Thanks for your comments on this. I hired the Ortlieb Aqua Zoom in the US for hiking all day through a river up 'the narrows' and was quite impressed with it. Although I didn't submerge the bag it kept my SLR dry from all the splashes.

I was just looking for somewhere to buy either of these two bags and found your review, so thanks for the feedback on the 'Plus' version of the bag. It sounds like the Ortlieb Aqua Zoom (none plus version) is the better bag to go for.

I take it the camera bag is still performing well for you?

It is working well yes. I've not come across anything to beat it.

It's kept the camera bone-dry in torrential downpours.

The only thing to fail, and really this isn't surprising, is the webbing attachment point that I use to hold it on to my rucksack. It's the flat one at the side that's obviously intended to be usd to strap a belt through.

But it only started to tear once it had carried 2.5 kilos of camera and lenses over rough ground for about thirty days in total. And even then it really only failed after a tight squeeze going up a clough scramble in the Peak. Not at all what it was meant to stand up to!

To be honest I don't think it was ever designed to be loaded that heavily and attached via that webbing at the same time (it takes the load fine in all other regards).

Overall it keeps the camera dry and protected which are the main features I need.  It can't magically make the camera lighter or smaller of course

I've yet to get around to creating a camera harness to atach to the rucksack to take the load off the Aquazoom but I'll blog it when I do...

Hmm, just found this thread, thought i reply to add some insight to the bag (I wanted to add the review to the reviews section, but somehow it still hasn't come on there.)

Anyway, the bag is damn watertight; you can notice this also when you close the bag and squeeze it, it hardly lets any air out and baloons a bit.

So keeping the water out should be no problem whatsoever. 

But indeed, the webbing for attaching it to a belt for instance is a bit fragile imo. The loops for the shoulder straps look much sturdier though.

The only thing that bothers me a bit is that getting the camera in and out (Canon 40D with Sigma 15-30mm zoom) can be tight and takes some fumbling. But thats a result for having such a watertight closure. Also, there are no small pockets inside for little accesories, like the memory card for instance.

Conclusion, very well built, feels decent. Does the job thats it's designed for, but is a bit on the tight side compared to other similar 'normal' camerabags with top-lids.

One thing I'd just add to this - if you want to use the belt attachment: coat it in genuine McNett Seam Grip first.

My sewn repair blew threw the kevlar thread eventually until it was just as ripped as before I repaired it. That took about twenty or so days walking.

But there it stopped. Once it reached the original, un-torn section of the belt attachment that was only reinforced with Seam Grip it simply didn't tear further for months.

I've since repaired it again but with very thick kevlar thread and glued a thick bit of webbing inside it with, yep - more Seam Grip. It's stood up ten days plus with no sign it's ever going to fail now.

Oh and it's still very, very water and dust proof.