Peak Design Camera Cube (Medium)

Product Information

The 31L version accommodates a Medium camera cube, which can house a pro-size DSLR with a lens attached and 3-4 lenses, or 3 small lenses and a flash. If you decide to use the rest of the capacity for camera gear too, you can obviously take much more, but it won’t be well protected by the cube. You can also carry a 15-inch laptop.

To top it all off, everything is made from 100% recycled post-consumer material! In fact, Peak Design are climate neutral certified, aiming to reduce emissions from within its operations and supply chain.Camera inserts are complemented with a zipper closure, such as YKK zippers, for additional protection, with weatherproofed outer shells. Obviously, some of the criteria are highly subjective. Whether a camera ‘looks cool’ or not was left to me and my wife to decide, and you may not agree with our taste! Camera inserts are modular in design, meaning you can tailor the layout to fit your specific cameras and lenses, along with accessories such as memory cards and spare batteries. WANDRD named the lineup “Essential,” which explains why there’s very little styling—there’s a much deeper focus on functionality. In relation to the more practical aspects of the design, the usual quality materials are here. The main fabric is 420D Robic Nylon with a weather-resistant coating, the same fabric used on their Toiletry Bag. Holding the flaps in place are YKK zippers, and they’re as smooth and reliable as we’ve come to know them. WANDRD Essential Deep Camera Cube | The zippers are dependable YKKs. The camera compartment comes with a customisable divider system and a storm-flap to keep out rain and dust, which adds to its all-weather (AW) rating. Everything seems well made and like it will hold together well.

The top access panel combined with the fact that the Tario stands up on its own makes it pretty easy to get at your DSLR. Everything works well on this bag, from the zippers to the straps. No complaints. This bag wasn’t really designed to carry much. It’ll fit a mirrorless with an attached lens, one extra lens (under 100mm), and few accessories like a GoPro or a hard drive. It doesn’t officially have room for a laptop, but you can get around that by unzipping the divider between the compartments on one side and slipping it down through the top. It does, however, fit an 8″ tablet in a separate sleeve. Ian from Shimoda sent me the Explore to review, and I was immediately impressed. You could see that a ton of thought had gone into it, which isn’t surprising given his past experience at F-Stop Gear and his love for both photography and mountaineering.Most camera cubes, regardless of manufacturer share the design philosophy of a pseudo rectangular open space, which is further broken up by adjustable dividers and Peak Design’s Camera Cubes are no different. The shelf divider is by far the most flexible of the protective flex-fold dividers as it not only can be used to customize the internal space of the camera cube, but includes a fold down shelf allowing for example a small prime lens to be stored on top of another small prime lens without them actually touching each other.

The camera compartment is a bit small and doesn’t really hold much. If you’re a 3-lens user like I am then you’ll probably be a bit disappointed. It also doesn’t hold larger cameras or larger lenses. For example, it won’t fit the Canon EOS 1D/1Ds/1Dx Mark II, Nikon D4/D4s/D5 and Sony Alpha A850/A900. But, for those who go mirrorless and/or don’t need more than 2 lenses, you’ll probably be fine. If you do use a regular bag, you should ensure it is protected by using any clothing you have in the bag to encase the camera and prevent it from jolting around. If you're only carrying around your camera, you can skip the camera bag, but I strongly recommend a strap. It's a safe way to keep your camera secure to your body, so if it fumbles through your fingers it won't hit the ground. Ditch the strap from your camera manufacturer; these alternatives are better. The XSmall and Small sizes are ideal for mirrorless cameras, drones and light camera carry you can use on their own. Simply attach a Peak Design Slide Strap to the external carry attachment points and you’re good to go.If you’d rather not spend money on a camera bag insert for your mirrorless or DSLR camera, spare batteries, and other accessories, you can make your own bag on a budget. An update from the Alpha Pro, Langly updated the Globetrotter to have a front-loading panel, making it much easier to access the camera compartment than in previous versions. The laptop is also easy to access. Still, there’s only one access point for the camera and you still have to (mostly) take the bag off to get to it. Capacity: 16L | Dimensions: 10.83 x 7.28 x 18.50 in (27.5 x 18.5 x 47 cm) | Weight: 1.78 lbs (0.8 kg)

Then, I tried to put the Cube in my normal hard travel luggage. It fit like a glove, and I had quite a bit of room to put clothes and other accessories (non-photographic) in that case. Success! You can see the Medium Cube all zipped up in the lower left of my travel case. I had the whole right side available for my other travel needs and a bit of space at the top left.

At 60L, there’s not a lot that can’t fit in the Shimoda Explore! Depending on what modular unit you insert, prepare to shoulder every item of camera kit you own…and then some.