Miggo Agua Water Resistant Camera Holster Review

A few weeks ago we became one of the first people to test a new and unique water resistant camera holster. The unit from the company Miggo is called Agua (water in Spanish) and has some interesting features and this video and review will try and explore them in depth.

Miggo has been around for over a year now. Last year the company released their first product in a Kickastarter campaign. We had a chance to talk to the company back than about their first project – the Strap & Wrap. As we mentioned than, the three founders of Miggo which is an Israeli company, came from another Israeli bag manufacturer – KATA (now completely dissolved into Manfrotto Bags) and after the company moved most of its staff to Italy the founders of Miggo, which held key positions inside KATA for many years, decided to come up with their own unique company and brand.

A year later and Miggo is moving forward and releasing their second project to Kickstarter. This time it is an entire line of special water resistant camera holsters called Agua (it currently comes in 3 sizes – see later in the article).

The Agua – a unique water resistant camera holster

Although Israel in the summer is probably not the best place in the world to test a water resistant camera holster, we did try and get a bit creative in the video but we also found out that the Agua has a lot to offer besides just water resistance.

Carrying, build quality and ergonomics

As we have mentioned there are 3 sizes to the Agua – small, medium and large. We had a chance to test the medium version (actually a prototype of sorts – the final version will have a few extra features which we shall mention later on in this section).

In terms of capacity:

Small Agua (25) – fits mirrorless, superzooms, and compact cameras.
Medium Agua (35) – fits large mirrorless cameras, small to medium DSLRs with up to medium size lenses.
Large Agua (45) – fits large/pro DSLRs such as Canon EOS 5D and Nikon D810 with up to about 24-70mm lenses.

All 3 bags are rectangular, a shape that might have been chosen to improve water resistance (we prefer longer type holsters but it is a personal choice really). The bags have an inner compartment which is attached to the bag itself (see the video) with Velcro. The function of this part is to prevent water which somehow penetrate the special water resistant zippers and allow for the water to form below the camera and not to touch it (pretty clever design). Another smart water resistant design feature is the small fabric which cover the zippers at the end of each side of the holster.

A locking mechanism for the strap clip – will be included in the final version

We tried the Agua medium with 2 cameras – our D7100 with several different medium size lenses (including a 105mm macro) and a Fujifilm X-T10 which we are currently reviewing with a 16-55mm f/2.8 lens and both worked O.K. (with the D7100+105mm macro it was a little bit tight – so if you have longer lenses you might want to consider the large Agua instead).

We wanted to say more than a few words about the strap which comes with the Agua as it is very special. It can be used to connect to the holster itself or you can use it as a normal strap for your camera. You can even use it for the Agua and have your camera connect to the inside of the holster and use the Agua with the camera as one unit for fast quick draw action shooting. It will be a personal preference if this is something that you are going to feel comfortable with.

The strap can be used in a conventional way (attached to both sides of your camera with clips parts (we had prototype clips – the finale version will have a lock to prevent accidental opening – very important if you don’t want the camera or the entire holster falling to the floor). You will also be able to connect the strap to the bottom of the camera (using a small lock and clips connected to the camera tripod mount).

The strap itself is thick, padded but not flexible – exactly the way we feel a strap should be. The only minor drawback is that it uses clips with thin connecting straps (the black straps which you connect to the two sides of your camera). We asked Agua about this and they explained that they tried to make those straps thicker but since different cameras have different connectors (some of them super small for some reason – they had to come up with a design which will fit every camera and this was the result. We can hope that in the future the company will come up with two types of straps/connectors – one thinner for small cameras (with little room for a cable) and one for larger ones.

Two features that will be included in the final version (which we didn’t have on the prototype that we used for the video) are the locking clips that we have mentioned and a front inner pocket for a lens cover (we would really like to see more pockets in future versions including ones for memory cards and accessories such as a smartphone/wallet).

The front pocket for the lens cover – will be included in the final version

Conclusion

The Agua is indeed a unique holster. It is well made, light, has a smart and effective rain protection (and in our test it even survived a quick drop into bucket of water but this is beyond the IPX3 specs – so do this at your own risk). However for us at least, as we typically don’t shoot too much in the rain, getting the holster is worth simply for the strap which is one of the best camera straps we ever used (although you can of course purchase the strap alone) and for $30 on Kickstarter it will be a great choice (but keep in mind that with a few extra dollars you will be getting a holster as well so why not).

Agua’s truly fantastic strap with the Fujifilm X-T10

There is very little not to like about the Agua. Besides the strange triangular shape, the zippers are probably the only drawback. Because of the IPX3 they tend to be a little bit stiff to open. We would say that this is an acceptable trade-off if you really need a water resistant holster (otherwise of course there are a million other holsters you can choose from in all shapes and sizes). In future versions we would love to see internal or external pockets for a wallet/smartphone and other small accessories which currently don’t have their own place in the holster.

As for pricing, the Agua is (at the time of writing) still on Kickstarter (after raising over $130k) and you can get it from $55-$65 depending on the size.

One final word about Miggo. We can’t really say too much about the future plans of Miggo, but the company and its growing team of designers are true visionaries and the Agua is really just the tip of the iceberg in terms of what we will likely see from them in the next few years – we can’t wait for the next Miggo product and hope to bring you an early review as soon as we can.

What we liked

Good build quality.
Excellent strap (one of the best we tried to date on its own).
Water resistant (rain proof and in our test drown proof for a short time – but do this at your own risk).
Quick draw with or without the holster attached.

What we didn’t like so much

Quick draw is slowed down a bit by the small zippers.
Rectangular shape isn’t for everybody.
No internal pockets for accessories/wallet, smartphone (apart for one for the lens cover).

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Iddo Genuth

Iddo Genuth is the founder and chief editor of LensVid.com. He has been a technology reporter working for international publications since the late 1990's and covering photography since 2009. Iddo is also a co-founder of a production company specializing in commercial food and product visual content.