Bought the Tamrac 5786 Evolution 6

Paid $110.00 purchased at our local Wolf Camera store in Augusta,GA
Color Dark brown with Tan



Dimensions 17" tall 10" wide 6" deep

Total weight (with gear shown) 14lbs

there is a center buckle and foot pocket for a tripod (but have yet to try that.
Construction feels pretty solid and another friend of mine got his soaking wet in the rain (without the rain cover) and said it suffered no interior damage to the bag or his gear.


My Gear
Sony Alpha, 50 prime 28 prime 35-70zoom 70-210 zoom 100-300 Zoom 18-70 Zoom external Flash memory card lens cleaning stuff water storage bag t-shirt and battery charger


Fit with out any cramming, has velcro dividers for everything. One thing i really liked as you can remove ALL the dividers and it guts the entire bag of its internals so lots of options for the arrangement of your gear.

all so has several tabs which I like cause I cam clip my keys to it or even a water bottle with a climbers hook attached.


Camera access side very easy to get to while worn in the sling style and kinda makes a nice place to prop your elbows when shooting for that steady shot.

The top pocket is holding the battery charger for my camera but has enough room for maybe a passport or cell phone as well.


Lens access side gets me to all the lenses I would ever need in a hurry my two primes and Zooms
also really nice in sling mode.
NOT good in back pack mode while they are snug I imagine they would fall right out if you opened that pocket in the upright position.

above pocket is the rain cover (comes with the bag)


Shown in backpack mode it has the waist straps but I already tucked them away. also had the small across the chest strap which I didn't care for but was easily removable. padding on the shoulders is really nice and has a grippy leather on the inside of the straps so it doesn't slide around on your shoulders.


set to sling style easy to adjust the straps and you just match the colors for which side you want and the other strap tucks away. takes me about 40 seconds to go from back pack to sling style.

possible down sides:
No laptop compartment
the top compartment (in the orientation I have it) could hold maybe a book and a T-shirt or a bottle of water and a hat or maybe another camera body possibly.(but not tons of extra space)
you have to pick which lenses you want quick access to (like in my case have two which you can only get to from the back pocket) but that is where i put the two I use least.


Other Pro's:

I think its a pretty good looking bag
and if I ever get stuck in an airport for 13 hours again it will make a nice pillow.

Originally Posted by Alchemy-Z

there is a center buckle and foot pocket for a tripod

yeah, we can read...

all kidding aside, this bad is very interesting to me. On one hand it's a clone of the kata 3n1-30 that I had for a while. But on the other hand, for the same reason I don't have the kata anymore, this isn't perfect. I want a bag to be 100% camera bag. If I need something else along for the ride, it can go in the camera compartment. Basically, I want the side access to access ALL my lenses from one side. But this looks to be built better so it's tempting.

Tim, here's a trick someone taught me with the kata after I'd had it a while... My bitch about not being able to get everything from one side access, with the kata, they went light with the velcro on those dividers that separated the camera from some of the side lenses... You could pull a tab and still get at them which was nice. Can you do that with the velcro on the tamrac inserts? I'm thinking the bigger version would be ideal for me (for the 100-400) but I HATE laptop sleeves (waisted space for me because I don't have one). ugh. Looks great and it'll work for sure, I'm just to anal and picky about bags I'm not sure if it's perfect for me.

Nice review/writeup though, thanks!

Hmm I might try the velcro flip tip thanks

and yeah I felt the same about the laptop (my wife has one but I don't personally) and the last thing i want to be on vacation is on the internet lol

yep, we bring the phones with us and use them over WiFi at the end of the day for limited internet on vaca and LOVE that.

just googled tarmac evolution 6 review and this is the second hit! Still thinking about one of these. I actually have a think tank sling here for review but I NEED 2 straps. I walked 5 miles with the sling Saturday then through airports Friday and tonight and 1 strap blows....

Originally Posted by jacobsen1

just googled tarmac evolution 6 review and this is the second hit! Still thinking about one of these. I actually have a think tank sling here for review but I NEED 2 straps. I walked 5 miles with the sling Saturday then through airports Friday and tonight and 1 strap blows....

Awesome! glad to know I am pulling some google instrest to the site!

I am loving mine, I usually Sling it for wedding shoots when I am switching lenses often and back pack it the rest of the time.

also figured out a better way to organize my gear and made myself some more room.

how small is the top compartment and does the "photo block" extend up into it if you want?

Looking at the TT sling, I REALLY like the shape/design of it, but I REALLY want it to be a backpack. I'll have to start playing with strap options from old backpacks and other bags this week to see what I can come up with...

Originally Posted by jacobsen1

how small is the top compartment and does the "photo block" extend up into it if you want?

Looking at the TT sling, I REALLY like the shape/design of it, but I REALLY want it to be a backpack. I'll have to start playing with strap options from old backpacks and other bags this week to see what I can come up with...

During the last wedding I shot I had a rebel XTI-with a 55-80mm lense /extra battery/small microfiber rag/ in the (top compartment)

I don't think they connect but I will double check tonite.

?

lol I have no Idea Ben