Lowepro Tahoe BP 150 Review

The Lowepro Tahoe BP 150 offers excellent value for photographers who prioritize protection and organization but do not have a lot of gear. It follows the brand’s standard design style, offering a compact and protective daypack ideal for a standard kit with extra organization and space for small accessories. Those familiar with Lowepro backpacks will surely recognize this one. It provides easy and reliable access while ensuring sufficient protection and padding for sensitive gear. The pack features quick-access storage for everyday items in the front pocket and a secondary compartment in front of the main storage area with a flexible organization system that allows users to customize the pack to their specific needs. 

External Components

The Lowepro Tahoe BP 150 is made from weather-resistant materials to protect the gear from the elements. It also includes a structured frame with plenty of padding on all sides to protect sensitive gear inside. Its all-black aesthetic includes a few orange accents, including the Lowepro logo on the front.

There are two compression straps on each side that can be used to secure larger gear or as external attachment points. They work decently that way, but the biggest downside of this design is that they cross the main compartment’s zipper track when connected, so you have to undo them every time you want to access your gear.

The YKK zippers are incredibly smooth and easy to use, even around corners. They glide around like butter. The weatherproof materials are a nice touch to stand up to the elements, although the zipper does not include any additional protection, like an AquaGuard coating. The weather-resistant materials and design should protect your gear if you get caught out in the rain. Apart from the compression straps, the pack doesn’t feature any additional attachment points, buckles, or access points.

The Lowepro Tahoe BP 150 includes a nylon grab handle on top with a small amount of padding for extra comfort. Since this grab handle connects at the top of the back panel, the bag tends to hang and lean forward. While the dense padding in the grab handle’s core helps make it more comfortable, especially when the bag is full of heavy gear, it can only do so much for the thin handle.

The only other carry method is the contoured shoulder straps, which have a minimal S-shape. The contoured design helps make the pack comfortable with a more ergonomic fit. The straps are also densely padded, which definitely contributes to the bag’s overall comfort. The plastic hardware and adjusters on the straps are easy and pretty smooth to use, although they lack strap keepers. It’s worth noting that there are no attachment points on the shoulder straps.

The back panel is well-padded for comfort and to protect the gear inside. However, without a dedicated air channel, depending on the environment and personal use cases, your back can definitely get hot during extended use. This pack also lacks a sternum strap, hip belt, and luggage pass-through, which might be a deal breaker for some, especially those who like to travel.

Fit Notes

The backpack’s all-black aesthetic is subtle and doesn’t draw too much attention, save the brand’s orange logo on the front. However, its rigid form and structure give it a distinct shape, similar to a turtle shell. This design coincides with Lowepro’s typical aesthetic, although just slightly more compact. Depending on personal preference, this design can be seen as either a positive or negative feature. Due to the bag’s shape, it can protrude a bit, so keep that in mind in crowded or dense environments like small stores. While the overall aesthetic makes the backpack somewhat noticeable, it’s not entirely inconspicuous, which may not be ideal for travel. Lowepro is also a pretty popular company specializing in gear for photographers and videographers, so we’re not surprised that it remains comfortable even when fully loaded with gear.

Inside The Pack

The Lowepro Tahoe BP 150 features plenty of organization in addition to storage for camera gear. On each side is a water bottle pocket that is also ideal for storing tripods or umbrellas. These pockets are made with an elastic mesh and sit flush up against the bag when not in use. They also offer a good amount of stretch to accommodate various-sized gear. If you want to use them for tripods and large umbrellas, you can utilize the aforementioned side compression straps to hold tall gear in place. 

For quick-access items, there’s a front pocket equipped with a zipper featuring an orange pull tab for enhanced visibility. This pocket offers a fantastic amount of space for gear and is quite padded. There is no internal organization inside; it just functions as a simple pocket.

Behind that is a larger compartment accessed using dual zippers that extend about halfway down the bag. While it is somewhat tight due to the bag’s structure and protective padding, it offers convenient organization at the top. These include a nicely sized tablet sleeve with an orange accent for visibility, a variety of different-sized slip pockets for smaller items, and three dedicated pen or stylus pockets. A basic nylon key leash with a plastic carabiner clip hangs at the top of the pocket, suspending keys for easy access. The tablet sleeve is lifted to prevent the tablet from hitting the ground when the bag is dropped or set down.

The main compartment is front-loading and opens clamshell-style, which means the back of the pack must be placed on the ground to access it. This design can feel somewhat unintuitive and potentially lead to the back of the bag getting dirty when placed on the ground, especially since the back panel is fabric. Then, dirt could get on your back when putting the backpack on. This is not a huge issue but something to keep in mind when placing the bag down.

The interior features a spacious, customizable layout with two main sections. The first section, dedicated to camera equipment, is lined with a soft, felt-like material that provides protection and allows for easy adjustment and customizability of the dividers in the section. The backpack comes with two medium-length dividers and three small ones. They connect using hook-and-loop attachments to the sides and back of the compartment. They are quite strong and are secure once in place. The divider system allows for a high degree of flexibility, making it easy to adjust and customize the interior layout to suit individual use cases.

The second section has a zippered pocket, ideal for storing accessories such as cords, cables, chargers, etc. One of the standout features is the UltraFlex™ interior that can be folded to arrange for more space in this second pocket. This allows users to allocate additional room to the open pocket section. The system is relatively easy to use and intuitive when extended to provide extra space. However, it requires careful alignment with the dividers to be properly set up. While the expanded configuration offers a nice amount of additional space, it significantly reduces the overall capacity of the main compartment with the dividers in place. You can’t remove it, either. At a minimum, it is a dedicated zippered pocket at the top of the main compartment.

The Lowepro Tahoe BP 150 is a solid choice for photographers looking for a protective and customizable backpack. Its sturdy construction, weather-resistant materials, and flexible interior organization make it ideal for accommodating various needs, whether you’re taking a short hike or a photography-focused trip. The front-loading design allows for an easy overview of all the gear inside; however, it can be inconvenient in certain scenarios, especially if you have to place it on dirty ground to get inside. The dedicated compression straps on the sides can also be annoying since, when connected, they interfere with getting into the main compartment. However, the contoured and densely padded shoulder straps help make the overall carry experience much more comfortable, even with loads of heavy gear inside, so this backpack is a worthy consideration for both amateur and professional photographers looking for a reliable and protective camera backpack.