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Shot with Canon 5DmkII + Editing in Premiere Pro CS 5.5 : : Timelapses imported through Adobe Lightroom and compiled with Quick Time Player 7

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I have been using the Think Tank modular Skin Component belt system for about half a year now and I do have to say that I don’t know what I was doing without it. The reason I got this system is to be able to carry everything I need on my hips (without a backpack) which is how I like to roll for events, sports, and travel photography. It’s also great for location shoots and for scouting. Just wanted to share my “no non-sense” gear review now that I field tested it for a while. This will hopefully provide you with more info to make a better buying decision if you are in the marker for such a system. I’ll keep it brief so here it goes…

NOTE: Think Tank makes a MODULAR SKIN SET with several pouches in the package – I would definitely recommend getting the set rather that then buying the pouches seperately.

FEATURES

• The light weight material is waterproof
• The material is easy to store so you can easily roll it up tight into another bag (you can’t always do that with other product out there)
• Convenient pocket at the front of pouches
• Integrated waterproof cover (in tiny pocket at the bottom). Obviously no more easy acces once that’s on but it can be a “lens saver” in case of unexpected heavy rain.
• Solid Velcro with large area that sticks well and doesn’t undo itself.
• Extra 2 loops at the top
• Sound “off/on” that allows you to prevent noise when opening and closing the cover on the pouches.

+ THE GOOD STUFF

• Adaptable

  • they have padded divider you can velcro on in the center of the pouches. The Skin 50 can fit 2 medium size lenses; e.g. the Canon 24-70 F/2.8 L and the 100mm F/2.8 macro.The Skin 75 Pop Down is expandable so that you can fit a 70-200 F/2.8 with its hood attached.

    The top cover can be used as usual for extra protection from rain and dust or you can tuck it inside the pouch for quick access to your lenses. It’s great that the velcro keeps the cover in place when tucked-in, which is a nice design feature

• Light weight + Foldable = Great for Travel

This is one of the key advantage of this system over others I have tried in the past that had more padding but we a real pain to travel with as they took considerable space when I was not using them. On the other hand, the Skin Component pouches are light weight and easy to fold away into your back-pack

• LOVE THIS:
  

Allow you to store money and wallet with complete certainty your won’t lose it by putting the items inside the small pocket at the front and then tucking the cover inside the pouch. Once, you put the lens inside the pouch, there is pretty much no way to lose it or someone pick-pocketing it (unless they take your whole kit). This is great when you are on assignment and you have to keep valuable with at all time.

• Great for scouting – I use it with the TTP Steroid Speed Belt and the TTP ShapeShifter and it’s just a great combination that work really well together.

-  THE DOWNSIDE

These are elements that I just wanted to mention to make the review as open and objective as possible. Albeit, these are quite minor compare to the system’s advantage. In the end, it’s all about using the right tool for the job at hand.

• The padding is minimal although the dividers are padded – but that’s what allows them to be compressible and easy to store.
• Rain can potentially enter the pouch if you don’t tight the cord properly. That said, if it starts pouring rain, there is always the rain covers for the pouches to keep everything dry.
• To consider, it does attract attention so I didn’t use it all the time in Ghana

= WRAP UP

Happy to have so much weight off my shoulders - in the field in Ghana

I would recommend this to anyone doing events, sports, travel & documentary photography. It’s also great for location shoots and for scouting. Although it’s not fully padded it definitely works for me. In the end it’s all about using the right tool for the right job.
Be sure to check out the second part of this review of the TTP Steroid Speed Belt v2.0 that I used with this system.

I aim to be as object as possible with my reviews. That said, if I like a product and have not issue with recommending it to others if it is in fact a quality product. If you wish to support the blog, use the link below if you’re considering the purchase:

• President Obama’s Inauguration ceremony by David Bergman (“only” 1.5 gigapixels)
You can zoom in and check out all the people present – Can you spot George W. ? Click on the image to zoom in

A pretty sweet feature is that people can take “snapshots” within the Gigapan image so that other people can easily check out the interesting and weird things in the depths of the image. You can find more gigappixel images at the GigaPan image sharing website. Test it out and let us know what you think in the comments below. Happy zooming!