Tenba Bags DNA 11 Messenger Bag Review

Hello everyone! It is that time of year again, when we review a new great product that we have used in the field. Today’s review is the Tenba Bags DNA 11 Messenger Bag.

Initial Impressions

This messenger bag was chosen after many months of research looking for a new highly portable bag when traveling or doing photo shoots. The requirements for this product were the following:

  • Lightweight and rugged
  • Good build quality and warranty
  • Easy to access camera and lenses
  • Can hold 1 full frame DSLR + 2 lenses
  • Can hold our DJI Mavic Pro along with the camera and lens.
  • Can hold a small tablet or laptop.
  • Weather proof

After looking through many products we settled on the Tenba DNA 11 Messenger Bag. It met all of our initial requirements and more!

After Use

With any product we review, we want to make sure it is used in normal situations such as hiking, wedding photography and day to day use. After about 3 months of use the DNA 11 Messenger Bag has shown us just how versatile it is!

For its small size, the Tenba DNA 11 Messenger Bag is ideal for day to day photography needs. Inside we can fit our Nikon D750, with our ultra wide lens and another lens, along with filters, iPad, adapters, batteries and our DJI Mavic Pro! You can see in the photo below, all the items which will fit into this bag, it is a one stop photography shop.

Tenba DNA 11 Bag
Tenba DNA 11 Bag and Everything It Holds

I am sure you are now thinking, oh well now it must weight alot and not be comfortable. I would have agreed without testing it, you can carry this bag for hours and day without any discomfort thanks to the grippy shoulder pad, and optional waste wrap strap to keep it from swinging around. This made the bag perfect for our trip to Mexico and our daily photography needs, it went everywhere with us.

Sunset Through Lens Ball In Mexico

As you have seen, we have taken this bag, on a few journeys including planes, beaches, and cars. It is rugged! Rain basically runs off the outer bag protecting the equipment, and if it is truly raining you can put on the provided weather cover, which makes it almost weather proof! This is a better feature then most other bags on the market. The bag also has good solid stitching and you can feel the quality just touching it.

Ok so it’s well built and can carry a ton of gear, how easy is the bag to access and get to your equipment? It is probably difficult right? Wrong! The Tenba DNA 11 Messenger bag, is so well designed you can access 90% of your equipment through a top zipper. This allows for easy access into the main compartment, where your camera, lenses, ipad and drone are hiding out. If you really need to open it up, there are 2 quick release straps on the front and military grade quiet Velcro keep it all secure, but easy to open in a rush. There is also a back zipper which gives you access to a misc paper, document and pen holder, perfect for cards and travel documents.

Well that is great and all, but does it actually protect your equipment? You bet! The main compartment is a removable padded container which is strong enough to protect your delicate equipment. Additionally, the quick release straps are in fact secure as well since, then require a slide to unlock instead of an up pop and combined with the Velcro keeps everything locked in place.

So what else can it do? This bag, can do it all, it can hold a device up to 11″ and even has small little areas on the side for a water bottle. We believe the only thing missing is the kitchen sink!

Is there anything it cant do? In our experience this bag meets all of our needs. Our only concern, might be it cannot hold a small Gorilla Pod tripod, but then again, that was never a requirement, and we can use our other backpack for this if required

Tenba Bag In The Field
Tenba Solstice 20L Backpack

Final Thoughts

If you are looking for an ultra portable bag, that can do it all the Tenba DNA 11 Messenger bag cannot be beat! If it’s a little big Tenba also offers other smaller sizes with the same build quality and features. We highly recommend this bag and believe it is a great product.

Review – Tenba Solstice 20L Backpack

Today, we are happy to post our first product review!  As you know we travel, take photos and go on adventures, so our equipment gets well used and tested very well.  Today we will be reviewing our Tenba Solstice 20L Camera Backpack which we picked up from Photo Central in Winnipeg.

Initial Impressions

As with any product we use, time was spent at the store going over various backpacks, needs and requirements.  We reviewed many backpacks with the help of the fine fellows at Photo Central and managed to narrow our selection down to the Tenba product line.  These backpacks offer features and quality found in higher end bags for a great value.

Some of the key features for our needs were:

  • Ability to hold multiple lenses within a padded safe space.
  • Water proof / rain cover, as we frequently travel outside and back pack.
  • Ability to hold a small laptop or tablet to review images in the field.
  • Comfortable to wear for extended trips.
  • Water jug / camera tripod holder

The Tenba met all of these requirements and more and at $179.99 we thought it was a great value as well.

Tenba Back Pack Review Front Pouch

After actual use

As with any review we will post, it will contain our thoughts after using the product for an extended period.  We can say after a few trips out this back pack is amazing!  It fits nicely over your shoulder and has a lower waist strap to help with longer trips and hikes.  Externally there is a slim pocket which you can store your table, pens, pencils and other items as needed as you can see in the picture to your left.  This is great as you have easy access to important items while traveling including passports, wallet, keys, etc.  Additionally on each side is a slot for water bottle or tri-pod with straps to keep them secure while traveling, hiking or doing anything.

Now most backpacks have that feature, but we liked just how well it felt as a camera bag.  Additionally, there is a compartment at the top where you can store, clothes, food, water, anything you can think of within easy reach of the top zipper.  This is also where the rain cover is stored in its own little inner pouch and labelled.  While this is a great idea, i sense putting a used or wet cover back into the enclosed space might lead to moisture or dirt getting into the bag.  With that in mind one should first dry and clean the cover of dirt before putting it back in its carrying pouch.  As you can see in the picture to the right, this space also has a small net area for small items so they don’t get lost and a large amount of space.

Tenba Back Pack Review Top Pouch

Of course the most important part of any camera bag, is how well it can hold your lenses and cameras!  Otherwise what is the point of owning such a bag.  In this case the Tenba Solstice 20L is perfect for our needs.  It can hold up to 6 lenses depending on size and a camera.  Since we have two cameras it holds a few less lenses.  The area is accessible from the back which makes it secure while walking and keeps it away from dirt, water, etc and fully opens.  The area itself contains a soft padding and movable sections so that larger lenses, and more items can fit. It could even hold our DJI Mavic Pro!

This bag is also the middle in the Solstice line from Tenba so while a great size for us, it is not as deep as the larger bag and struggles to hold anything with a battery grip.  In our case not a big problem as we do not typically use these on longer trips to reduce weight and bulk.

One other small feature, is the strap / hook areas on the back of the bag, which allows for the addition of other items which you can hook on and carry with you.

Summary

Based on the number of features, size, quality of build we are over the moon with our new Tenba Internal Lens Areatravel bag!  We would be happy to recommend Tenba to anyone as it is a solid bag, at a good value with high end features.  We can’t wait to go out and use it more in all sorts of conditions and will report back.

Rest assured as well we will be posting more reviews, guides and how to’s as we continue our photography journey!    If you would like us to review your product or take photos contact us.