Benro Reebox II 300N bag review
About a year ago, I bought the Benro Reebox II 150N professional drone bag and absolutely loved it. I took it with me as I traveled to five countries, and it was a great investment. However, I wanted to start using it for work, and I ran into some problems. As a travel bag, it was great, but fitting all my work cameras and a laptop into the bag proved to be impossible. So, I ordered the bigger brother of this bag, the Benro Reebox II 300N, and it is another great bag by Benro.
The new bag is huge compared to the old smaller Benro bag.
My first impression of this bag was, “OMG… it is huge!” Maybe too big—it dwarfs the older bag, but it turns out that I need all this space, and this is a really good work bag. I have used the bag for the last three months now as I travel and work in different cities in China, and I have had no problems with it.
The build quality is really good on this bag. Lots of padding and the straps are nice and comfortable. Even when the bag is heavy, the straps never dig into your shoulders.
The huge mesh pocket is meant for a tripod and it does stretch a lot. I seldom use a tripod so I normally use it to carry a giant flask of coffee with me. I am pretty sure it could stretch to fit the size of most photo tripods easily.
The construction of this bag is extremely good and exactly the same as its smaller brother, the Benro Reebox II 150N. The bag is made out of nylon and is extremely durable and watertight. I have had to walk in a few storms in China, and I got absolutely soaked while making my way to some shelter. Even though the bag was dripping wet, all my gear was perfectly dry. The bag is made out of nylon, so it is very easy to clean. I often have to leave the bag on dirty floors in the bars that I shoot in, and it is so easy to clean. Just a damp cloth, and the dirt rubs away.
The bag is easy to clean and looks like most photography backpacks. I am not a believer in trying to get a bag that does not look like a photography bag. Thieves are not stupid and most will be able to tell what bags people keep their gear in.
The bottom of the back has a rubber coating and thick rubber feet. These are great when putting your bag down on dirty or wet surfaces.
This is a big bag, and I pack a lot of gear in it. I’ve never been short of space. If you look at the photo below, you can see that I usually take three camera bodies and five lenses with me to work, including a flash, some filters, and my 15″ laptop. I could easily fit in more gear if I wanted to.
The flap at the back of the bag is the first real change in the bag, compared to its smaller brother. The back flap has material or wings on the side of the bag, which is supposed to help keep your gear protected from the elements. Personally, I find them to be a pain as the flap does not open all the way now, making it slightly more difficult in packing up after a shoot because you have to lift up the flap each time you want to put your gear inside the bag.
The bag does take a lot of gear. I have my Nikon D3s in here, with an 80-200 lens attached to the body, plus a Nikon D500, a Fuji XE3 with a lens attached in the bag, and three big 2.8 lenses included as well.
Like the smaller Benro Reebox bag, there is a quick access pocket on the side of this bag, but I never use it. This is my work bag, so I use it to carry my gear to a venue, then I take it off and work. The smaller bag is my play bag, and I walk around and shoot from it a lot, so I used the feature a lot on that bag. I guess if you are into hiking and need to shoot from a big bag, then this quick access panel might be useful to you. On the quick access flap, there are three pockets that you could use for memory cards or even smaller batteries. I don’t use them, but they are there if you need them.
On the outside of the quick access panel is a nice deep pocket. I usually keep my bike and apartment keys in there.
Security has been thought about with this bag, the front computer panel and the quick access panel both have lockable zips, so if you are walking around a dangerous area, you can lock those compartments of your bag with a small lock and stop pickpockets from gaining quick access to your gear.
More security locks on the quick access panel. Security is always a good idea, and protecting your gear should always be on your mind.
The top part of this bag is huge this time. I can easily keep another camera system in there if I want to, but I usually keep my passport, wallet, jacket, and some water in there.
I tend to stuff a lot of things into this compartment. Usually, I pack two lenses, all my electronic cables and batteries, filters, my wallet, my passport, and a small jacket. I could easily squeeze more gear into here if I wanted to.
The front of the bag has two flaps. The first is a large flap, and unlike the small Benro Reebox II 150N bag, these flaps can store a lot of items. The larger of the two flaps stores my laptop and batteries for my camera, while the smaller flap stores my business cards and any tickets that I am carrying that day. I could store a lot more things in these two flaps, but I don’t really need to store anything else.
My 15″ laptop fits into here easily. I tried to squeeze in a 17″ laptop and it does go in, but it is a very tight squeeze. Not something I would feel comfortable with.
The small pocket is big. I could easily fit an iPad or even my Surface Pro in there, but it is not really padded, so I tend to just keep business cards and memory cards. Sometimes I will throw in my PSVita or Nintendo Switch when I am going to be doing a lot of traveling that day. This pocket can easily handle devices of that size.
I seldom carry much in this front section of the bag, just some film and business cards. I could get more into it, but I have no need.
This was my gear packed for this evening’s shoot. I was traveling to a nearby city for a show that I was shooting. So basically, I took three cameras, six lenses, one flash, one computer, filters, batteries, and a memory card. If I needed more gear, the bag could have squeezed it in, but the weight would have been too much, and I would have switched over to my Pelican bag.
This is another awesome bag by Benro, and I put it to good use now. I use the bag about three times a week for work. The only negative thing I can say about this bag is that when it is fully loaded with all your gear, it is very heavy. But that is not the bag’s fault. The more gear you carry, the heavier your bag will be. If you are looking for a good, high-quality backpack for carrying your camera gear, and you have a lot of gear, then I can highly recommend this bag. But remember that this bag is for a lot of gear. If you are not carrying at least two camera bodies and a lot of lenses, I would recommend a smaller bag. For me, this is the perfect backpack for work. I just hope that my back won’t suffer from lugging this weight around all the time.
Shaun.