[Klaus]

The last vacation was quite frustrating - again - with respect to the "camera" backpack.
I took a conventional backpack and used the top compartment for the camera - but it was cumbersome in many ways.

Maybe someone here can point to an option ...

I want:
- a 30-35L backpack
- decent harness system 
- access to the camera from the top
- the lower part of the backpack used for hiking stuff (jacket, food, drinks, whatever)
- relatively lightweight

I do not want:
- side/bottom access to the camera
- a backpack for the city (e.g. no need for a laptop)
- a flat backplate with minimal padding

The closet I got during digging was a Lowepro Protactic 350 AW II but it's still quite a bit off. Namely, it's heavy, and it has a dreadful flat backplate.

I do have a Peak Design Everyday Backpack - but that's nothing that I'd take for hiking really - way too uncomfortable.

Any hints?

[Klaus]

Hmmh, maybe a Mystery Ranch Blitz 30 with some tweaking ...

[Klaus]

If you are interested ... I've narrowed it down to this one

https://www.tasmaniantiger.info/en/product/tt-modular-camera-pack-30/

Although I'm not sure how to obtain one in Oz. Funny vendor - usually for military/police/hunter stuff. An while "Tasmanian Tiger" is an Australian animal, the company is German. LOL

[Rover]

I guess I really prefer other ways of carrying gear, and I only owned photo backpacks... exactly once, and that was the Lowepro Orion Trekker II that I bought in 2006, used with various DSLRs for a while, but its photo compartment could not fit the Canon 1D series cameras, so that sped up my switch to chestvests (specifically the Newswear.com products) that I found a lot more convenient and versatile. The backpack continued its service as a "general purpose" travel backpack until it became so tattered that I had to send it to recycling, over a decade after it entered service.

[mike]

The TT modular camera pack doesn't show up on the US websites. What shows up looks directed at military and police.

For my MFT gear I use a Thinktank camera bag and I put it in the rear opening bottom section of a daypack. I'm not home to see what brand the pack is. There's an adjustable velcro divider in the pack. The top part is for personal gear. The bottom section is big enough that I usually stuff a jacket on the bottom of the pack and put the Thinktank of top of it. It's not perfect, but as good as I've found.

My Sony is in a dedicated lowepro camera BP. It's not really all that good except as a pure camera bag.

I'm always surprised how few camera backpacks have a compartment to put a personal gear and a jacket. Well, besides your cell phone and laptop. I don't get why they still insist on putting in a laptop compartment.