Another one of my photographic rules is that there is no such thing as the perfect camera bag. That’s probably because different situations need different bags. That said, it doesn’t stop me trying to find a bag that will do pretty much everything I want. The latest candidate for the job is Tamrac’s Evolution 6. It will get it’s first real test this weekend at the Waddington Air Show, but I thought I’d post my first impressions before posting some more in depth ones after the show.
My requirements were dual side access; I wanted the convenience of a shoulder bag, but in a backpack. I also wanted a space for a small jacket and other bits and pieces. That limited me to Tamrac’s Evolution or Kata’s 3N1. (I’d already investigated Lowepro’s Versapack and have to say it was one of the worst bags I’ve ever tried. But that’s another story.) The Tamrac was a good price, so I went for that.
I have to say that first impressions are, well, impressive.
For the Air show I’ll have a D90 with 18-105 attached along with a 70-300 AF-D, plus the usual lens pens, cloths, batteries, memory cards, etc. This all fits in nicely. If I needed to, I could fit in another lens, or a flash and at a push, could probably fit them both in.
The main thing I like about the bag is that the dividers attach to the corners of the camera compartment rather than the side panels, which means I can access the camera from one side, and access lenses or flash from the other. The top section could be bigger and there are a few little niggles, but I’ll wait until after the weekend to see if they really bug me or not.
The bag is comfortable, doesn’t feel too heavy and has enough pockets for all the bits and pieces I want with me.
So first impressions are pretty good. Let’s see how it fares on an all day shoot.
WeavingLight 