If you’re a travelling photographer, and like me, hate having to check in any of your camera equipment when flying – especially any expensive large prime lenses – the Think Tank FirstLight 46L+ might really be something to consider.

Why? Simply, it’s not only a comfortable in-field camera backpack, but it pushes to the limit, without going over, the current allowable size for carry-on luggage for many Australian domestic carriers.

Features

First and foremost the thing to note for this bag are its dimensions. With an external length of 55cm, width of 35cm, and a depth of 23cm, the FirstLight 46L dimensions virtually match (without going over) the maximum carry-on luggage allowance for many Australia’s major domestic airlines.

This is great, and I’ll give you a big prime example (excuse the pun) below!

The way it’s designed also allows you to securely wrap the shoulder straps and waist belt around the front, allowing for more compact storage in an overhead locker as well reducing the chance these will become entangled with other people’s baggage.

And unlike most traditional backpacks, it also comes with grab handles placed on the top, the bottom and the side, making it much easier for you to put in and take out of an overhead locker (or any compartment really like the boot of a taxi).

As the name implies, the FirstLight 46L+ has a 46L capacity (which due to an expandable front pocket, actually increase this by another 4 litres).

It comes with water bottle pockets on both sides, a waist-belt stash pocket and a 3.5 litre removable floating top pocket, allowing you to pack soft items under it, or can be taken off and be converted into a belt pack.

There are also more than ten different organizational pockets that are sized and placed for various purposes, and the inside is very very configurable.

But what does this size and configurability mean in a practical sense?

Well on one recent trip I could easily pack in a Sony 600mm f/4 prime (detached), a 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6, a 24-70mm f/2.8 and two camera bodies with batteries into it, and all for a weight that was under 10kg.

I could of course have included much more into the space left over (e.g. 6 camera batteries, 2 flashes, a flash trigger, 4 lens filters, a laptop, as well as another small prime lens), but that would have taken me well over the 10kg carry on limit or my carrier, and I would never do that.:).

Domestic carry-on allowance vs Think Tank FirstLight 46L

*Except dash 8

** Correct at time of publishing. Check with your airline for their current carry-on requirements

Construction/ In the field

Made of ballistic nylon, ripstop nylon, using 3 ply bonded thread and abrasion resistant YKKRCC zippers, a durable water-repellent coating on the outside (and it does come with a rain cover if required), and sturdy sides, the FirstLight 46L is – like all Think Tank products that I have tried – easily tough enough for what I put my equipment through.

With a contoured, 11-point adjustable harness system, weight distribution was fine and it felt pretty comfortable, however I didn’t take it on multi-day long hikes which ThinkTank suggest it could be used for.

As with many other ThinkTank backpacks, a feature it had and I always like, is the option to carry a tripod both on the front or side, and when carrying it on the front, the really cool tuck-away ‘cup’ system that supports the tripod base. 

‘Throwing it off’ onto the ground to get quick access to my equipment (and I must stop doing that), everything seemed well protected in the sturdy padded construction, and I had no equipment issues.

But speaking of needing to take it off to get equipment access, if there was one thing that niggled me, was exactly that requirement; having to take it off to get access to equipment.

Having used ThinkTank’s Backlight Series for years, I’m now a big fan of the ability to access my equipment without having to take my bag of (and in doing so potentially getting it dirty or wet).

Overall

Everything in life is a compromise of course. So if you don’t need to carry a large piece of glass onto a plane, or don’t want to max out potential carry-on baggage dimensions when flying, then whilst the ThinkTank is a solid performer, I’m guessing there may be other bags in the ThinkTank family that could be better for you.

For example, something in the excellent Backlight Range that I mentioned above (and has been reviewed before) as they are lighter, a little more comfortable for me, and give you the option to access to your equipment whilst still wearing it.

But if you need a camera bag that will allow you to easily take and protect a large lens onto a plane, or a bag that will allow you space to carry lots of equipment in one bag without exceeding many of Australia’s current domestic carrier dimension limits, and also having a very functional backpack style bag to use once you get off the plane, then I’d say the FirstLight 46L+ is really something to consider.

How it works and handles as a piece of carry-on luggage is, its sturdiness, as well as its functionality as in-field back pack, is excellent, and it is now actually my go to bag when travelling on a plane taking a large prime or lots of photography equipment.

The Think Tank FirstLight 46L+ has an RRP of $829, and is distributed locally by Blonde Robot. 

Copyright © 2024 WPVI-TV. All Rights Reserved.

In a spacious, bright room on the third floor of Woodlawn’s First Presbyterian Church, interdisciplinary artist Max Li is reviving the art of tintype photography. Creating photo portraits using processes dating from the mid-1800s, Li’s captivating tintypes reflect the mixture of old and new technologies that give them form, as well as the mixture of historic and contemporary influences running through the church itself, Chicago’s oldest continuously operating institution.

The subjects of Li’s tintypes appear in extreme fidelity, enveloped by a haze that makes it seem as if contemporary faces, clothing and objects were somehow surfacing from the distant past. The high-resolution of the photographs is a result of printing onto metal plates with a silver solution, Li said: “In digital photos, you are limited by the size of pixels. In tin-type photos, you are developing onto silver atoms.”

Li shoots using a camera from 1907, using a Dallmeyer lens from the 1800s on loan from a collector in Shanghai. He prints onto metal plates purchased from a trophy and plaque manufacturer. 

“Some folks bring their antique cars, sometimes someone will ask if I can turn one of their relative’s old photos into a tintype. One (client) even inquired about me photographing a recent surgical scar,” Li said. 

Li first became interested in tintype photography in 2016, while a third year in the University of Chicago’s Master of Fine Arts program. There, Li was exposed to daguerreotypes, tintypes, ambrotypes, albumen prints and other alternative photo processes in a darkroom class. Afterwards, he acquired the chemicals and photo equipment necessary to establish his own practice.

“It was very exciting to be deeply focused on learning about these processes,” Li said. “It felt like learning some kind of magic.” 

After shooting on his own for several years, Li acquired his studio space in First Presbyterian, 6400 S. Kimbark Ave., as a result of a happy accident. While snapping photos of the church’s gothic exterior one day in 2021, Li was approached by the current pastor, Reverend David Black, who invited him inside. After discussing Li’s tintype practice, Black invited the artist to submit a proposal to the church about setting up shop in one of its empty community rooms. 

Upon their acceptance of his proposal, Li immediately began cleaning up the space and planning events. He, along with the other resident artists with studios at First Presbyterian, receive their sizable studio spaces free of charge, with the expectation that they will in turn open up the space to other artists and community members.

“The space is very big, allowing for the free play of the imagination, and good reverb if you play music,” Li said. “Building a community here has been a pretty dynamic, ongoing process, and having the ability to engage with different scales of the spaces of the building has been unbelievable. The building has so many stories to tell and little details to discover.”

Today, Li shares space with an illustrator and mural painter, along with a dance studio and the world famous avant-garde music ensemble the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians. A community kitchen operates within the church as well, distributing food to those in need. 

Some of Li’s artworks are on display around the studio, including a charming, powerful and enigmatic series of Lego-brick temples loosely modeled on real temples from China. These works look as if hundreds of satellites and stoplights and loose wires had been affixed by a madman to the sedate rooftops of Beijing’s Forbidden City.

Li’s free residency here has been enabled in part by the vision of First Presbyterian’s pastor. Having first served as a community pastor in a socially-minded, art-focused church in Harlem, Black came to Chicago in 2020, keen to share his experiences on the South Side.

“I came to Chicago with a deep belief that churches should be public squares where culture and the civic life of the community flourish,” Black said. “My experiences as an activist in a historically Black community on the edge of a wealthy university, under pressure from developers who sought to rebrand the neighborhood as ‘Central Park North,’ gave me a lot of context for the dynamics at play in Woodlawn.”

Li’s space and the 191-year-old church more broadly have a vital history that touches on many of the central events of the South Side and the city writ large. 

The church housed Chicago’s first public school. In the 1960s, Li’s studio was utilized as a meeting space by the civil rights group and street gang, the Blackstone Rangers. 

Here, the former minister Reverend John Fry offered space to the group as it sought to transition from a street gang into an organization focused on pressing social issues. The Rangers produced plays, conducted peace talks and held dances in the church, while simultaneously pursuing other more violent activities conducted in the surrounding neighborhood.

Remarking on the complicated history of his studio space, Li said, “As someone who came to Chicago in 2019,  I am such a foreigner and can’t comment on the history. Still, I am a Chinese international student who traveled around and stayed with host families, so I can relate the alienation — I think a lot of what the rangers did was a result of encountering intense alienation.”

In seeking to build community through the church, Li has hosted numerous events, including tintype portrait pop-ups, art shows, screenings, dinners, concerts and even a light show with jazz music. Li also hosts what he calls “mini residencies” on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons, where he opens up the space to artists interested in installing artwork in the building.

Black framed Li’s involvement and the broader array of cultural activities here as part of a broader effort to make First Presbyterian one of the “most important cultural centers south of the Loop, where the creativity of Black Chicago can find roots, resilience, and flourishing.”

“Our church is blessed with an incredibly beautiful and versatile building rooted in the heart of the South Side,” said Black. “We are also blessed with a congregation that is flexible and willing to take risks. Our two rules are: no judgment and no censorship. As long as artists are respectful of the church building and the spiritual community that takes care of it, there are no boundaries on what they can express in our space.”

To request a tintype photograph appointment from Li, email omaxlgzo@gmail.com. Li’s work can be seen at www.maximage.org.