Paolo Belcastro

Reminder: these are not professional reviews. If you want those, with video and all the other bells and whistles, the web is full of them. The following are my biased opinions—some from trying a bag for two days, some from using one for months. This is not purchasing advice, and if you make an investment decision based on what I wrote, you are on your own 🙂

Intro and Links

I can’t remember how I discovered this brand. These aren’t bags you find easily in stores, or at least not in the store I frequent.

It was probably a Kickstarter or similar crowdfunding platform. I tried the Prima System and the Errant a few years ago, then as I started writing these reviews, I discovered they have launched a Pro version of the Errant bag; I ordered it, tried it, and unfortunately sent it back last week.

• Boundary Bags
  • Prima System
  • Errant
  • Errant Pro

It’s important to note that the Boundary bags are not set up as camera bags by default but instead come with a series of camera cubes of different sizes depending on your bag and the gear you need to carry. While this is not a bad idea per se, I’ll explain shortly why it could be realized better here.

What I liked

The Boundary bags are bags I strongly wish I could keep using because they share a few characteristics I sincerely appreciate.

First and frontmost, they use magnets in many places, one could almost say everywhere possible. It goes from the latches to the flaps to the key holders. The benefit of magnets in latches is that they are effortless to use single-handedly, unlike the classic plastic plugs that come with regular bags. Also, when magnets replace velcro to keep flaps closed, you can open your bag silently, which is not a small benefit in a photo bag. Finally, the magnetic key holder made the Errant bag the only one I ever tried where I could grab, use, and put back my keys without removing the bag from my back.

They also have many pockets, including a few hidden ones for your passport or other important documents, and are made of excellent fabrics, particularly in the X-Pac versions.

Why I don’t use them anymore

I used the Prima and the Errant as my primary bag for a while a few years ago. At the time, I was only making photos with my iPhone and didn’t need to carry a camera, and both those bags were great in that context. They are still in my home, although I have since offered them to family members.

The Prima is annoying because it’s big but shaped in a way that makes it fall on its front. There’s no way for it to stand on its own, and it’s even tough to have it stand against a wall because of its shape.

The Errant doesn’t stand on its own either, mainly because it is too thin, but at least it does stand up if you put it against a wall or table leg.

The Errant Pro does stand independently if a camera cube is not in it.

To me, not standing up when carrying a laptop, camera, lenses, and all the other accessories is a big blocker. I need to know I can put my bag somewhere and find it in the same spot.

Let’s talk about the camera cubes.

Boundary’s camera cubes are very thick. I understand the reasons, but they don’t work out for me.

The reasons their cubes are so thick are, on the one hand, that the bags themselves offer absolutely no protection without the cube, only a thin fabric layer, and, on the other hand, that the cubes can be carried around without being in the bag.

That’s fine if it’s what you want to do, but I don’t. In my case, they already reduce relatively small bags to tiny ones.

In addition, the cube that fits in the Errant Pro presents an inclined bottom side, which transforms a bag that initially stood on its own into one that falls forward like the Prima bag.

Conclusion

Frankly, it was unfortunate to discover that the Errant Pro with the camera cube is too small and unstable. However, if Boundary comes up with a bag with integrated protections and a flat bottom, I will buy it without hesitation. Alternatively, I know a couple brands that should take a hint and replace plastic latches and velcros with magnets!