Designed for the photographer who has a lighter kit and wants a smaller less bulky bag, the BackLight Sprint is a slim, lightweight backpack that is ideal for hiking or treks around town. If you’ve followed Think Tank Photo for a long time, you know where this model gets its inspiration from: the MindShift Gear brand. Even the optional Woodland Green color comes from there, used in both backpacks and the 2016 Multi-Mount Holsters, which I tested back then and keep using to carry gear eight year later.
So, although the MindShift Gear brand may not be present in this new BackLight model, which has a “Think Tank” logo where the “MindShift Gear” logo was – the BackLight 18L still has the old name – the source of inspiration is still the same (and the video does have “MindShift” in the title). Think Tank Photo may have decided to start 2024 dropping the band we immediately associated with outdoor photography, but even if the new backpack is a “ThinkTank”, for many of us it will always look like a “MindShift Gear”.
Back-panel access to your camera gear without taking the pack off, allowing you to work out of the bag without getting your harness dirty, wet, muddy or icy, is something we all saw in MindShift Gear backpacks, presented in different ways, since the original 360º, which was not very practical but served to introduce the concept of a rotating belt pack as part of the whole bag, in the Rotation family. Which still uses the name MindShift Gear. I wonder if this brand name will be completely dropped in 2024…
The BackLight Sprint, the smaller of the family, is still big enough to carry a standard-sized camera body with lenses attached and 1–3 standard zoom lenses. Think Tank Photo says that the maximum lens size that fits inside it is a 300mm f/2.8 or 150–600mm f/5–6.3 attached to a body, but there should be no doubt that this is a backpack designed for minimalist photographers who want to carry less gear.
Despite its slim profile, the backpack can carry a lot, besides the camera and lenses. It offers a 2L front compartment for personal gear, a top zippered pocket for quick access to phone and other essentials and has two large water bottle pockets with cinch cord able to fit a 32oz Nalgene.
Dual vertical daisy chains on the front pocket add functionality and external carry capacity, and a tripod can be carried on either side using the pocket and upper compression straps. The side compression straps with locking SR buckles for additional lash points in backpack that meets most international and U.S. carry-on requirements and will fit under most airline seats.
With a price of $149.75, this smaller bag from Think Tank may be all you need to start 2024 with a lighter load. With two colors available, the now classic Woodland Green and Charcoal, the BackLight Sprint may be all the backpack you need to prepare for something I like to tell people: “carry less, photograph more”, or “less gear, more fun”.