate. If you can I would recommend testing this in a store before you spend any money. You could also try contacting shimoda directly. Thanks for commenting, glad you enjoyed the video 🙂

Thanks for the reply George My problem is I live overseas so don’t have the option of testing one. I have left 3 messages but have yet to hear back from them

Thanks, it’s appreciated 🙂

I can’t really help there, I know that some photographers use inserts in other bags. Tenba’s Bring Your Own Bag line of inserts at good for this. The only problem with using the shi mods insert for this is that there is no protective way to close the opening. The designs uses that back panel of the bag to prevent gear falling out of the insert and the insert cover that comes with the bag is very the. And not designed to be protective. So unless the the insert fits into the bag very snugly I would worry about gear falling out and being damaged.

@@georgekelenyphotography4311 OK. So 98 € for an insert that is not even protective (price of the mirrorless middle core unit in Europe). When I tell you all the brands make a lot of money on those inserts! I'll look at that Bring Your Own Bag options, and see if any one of them can be fit in the X30 with about the same size and content as Shimoda's mirrorless middle core unit, which in any case are not available yet in Europe. But it would have to have side access, which I doubt Tenba (after seing their video) would have.

The Shimoda insert is very protective, more rigid and crush proof than anything else I’ve seen, however it is designed to be used in the shimoda bags and not on its own or in other bags. It is something I would like to see improved in the future but for now it’s just the way they designed it. If you need an insert with side access and will work in multiple bags maybe look at wandrd (www.wandrd.com/collections/accessories). They do sell inserts separately but I would suggest finding a shop that stocks them so you can try it in the shimoda because I don’t know for sure if it would fit.

Great insight, George! I don’t think their will be any shop selling those in France. So I’ll look at precise measurements.

Thanks Pierre, the inserts do give you a lot of options when it comes to how you carry your gear. The X30 has the fewest options but I think there are still about 3 or 4 different ways you can set it up. I think a lot of the weight in the insert is the aluminium frame, so definitely a trade off between weight and protection. I hope you can get the insert soon and enjoy the bag! 🙂

Thank you!

Glad you liked it. Unfortunately not, I don’t think I’ve even seen one in a shop so I’m afraid I can’t help with that one.

George Keleny Photography no worries - a bit of recon I think :)

Thanks so much, glad you liked it!

Great to hear! I think you’ll be very pleased. I successfully took it on two separate budget airlines with no problem.

No need to be rude. This is very valuable content by itself and the darkness does not take away much from it.

did you? he mentions in the beginning that natural lighting wasn't working for him

That’s great! Let us know how you like it

Thanks, really glad you found it useful :)

Glad it was helpful! I had the same confusion, figured this was the clearest way to sort it out. Thanks for the comment!

Awesome, glad it was useful! I’ve had good use out of it so far.

Thanks, I’ll be putting out a more detailed review in the near future, after using it on some trips and hikes.

Yeah there were some exposure issues with this video. I’ll be doing a full review around the end of March where I’ll do some more close up shots of the bag. Thanks for the feedback.