Tenba Mini-Messenger Bag

[~tc~]

Build quality is first rate. It's pretty heavily padded - that can be a good or a bad thing. The wide, padded strap makes it feel VERY light even when jammed with stuff.

Despite it's "mini" moniker, it can hold quite a bit of gear.

On to the pictures. They were taken with the wife's Panasonic TS-2. I wasn't exactly going for museum exhibition quality here.

Closed up

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The flap is secured with both buckles and serious velcro, but they have ingeniously put a zipper on the flap for "stealth" mode:

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Empty showing the dividers and padding

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With all the stuff:

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Sunglasses, jacket, GF1+20/1.7, note pad, iPad
45-200, 45/2.8, memory cards, camera connector, jumpdrives
Passport, business cards, wallet, wifi hotspot, filters, battery, lenspen

Back pocket. I keep the lenspen, cards, and batteries back here

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There is another flat spocket in front, and then the two "slash" pockets on the front of that. Two small zippered compartments in the flap (just big enough for my business card wallet - the filter boxes will fit, but SUPER tight and I'm scared of breaking them)

Main pocket loaded so you can see what goes where

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Ready to go

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Note even with all this, it's still only about 1/2 full. When I travel, the noise-cancelling headphones, pillow, etc can go in the top half.

 

[apicius9]

Very nice, thanks. I have that one in one size larger, and the one thing I am not happy with is that the separators only go half way up inside the bag. I was thinking about stacking the lenses, and would prefer them to come up to the top. I just got the Safrotto bag in today that is about the same size, and it has the partitions like I want them, but it lacks the great zipper to take out the cam without opening the bag, and it doesn't have a dedicated laptop compartment. Can't have it all, I guess...

Stefan

 

[~tc~]

Yeah, I thought about that too ... Then realized I could carry at least 4 MORE lenses in the center section where my jacket lives currently ... And I dont think I would ever want/need to carry 7 lenses on me

 

[Diane B]

Thanks for this. I've been advised toward Rickshaw and Timbuk2 plus Domke F803, a Lowepro messenger, but this seems the best for the m4/3 I will carry a GH2 (have G1 now) and possibly even add the GF1 so wonder about size but think I'll order one and see. I have so many bags, big to small, but none really accomodates the Ipad well. I've been using a very very old LL Bean messenger that's too deep with a Domke 4 lens insert. just doesn't fuction well for me though I like the slimmer profile of the messenger than my Domke F6 which I mostly use with m4/3.

Diane

Diane

 

[Diane B]

Showing someone the photos of the bag and realized the mini doesn't have the removable insert like the small. Mine isn't due until next week (ordered purple) so I'll have to see how I feel about that and may end up exchanging for the small. I like this size though. I have larger bags and am trying to find the smallest, slimmest messenger style for Ipad and m4/3 kit.

 

[Ducati_Don]

This bag looks like a pretty good fit for me, I may order one and give it a try.

 

[Diane B]

I have the bag now and like it quite a lot. Perfect for travel. It actually will hold more than I'd prefer to carry LOL but can "thin down" by removing some of the dividers. I thought I would prefer the camera insert like the larger messengers that can be removed totally but think I now prefer the ability to partition as I choose.

Dianr

 

[~tc~]

Yeah, Diane, it has enough room that it encourages me to buy more lenses!

I should note that I had an issue with the strap. The metal swivels on the end pulled through the hoop that attaches to the strap. I took it back, and they ordered me a new strap, which took a while to get here, but was replaced no problem and ... HAS A DIFFERENT DESIGN for the swivels. Obviously, mine wasn't the only one with a problem.

 

[DHart]

Just got the same Mini Messenger. Nice bag. I will keep it. It's ok for a somewhat limited kit and as a daily "man bag" (cell phone, sunglasses, wallet, CCW, whatever). Pretty easy to fit:

LX5 with hood and WA lens
GF1
EVF
7-14
14-140
20/1.7
Canon FDn 50/1.4
Padded accessories bag (containing spare batteries, memory cards, lens hoods, remote release, shoe for Kirk ballhead)
iPhone
iPad

But I definitely need one size bigger (the Small) as well for carrying a bit more of my kit (adding GH2, Voigtlander 35mm f/1.2 Nokton, Zeiss 85mm f/1.4)

When traveling, I think my wife will carry the Mini and I will carry the Small. That way between the two bags, all the travel photo kit as well as passports, boarding passes, book or two, iPads, water bottle, snacks, etc can come along.

One thing I wish was better is the angle zip pockets on the outside of the flat are a bit tight for iPhone and too tight for sunglasses. (Hopefully these pockets are larger on the Small). Also, when you have a bunch of stuff in the bag, the flap has a harder time wrapping over and down without cramping up on what is stored in the outer zipper flaps (iPhone). Overall though, very well executed bag and none are perfect, obviously.

 

[incabloc]

Crumpler 5 mil dollar

 

[DaveInPA]

This is a really nice travel bag. It fits alot of gear and an iPad so its a good carryon bag for vacations or a bag for when you need to bring lots of gear. A bit big though for a day excursion.

I do have a smaller bag for when I only need to bring my OMD as well as an extra lens or two or a flash.

 

[dornblaser]

This is a really nice travel bag. It fits alot of gear and an iPad so its a good carryon bag for vacations or a bag for when you need to bring lots of gear. A bit big though for a day excursion.

I do have a smaller bag for when I only need to bring my OMD as well as an extra lens or two or a flash.

Same here, it is my "big" bag. We all know that one of the cool things about the :43: world is that so much fits into bags that others think is small.

 

[Talanis]

This bag looks great. It could be the one I was really looking for. I wonder if it would fit all this:

- E-M5
- O12-50mm
- O45mm
- O75mm
- P20mm
- S7.5mm
- FL-600R (maybe 2)
- E-PM2
- Nexus 7

 

[xdayv]

TC, thanks for sharing this. I'll definitely take a look on this as my travel bag. I just picked up a Retrospective 7, let's see what it can do...

 

[dornblaser]

This bag looks great. It could be the one I was really looking for. I wonder if it would fit all this:

- E-M5
- O12-50mm
- O45mm
- O75mm
- P20mm
- S7.5mm
- FL-600R (maybe 2)
- E-PM2
- Nexus 7

Not sure about the FL-600R's as I do not own one. I can carry an E-M5 w/ an E-PM1 with roughly those lenses substituting in an O12 and O40 - 150, etc. with ease. I carry an iPad and/or 13" rMBP in lieu of a Nexus 7.

 

[Talanis]

Thanks dornblaser

 

[Talanis]

I'm a bag addict and the quest to the perfect bag seems to be an endless one.

 

[Kingsfan]

this has been my daily bag that i take to work for about a year. lately i've been carrying:

13" HP laptop and charger
leica M6 with lens attached
EPM1 with oly 45mm or olympus trip
external hard drive
little box holding extra rolls of film and stickers

 

[Savas K]

Can the mini-messenger be setup to furnish two rows of lens silos? It would be nice if the depth of the bag can furnish the foundation for that kind of utility.

 

[dornblaser]

Can the mini-messenger be setup to furnish two rows of lens silos? It would be nice if the depth of the bag can furnish the foundation for that kind of utility.

Do you mean two lenses side-by-side width wise? If so, yes, at least with my Oly lenses. You can easily stack two more on top of those as well.