_MB_
Forum Regular
Registered: March 2007 Location: Northumberland, UK Posts: 829
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Review Date: Sun January 6, 2008
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Would you recommend the product? Yes |
Price you paid?: £31.00
| Rating: 8
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Pros:
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Size, straps, doesn't scream camera bag
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Cons:
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Flimsy fastening clip
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I've never much liked traditional camera bags as I've often got stuff I want to carry with me, but don't necessarily want to mix with my camera kit. Sandwiches are a good example.
The adventure 6 is a relatively compact bag split in two much like the Lowepro Orion. Top part is general purpose compartment, good for a packed lunch, hat, gloves. Bottom part is a camera compartment with all the usual foam and velcro partitions. It comes in red, grey and camouflage - I went for red on the basis of it being much easier to find if it falls into a bracken forest!
The build is excellent, fabric is thick and feels very durable. Padding in the partitions is that good balance of stiffness and softness. This won't let me down for a long time. It doesn't have much on the outside like tripod loops that make it obviously a camera bag which, if you can keep all your gear inside, is a bonus if you're concerned about being a target. I'm not, but it's still worth noting. Each zip has two sliders with largeish fabric toggles. Again - handy if you're out in the wilds, not too secure if you're in the towns. A single slider may have been more sensible. A pocket on the front of the camera compartment is good for filters, memory cards and the like.
The straps are nicely shaped and sit well on the shoulders, fully loaded this feels comfortable. It's apparently compatible with some modular system Tamrac have appealed to the Andy McNab in all of us by calling SAS.
The major problems with this bag are its capacity, and the rather dubious fastening clip between top and bottom sections. When zipped up and on the move it's all solid as a rock and I must confess to regularly walking some distance with the clip alone holding the bag together. This is OK so far but the clip does look weak, and does not give a particularly reassuring click when snapped fast. A sturdier clip, or two, would have been nice.
Capacity wise, Tamrac say it'll take a mid sized SLR, 2 lenses, a flash and accessories. This is fair enough. I've actually stuffed 4 lenses plus body in there but it is a tight fit. If you're fine carrying gear on the web pockets on the sides you can actually get another lens, flash etc on here too. It's occasionally an irritation when I need to carry something outside the bag but this misses the point of the bag somewhat. I've got a range of lenses and other odds and ends that serve different purposes and rarely need all of them.
This bag is an ideal daysack to carry what it's supposed to, though if you habitually take every lens cloth and ball head you own out with you, I'd look for something with bigger capacity.
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