Nomatic 25 Liter Camera Bag: First Look

In the world of photography, keeping your gear accessible, dry and safe is an absolute must. When you are willing to drop thousands on a lens or camera body, you want to protect it as much as possible. The folks at Nomatic teamed up with renowned photographer Peter McKinnon to design the Nomatic 25L. And draw from his experiences around the world. In the end, what they created was a 25 liter bag that is packed with versatility, durability, high quality features. And doesn’t scream to people on the street “Steal me I contain expensive camera equipment”.

Who is Peter McKinnon? and Why This Bag?

To date, this world traveling photographer has around 10 million followers across social media. All someone has to do is glance at it to see he is a hard working professional photographer. A quick look at Peter’s social media accounts shows he is in and out of urban, industrial and rural areas often. Requiring gear that can take abuse and travel well in small aircraft, ATV’s, boats, pretty much any mode of transportation. His credentials and workload speak volumes in terms of putting his name to a piece of gear like the Nomatic 25 L camera bag. I have found over my years in photography that professional photographers are a breed of artist that are usually hesitant to lend their name on a piece of gear unless they 100% endorse it.

The Nomatic 25 L Peter McKinnon Bag Specifications

Size/Dimensions: 25 L

• Height: 19″
• Width: 13″
• Depth: 8″
• Weight: 3lbs
• Materials: 80% Nylon / 20% Polyester

Features:

• Full top and side access
• Dedicated laptop sleeve up to 16″ MacBook Pro
• Lifetime Warranty
• High customizable interior
• Twin water bottle holders
• Water resistant zippers
•  External molle hooks
• Available only in Black
• Price: $299.99

Custom Loadouts & the Ladder System

Nomatic employs a system with this bag they refer to as the Ladder System. Which allows end users a high degree of customization if they desire. The first part of this system is a foldable baffle that allows the bag to be separated. The top 1/3 of the bag is for everyday gear. And the bottom 2/3rd for camera gear. Or visa versa. If this sounds confusing our accompanying video explains it better.

Another component of the ladder system are removable cubes. They fit snuggly into the compartments depending on configuration and prevent your gear from sliding around. This cube system looks very interesting but was not included in our test and evaluation set up. So we are unable to give a full review of it. The cubes are available with the bag or separate at a later time. The large cube retails for $69.99. The small cube will set you back $44.99 each. Or they can be purchased as a set with the pack.

Straps and Storage

During our test, we found that all the straps and zippers on the Nomatic 25 liter bag were well made. And we didn’t detect any issues with the material or the company’s quality control. The zippers feature some nice details such as extra heavy rubber coated knots affixed to the metal tab for easier use with gloved hands or in wet conditions. Also, the configuration of the zippers combined with the material, make water entering the compartments slim to none. They really paid attention to the small details on this pack.

There are a few things with the straps and back padding that should be noted. The straps are wide but slightly thinner than I am use to on my other camera backpacks. A removable sternum strap does exist on this bag which works well. But it only has roughly 2″ of vertical travel. In order to adjust the positioning on the shoulder straps you have to remove the strap and put it into a different position also with a limited range of movement. This is unlike any other sternum strap I’ve seen in a backpack, it’s not “bad”, just unusual to me and I wanted to note it.

Internally this 25 liter bag offers ample storage space for digital media storage devices, pens, notepads, batteries and just about any other small item that you might need for a day trip. The lower section of the bag features two mesh pockets while the upper section has a single non see through pouch. I usually put my sunglasses in the top pouch since it has a small amount of padding to it.

Padding & Support

I found that this pack wears well with my usual test load out. Consisting of a Nikon D610 with Grip, Nikon 25-80 lens, Nikon 60mm lens, full 32 oz water bottle and the small accessories shown above. Along with a shell coat stuffed in the lower compartment. My thoughts on the straps having less padding quickly gave way to the reminder that the EVA foam pads on the backside of the pack are amazing. The top and bottom padding are “U” shaped and seemed to nicely rest across my shoulders and lower back. The accompanying two squared shaped mid back pads also were a nice added touch that my other day packs lack. Again small details that Nomatic added which makes this pack set out from the crowd.

The only drawback to this pack when it comes to support and padding is that it lacks a standard waist strap of any kind. One is available for $29.99 but I would like to see it available as part of a package deal. Like the company offers for the cube accessories.

Overall Conclussions

The Nomatic 25 Liter Peter McKinnon camera backpack has a lot to offer any photography enthusiast who wants a bag that can go from a casual setting to a photo adventure and back again. It’s a well built bag with a high attention to detail in terms of fit, quality, design and construction materials. If you remember what this bag is used for and that it has a very specific set of design specifications. It can be wonderful and will last for years to come.

In my opinion based on 20+ years of photography experience, this bag is not made to hold larger telephoto lenses or for long safari type prime lenses. It’s not built or designed for the sports or nature photographer, it is built for the urban photographer who finds themselves using wide or mid range zoom lenses. That is not a knock against this bag in any way. But in the world of photography bags, they are as purpose built as the lenses they carry.

This bag is amazing, and I really enjoy it and it will be my bag for family events and urban photography for the foreseeable future. But it does have a few draw backs in terms of accessories. I would like to see the cubes included or a waist belt as standard with this bag. Outside of those small issues this bag is one of the best urban photography bags I’ve seen.

If you are in the market for a serious bag with a high level of customization and have the funds available I would have zero issues recommending the Nomatic 25 Liter bag. I want to thank the staff at Nomatic for sending this backpack to me all the way up here in Alaska and allowing us to collaborate with them.