Saturday, February 19, 2011

Cheeky Lime Camera Bag

I was very disappointed at the XcessRize Designs camera bag that I received which is impossible to be a camera bag unless I want all my gear to break upon any kind of impact - a slight bump by someone who makes you run into the wall with your camera bag for instance.

Cheeky Lime was mentioned on one of the boards I frequent, but I had never heard of them before. Went to check them out, me being the visual type, I really liked the look of the bag. I guess my friend Andy was tired of me talking about camera bags all the time, he said I should just make a decision already, so he ordered this bag for me, I guess to shut me up. :-D Thank you Andy!!!!!

So excited to finally receive this bag!! This was the box it came in:


After opening the box, I found a white bag inside the box:


The Cheeky Lime Camera Bag is actually inside a white bag:


Cheeky Lime logo, right in front of the bag:


A little side view:


Cheeky Lime tag:


This is what it looks like right out of the box, and right out of the white bag:


So cute, with a little pink camera charm:


Now, the egg test. What's an egg test? I did this exact same egg test on XcessRize Designs bag, and it failed miserably, let's see how it does with this Cheeky Lime Bag. I take an egg, put it in a plastic ziplock bag, and put that bag inside another ziplock bag to avoid leakage in case if the egg breaks. I put the plastic bags with egg inside the middle compartment of the Cheeky Lime bag, lift it up 4+ feet high, drop it down to my tile floor.


What a loud noise it made, with all the metal pieces hitting the floor, I thought for sure the egg inside was broken. For sure, I thought. Look what I found instead:


The egg was INTACT!! OMIGOD, I could not believe it!!! I inspected the whole egg and also inside and outside my bag, nothing was damaged. There's padding on all sides of the bag including the top, and double padding on the sides and the bottom except for the middle section where the camera goes, not sure why there is only a single layer of padding. The egg actually went to the middle, I didn't realize there was only one layer of padding until after the egg test. So even with only one layer of padding, the egg survived!

Anyway, let's move on. This is one of the side pockets, also padded, magnetic closure:


Magnetic closure for the front padded pocket:


Another side pocket on the other side, also padded, with magnetic closure:

































This is what the bag looks like on the inside:


Back zipper pocket, this is the ONLY pocket that is not padded:


Bottom is equipped with 4 metal feet, so the bag doesn't touch the floor/ground:

































The bag also comes with a separate padded pouch with magnetic closure, for memory cards I think, and you can tug this into the inside of the bag:


This is the only place that I found some black marks on the side and bottom of the bag. Quality control? Not a big deal considering all the other good things about this bag. Wish they weren't there to begin with though.


Cheeky Lime bag loaded:


Another view of the Cheeky Lime logo:


Front pocket:

































Little pink camera charm hanging in the front of the bag next to the front pocket:

































A closer look at the charm:

































Another look at the charm:

































This is the top flap on the inside, there are 3 mesh pockets to put lens caps in, this top flap is also padded:


zipper closure of the top flap:

































Another look at the bag from the front:





Conclusion:

I LOVE this bag. The actual color is not as bright as the pictures on their website, but I really like this color too. I just wish that there was double padding for the bottom and the sides of the middle of the bag, then this bag is perfect! Okay, I will overlook the black markings on the inside of the bag I mentioned above. I LOVE this bag! It's so efficiently designed, and it's not big, and it's got enough padding to protect my gear. My husband says it looks like a picnic bag! Even better since no one wants to steal a picnic bag, right?! ;-) Thank you so much Andy!!!

22 comments:

  1. I loved this review, thank you! I just bought a Cheeky Lime bag and can't wait for it to arrive! Should be tomorrow but cause it's a holiday it'll be Tuesday *squeel!* Bummer about your other bag! For $90 it shoudl protect your stuff!

    ReplyDelete
  2. PS: What lenses do you have? For a hobbiest you have a lot!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Fantastic review!! I agree completely. I LOVE THIS BAG!

    ReplyDelete
  4. The XcessRize bag I got was $110 because I added waterproof layer and the back pocket. This bag is $12 cheaper and so much more padding and room.

    The camera you see in there is my old Digital Rebel (the original) with an old Sigma lens from 2000 (film days). The Tamron lens is my everyday lens 18-270mm, the Tokina is a wide angle lens 11-16mm, and the one I used to take these pictures is a 50mm. I have probably the least number of lenses compared to most hobbyists.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Wow thanks for letting me know...I love the look of this bag and I'm glad you found one that worked for you!!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Looks like a GREAT find! I like the little camera charm and the pattern on the inside especially!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Thanks for this great review. I've been looking at this bag and it looked like the nicest one out there. I just got a DSLR camera and I've been tentative about taking it out because i don't have a bag yet. I'm going to order it now! (thanks for all the pics too - it really helps!)

    ReplyDelete
  8. This is lovely. and the color is a rare find I think for a dslr cam bag. I will definitely need to add this one to my blog.
    http://www.stylishdslrcamerabags.com

    Thanks so much for sharing!!

    ReplyDelete
  9. btw - do you mind if I link my post to your review? This will help other women in deciding if this is the right one for their dslr. (IMO i think it's one of the higher quality options for us - protection without sacrificing fashion :)

    ReplyDelete
  10. No I don't mind at all, please go ahead. I love this bag!

    ReplyDelete
  11. I bought this bag because of your review! Hope I like it as much as you! But you did a great job showing all of the detail that their web site doesnt! Cant wait to get mine now! Thank you for taking the time to post this! Happy Snapping! :)

    ReplyDelete
  12. Happy snapping to you too Sarah! I'm sure you'll like the bag! :-)

    ReplyDelete
  13. what a thorough review! i love it :) i've been eyeing this camera bag and i really want to get it now. amazing egg test too holy cow

    pandaphilia fashion

    ReplyDelete
  14. Thank you for this review, it really helped me on my decision.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Really hoping I get one for my birthday, though it is a little pricey. Great review though thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  16. Just stumbled upon this while searching for reviews of Cheeky Lime bags. Now that you've had this for awhile, do you still love it? How has it held up?

    ReplyDelete
  17. Hi, I just stumbled onto your blog and saw your review. I wonder if you are still feeling good about this bag since you've had it for a while now. I'm contemplating about getting one. Would love to hear from you. THanks.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Hi there! I have been trying to decide which camera bag to buy as I am purchasing my first DSLE this week. Thanks for a great review. I am curious, is the strap long enough to wear across your body like a long shoulder bag? Or is it more designed to be carried like a handbag?
    Thanks!
    Sarah

    ReplyDelete
  19. woww awesome, Thanks for review, it was excellent and very informative.
    thank you :)

    ReplyDelete