Expedition 3 Backpack - 5273 (Black)

$59.95 at  
RitzCamera.com  

Tamrac Expedition 3 5273 BackPack - Front Loading - Backpack, Handle - Polytek - Black

$59.95 at  
Buy.com  

Tamrac 527301 Expedition 3 Photo Camera Backpack - Black

$59.95 at  
JR.com  

5273 Expedition 3 Backpack (Black), 600D PolyTek Compact Backpack, Fits SLR Camera 4-5 Lens Kit, Adjustable, Foam-Padded Dividers, QuickClip Tripod Attachment System, Memory & Battery Management S

$59.99 at  
BHPhotoVideo.com  

Tamrac Expedition 3 Photo Backpack

$67.99 at  
Walmart.com  

I was looking for something compact and comfortable to bring to sporting events &amp; vacations. This bag is perfect for both. The only thing different I was looking for was &quot;color&quot;! I don't carry Prada, Gucci or Juicy purses But REALLY wanted something that flashy for the one thing I rather carry!<br ><br >All in All the bag successfully cleared 2 out of my 3 goals and the last goal was more a want than a practical need!

I have used this bag for about a year so I am not writing a "knee jerk" review of this bag. I have taken on several trips, all over Disney World multiple times, and around town to our families homes. However, I just upgraded to the Lowepro Slingbag because the Tarmac has one simple flaw to me that will be discussed in a moment. On construction, this bag would get 5 stars. It is very well made and essentially weather proof. It is a great bag for hauling around a minimum of equipment or where weight might be an issue like on an airplane, hiking, or similar trip. It accomadates my Canon 50D and some other stuff size wise but it is snug with the 28-135mm lens on it. The shoulder straps have nice padding. So wheres the flaw? It sucks to use. Here I'd actually give it zero stars. Mainly, it is not easy to get at the camera for quick shots. I found myself constantly having to set it down on something like my lap, a table, a chair or some other flat surface to open regardless of my need or urgency. Both zippers then have to be opened to opposite ends of the bag to access the camera. There is no quick open slot, flap, or otherwise. Again, due to the nature of it being weather resistant so this is understandable to some degree. The camera sits at the top of the bag pointing down as Amazon's photo shows. You'd never open it sitting like this for fear of your camera falling out so you have to lay it flat. The zippers can be hard to get out with the weather proof flaps covering them which I found to be a real pain if I was trying to get at the camera quickly.

Pros: Very well made with lots of padding and light weight. Good size for a carry-on understanding the use limitations I've outlined above.

Cons: Small bag for a Pro-sized camera and lens. Hard to access compartments due to design. A bit pricey for what you get. Not good if you need to get at your camera fast.

i'm taking off one star because this bag is small and i find the photos and description on here quite misleading.

let me be clear though, i am happy with this bag. i received it as a gift, it was on my amazon wishlist. i did read all these reviews before receiving it this past weekend and i kept reading how small it was... didn't believe it until i saw it and tried putting my equipment in there!

so where to begin... well here is the equipment that i have so far. a nikon d80, an 18-135mm lens, a 105mm micro-nikkor lens (which is quite bulky), and a 50mm lens. i also carry around my battery charger, my ML-L3 remote, and two of my lenses have the lens hoods attached... in the reverse direction to save room, but it still adds width to the lens which makes things tricky.

since i've received this bag, i've had the large-ish 105mm attached to my d80, and with the lens hood attached it fits VERY snugly. luckily my 18-135mm fits when placed upright in the bag, so thankfully the bag is deep enough to accomodate that. just those two items eat up much of the room. i can fit my 50mm in there because it's so small, but i don't imagine being able to fit more than that. the description said you could fit 3-4 lenses in there, that's a load of crap quite frankly. i don't even want to consider my 50mm a "lens" in this situation because it's so small... anyways my point is, if you've got three "medium" sized lenses, good luck fitting them in here with your slr.

having said that, the build on this bag is great, i feel like my equipment is very well protected in there. it's also great to be able to move the inside partitions around, that is definitely a must since the space for the slr when the bag arrived was too small, i had to adjust it to accomodate my d80.

i honestly don't think a d300 would fit comfortably in here. i plan on adding the mb-d80 vertical grip to my camera and i know for sure the d80 equipped with the mb-d80 will NOT fit in this bag. so if you use that piece of equipment, you'd likely have to remove it in order to use this bag.

the outside flap/pocket and pouch are good for carrying small things like your keys and wallet, and that is also where i keep my charger, remote, and memory cards.

overall, this bag is nice as long as you're happy with the fact that it is tiny. until i get more lenses, it's going to work fine for me. but if you've got equipment that is bigger than what i stated above, i don't think this is the bag for you.

Pretty good small bag. Although a little tight for the camera body since it is positioned near the top where the pack is curved, there is plenty of padding and a tight fit does not cause any harm to the camera. The pads wear a little and the fit gets better over time, so this is not really a big deal, but it did make me worry initially. The padded velcro dividers in the bag can be positioned just about anywhere to make any combination of compartments. The bag also has a ton of extra pockets and compartments that were able to handle all my storage media, cables, batteries, etc. I have room for the camera, two other lenses, and the lens hoods on the inside. I am still trying to figure out if I can include my compact conventional film camera in the bag somewhere. Another great thing about the design of the pack is that the bag readily accepts other velcro attached accessories for water bottles, film, or other gear. I may see if my other camera will fit that way. There are two issues that might be a problem. 1 for the pros is that the bag is too small to handle larger lenses and professional gear. 2 for the beginner is that it is 1/2 the size of a regular backpack and not as convenient as a plain 35mm camera case if you are just headed out to the family picnic. One general gripe is that the straps will defninitely be a pain for those that prefer to carry it as a tote rather than wear it. They are not detachable. If they were, this would be nearly perfect for my needs. That said, I'm pretty happy with it and I won't be looking for any other cases.

I'm not sure why people are complaining about this backpack being so small since the description and pictures are accurate (though it looks smaller in real life and the scale is not all that obvious).

I easily fit a medium sized camera with a 28-300 lens attached and and an 18-55 lens directly below it. I don't have other lenses to fill up the side partitions of the main compartment, but could easily fit 2 to 4 more lenses (depending on size) in these areas. The sides of the main compartment seem a bit tighter to fit things in, however.

Even being conservative, this pack should fit a camera with lens attached, 2 additional lenses and a flash in the main compartment.

In the smaller front pocket I fit 2 memory cards, compact lens cleaning kit, larger lens cloth, 8 AA batteries, compact charger. A mini-tripod or compact water bottle would fit in the outside pocket/strap.

Don't expect to carry huge amounts of additional things in this pack aside from additional small items like keys, wallet, map, cell phone.

You're not going to be putting your thermos, picnic lunch and jacket in here. It's not even as big as most computer backpacks, but it certainly doesn't claim to be. You might fit some small additional items, but not anything bulky.

The construction seems good and it's reasonably rigid and well padded. It's a good value for the price.

I have 2 digitial slr cameras, 2 lenses, and a add-on flash. When I looked as the picture of this product, I saw that it held an SLR and 5 good sized lenses ... When I got the product, it was EXTREMEMLY WELL CONSTRUCTED but also smaller than I had hoped.

I decided to keep the item based on the quality of construction and not include the flash inside the bag.

Take care.

Jack

This is a nice, well-made, durable backpack.
It just arrived today and I immediately stuffed it with my Nikon D50 SLR, with an 18-55mm lens attached and 2 additional lenses. It was a VERY tight squeeze getting this little bit of gear into the backpack. The bag is bulging at the sides making it a bit of a pain to zip up. If I had it to do over, I would probably opt for something larger than this backpack but for what it is, and the price, it'll do. The good thing about it is that the space constraints can be somewhat alleviated by purchasing attachable lens cases such as the MX5378 and MX5375.

This is a nice, well-made, durable backpack.
It just arrived today and I immediately stuffed it with my Nikon D50 SLR, with an 18-55mm lens attached and 2 additional lenses. It was a VERY tight squeeze getting this little bit of gear into the backpack. The bag is bulging at the sides making it a bit of a pain to zip up. If I had it to do over, I would probably opt for something larger than this backpack but for what it is, and the price, it'll do. The good thing about it is that the space constraints can be somewhat alleviated by purchasing attachable lens cases such as the MX5378 and MX5375.

I recently purchased the Tamrac 5273 backpack, and it's a great little pack if you're out shooting for the day and don't have too much (or if you have smaller) equipment. The comparments and pockets are well-organized and well-padded, everything is pretty easy to access, it's comfortable to wear, and it's certainly sturdy enough for all the environments I use it for (nature-hiking, city-trekking, etc.).

But, if you have an SLR with more than two lenses and maybe a few smaller accessories (a filter or two), things will be pretty tight. A previous reviewer also made a comment about the tripod holder being built for more compact tripods - that's definitely accurate. Although, it's not impossible to secure a more "standard" tripod (I've done it without too much trouble.)

Overall, if you're looking for something small-but-sturdy to carry equipment for the day, it's a fantastic backpack for that. If you generally carry more than the "basics," though, I'd recommend something a little bigger.

I own several Tamarac camera related bags and holders, and they have yet to disappoint me. This backpack is compact and easier to lug around than a full blown camera bag. Perfect for that short trip and still take enough to get the job done. Outstanding product

I bought this bag after reading all the reviews here. Many say they can stuff a dslr and three lenses in here.
Maybe that is possible with little lenses but if you have anything decent in there, rest assured it aint going to fit.
My kit was Canon Digital Rebel XT with kit lens, Canon 70-200-F4L + hood, usb hub & cable and lastly the battery charger.
All that would fit- as long as the 70-200 was on camera. No space for even a small flash.
When I tried to install the kit lens and keep the 70-200 in bag, i all goes wrong. This bag is not wide enough for the 70-200/camera+kit lens/70-200 hood.

The straw that broke the camels back as it were, was the battery grip. The grip puhed the contents over the edge. The combination of camera/grip height is about 3/4" to high for the bag.
And now I want to add a flash + spare batteries this bag up for sale.
Lastly, the tripod straps look great but need a really small or compact tripod to be effective. If you have a regular tripod getting it secured is 'challenging"!!

To sum up - This bag is great if you have very little gear or you only carry bits of your setup.
It would also work if you have the cheaper lenses that usually tend to be smaller and lighter than kit like the 'L' Canons.