Peak Design Camera Cube (Medium)

Product Information

A camera insert (aka camera bag dividers) is a protective shell in a camera bag that surrounds your equipment with padded dividers to prevent it from moving around in transit. This bag is definitely heavier than other bags of the same capacity, but that might be due to the extra protection provided by the top flap. The other new size, “smedium,” has a 10-liter volume and includes many customizable dividers. It has enough space for an interchangeable lens camera with an attached lens, a couple of extra lenses, and some small accessories. Depending on the size of each lens, of course. The Peak Design Camera V2 (large) holds a lot of camera gear. Delivering plenty of space and customizable compartments, it’s capable of storing a comprehensive selection of cameras, lenses, and accessories of large sizes. 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.

Others will want smaller or larger cases, and it looks like Peak Design has Cubes for just about every kind of photo outing. The cubes have some clever dimensions. For example, two mediums equal one large. You definitely wouldn’t want to use this much in an urban environment, but that’s not its intention.

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. Rear padded portion features some serious padding and a unique design to increase airflow while hiking. The foam dividers work really well too. (Tamrac claims that it used over 10 foam types in the construction of this bag!)

While the nylon padding isn’t as robust as more expensive camera bag inserts, it’s nevertheless capable of offering effective protection and reliable accessibility to your gear. Camera inserts are complemented with a zipper closure, such as YKK zippers, for additional protection, with weatherproofed outer shells. I have two images showing the version one and two versions of the protective flex-fold Shelf Divider. The lighter one is the second version. This is the only protective flex-fold divider that is shipped with the first version of the Peak Design Small Camera Cube, and is the only first version camera cube that I had access to, allowing for this side by side look. You can see that the hook part of the divider connection in the second version is better color matched with the interior fabric of the camera cube.

Learning About Camera Bag Inserts and Bag Dividers

The first thing you’ll need to do is create a template for the camera insert based on your camera body and lenses, using this template to build the main compartments. If you already have a favorite go-to bag and want to use it for photo shoots, camera inserts can help maximize your available space. Keeping lenses, spare batteries, and flash attachments in separate padded sections helps to safeguard them from bumps and crashes, saving you from costly equipment damage. Streamlined inserts look and function much like a padded lunchbox with dedicated sleeves and compartments sized specifically for camera accessories. Several inserts feature rip-stop and water-resistant fabrics so items stay clean, dry, and scuff-free. The overall structure of the Essential Camera Cubes can be described as reassuringly rigid. They can stand on their own and won’t collapse like a damp grocery bag. In fact, during our testing of the Essential Deep, we noticed that it adds a good amount of structure to the PRVKE 21L, which can sag into itself if its main compartment is unoccupied. Despite the cubes’ structuredness, though, there’s a good amount of padding inside to protect fragile camera gear. To sum things up, they’re tough on the outside and soft on the inside. Usage and Features The best part of the WANDRD PRVKE is the expandable roll-top, which creates an additional 5 litres of space on top of the quoted sizes. Staggered velcro fastenings on the front allow roll top to be fastened more securely at various stages, allowing more to be carried in the upper section.

Also comes with gatekeeper mounting points and internal and external MOLLE webbing for even more attachment points.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. 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.

The setup for any Peak Design Camera Cube is very user specific. That said, the setup is nothing more than configuring the various included protective flex-fold dividers to wrap the specific camera gear that you have, maximizing the amount of gear you haul, while minimizing the chance of it getting damaged. You will see a description of my load-out in the next section of this review. Performance

With that said, for more casual photography or in situations where you want fast access to your camera, using a holster or removable shoulder strap is often preferred. Ultra-protective yet easily accessible, Peak Design Camera Cubes take the pain and hassle out of traveling with photo, video, or drone gear. Designed to mount securely in any Peak Design Travel Bag, Camera Cubes give you custom organization and protection, whether you’re carrying a small mirrorless kit or a full professional creative setup. As mentioned above, all of the Peak Design Camera Cubes for both versions have integrated webbing loops, two on each side, which allow one to use Peak Design’s anchors which enable the using of any of the sold separately Peak Design camera straps, or the external carry straps which come with some of the Peak Design travel bags, to carry around the camera cube all by itself. With some of the larger camera cubes the location of these webbing loops support stand-alone side entry as well.