CineBags CB27 Lens Smuggler

“It’s personal not carry-on”

CineBags recently released a range of underwater specific cases under the CineBags Underwater brand. There are several existing CineBags products that cross over between the two ranges.

Many airlines allow travelers to carry a carry on bag and what they describe as a personal item. The latter’s size is limited to 9 inches x 10 inches x 17 inches (22 cm x 25 cm x 43 cm). Often this can be a laptop bag or purse, but CineBags has come up with an ingenious product that uses this piece of baggage as a useful adjunct to avoiding weight problems.

The CB27 Lens Smuggler is sized externally at 17.5 inches x 13.25 inches x 9.75 inches (44.45 cm x 33.65 cm x 24.77 cm) so is “slightly” oversized, but is “disguised” to look like a chunky laptop bag.

For those who want to go completely covert, the CineBags logo is velcro’ed on and can be removed to avoid unwanted attention from check in staff.

Internally, it has a total of 10 padded removable dividers that allow you to safely carry multiple SLR bodies, lenses, macro ports or small strobes and 5 zipped see through mesh pouches.

It has a well padded laptop compartment that can hold a 15 inch computer along with a front organizer which features a small pouch to store media cards, business cards, and travel documents and a pouch for a smartphone.

The Lens Smuggler is constructed of robust waterproof fabric with oversized zips and has a robust and heavily padded shoulder strap along with a neoprene wrapped grab handle

This bag is like a tardis!

It seems to take an amazing amount of equipment. I loaded it with:

• Nikon D810 body
• Nikon 105mm f2.8 VR
• Nikon 24-70 f2.8
• Tokina 10-17mm f3.5-4.5
• Nikon 60mm f2.8
• Nikon 10-24 f3.5-4.5
• 2 x GoPro HERO 4
• GoPro HERO 4 Session
• SAGA Trip lens
• Noodilab Moby macro lens
• Lacie Rugged 5TB external hard drive
• Apple charger
• USB3, USBC and Lightning Cables
• Card readers and spare cards in Think Tank Pocket Rocket
• Apple Display adapters
• iPad
• iPhone
• MacBook Pro 15”
• Lens cleaning cloths and tissues

This is a phenomenal amount of gear in a bag that actually looks more like a laptop case than a camera bag.

The Lens Smuggler is super robust. All the hardware and fabrics are oversized and built to last. There are no signs of wear so far. The laptop sleeve is moulded and provides significant protection to the computer within.

As mentioned above, the bag is supplied with a substantial shoulder strap which attaches with two oversizes stainless steel clips.

The size and strength is needed because when loaded with the gear above, it is a heavy beast. It also has a comfortable neoprene carry handle that also allows the bag to be easily maneuvered down the aisles of airplanes and pushed into the overhead lockers.

In fact my only snag with this bag is that it cannot make 15 kg of gear weigh 5 kg!

Returning to the starting point, the CineBags CB27 Lens Smuggler is designed to help professionals get their critical gear safely to the destination where the gear will be used. It helps to ensure that you can travel with your gear in the cabin of the aircraft, ensuring that it arrives safely at your destination. If your travels demand that you get your camera gear to your destination, this bag should be in your arsenal.

The CineBags CB27 Lens Smuggler is available from your local specialist CineBags Underwater retailer or direct from CineBags.

FTC Disclosure:

The CineBags CB27 Lens Smuggler was supplied free charge to the reviewer for review purposes.