Discount Tamrac 5502 Explorer 2 Camera Bag (Blue)

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List Price: $60.95
Sale Price: $49.45
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Quite roomy for a small camera bag. I had a difficult time finding a small camera bag that could fit my camera. This top-loading bag can hold a larger SLR with a battery grip, hand strap and medium zoom lens attached with a non-reversed lens hood. And there's room for more -another lens or two or a flash unit and some smaller items like batteries, filters, memory cards, film, etc. The padded lens compartment dividers are velcroed and can be adjusted to fit your equipment. The right and left lens compartments can be further sub-divided with two included padded velcro partitions but I don't find it very useful to stack equipment in this fashion.

The bag is sturdy and well-padded with a top handle and an adjustable shoulder strap. The top is held closed with quick-release nylon buckle for fast extraction of your camera but can also be zippered closed for added protection from the elements. Great bag for short trips!

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I needed a new camera bag for my new camera, so I shopped a local camera store to see what they had. I was really impressed with the quality of the Tamrac products they had in stock. The canvas sides of the bag, the straps and the padding were all a notch heavier and better quality than similarly priced competing brands that I saw in that store. But I didn't buy there, since they only carried backpack styles in the Tamrac brand, and I wanted a more conventional, non-backpack style bag.

I did an Internet search for Tamrac products when I got home and found that they have a huge and varied product line of camera and video bags, many more than I saw in the store. Since I now knew of their quality, I simply picked a Tamrac bag by the advertised features, size and price.

The Tamrac Explorer 2 is fairly small, but ideally sized to carry my Nikon D80 DSLR with a 18-135 Nikkor zoom attached. There is also enough additional room for a good sized flash and an extra lens. And, there's plenty of space for small things like extra memory cards, batteries, cables, etc.

My camera's body with the lens attached measures a total of 6.25 inches long (back of camera body to end of attached lens), 4 inches tall (camera body base to hot shoe) and 5 inches wide. This bag will accept a camera body that is even wider than that, but the 6.25 inch total length is close to the max that this bag will comfortably handle. If your camera/lens combination is longer than that, you will want to look at a larger bag, if you intend to carry your camera with the lens attached.

Finally, this is a bag that should last you many years with only minimal care. It is solidly built from quality materials. Just keep in mind that the size of this bag is suitable for just one camera body, a couple of lenses (one attached to the camera body), a flash attachment and the assorted small items that support a DSLR system. If you want to carry more than this, get a larger bag.

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Very pleased with the quality of this bag. Shoulder strap pad is made to conform to your shoulder and does not feel bad even after a full days use.

Strap could be a bit longer IMO, I like to put the strap over my head and carry it on the other shoulder so it will not slip off.. just not long enough to keep top of bag as low as I like, but still works just fine.

I'm 6 foot and wear a size 42 long jacket as reference if that helps at all.

I would suggest that you go by the actual inside measurements rather than Tamrac saying WHAT it will hold. Not sure just what lenses and flash units they are testing with, but seem to be of smaller size than what I have in use.

Normally, I carry a backpack type camera bag to hold all my gear, but now and then find I don't need everything with me and would still like to protect my gear and keep it ready for quick use.

I stepped up from the Explorer "1" to this size just as I was about to order, because I wanted plenty of room and it's not quite what I thought in that area based on how many items they state it will hold.

This does hold a Cannon 20D or 40D with battery grip plus shorter lens like the 17-85. (Don't pull the velcro divider straps all the way flat)

a full size flash and flash grip, along with extra batteries, memory cards etc.

They do make various, smaller, add-on cases that can mount on the strap and that works well also if you need to carry more items.

One feature I messed up on.... I started looking at smaller Tamrac bags and they featured a way to strap to your belt along with a shoulder strap and I like that in my other bags.

However, I used the Tamrac site "quick look" to look at the line and kept up-sizing until I saw what seemed to hold enough items, but failed to see that it dropped the belt feature at some size, so just be sure and read the features and measurments well before you order yours.

If you get one too small, you have to pack it tight in the main compartment, makes you lose the use of all the other zippered compartments as filling these will make things fit worse or not at all.

Honest reviews on Tamrac 5502 Explorer 2 Camera Bag (Blue)

I love this camera bag. I looked through tons of different camera bags and narrowed it down to this one. I use it to hold my Nikon D40X camera with a 18-55 lens (attached to the body), SB-600 Nikon flash, Nikkor 55-200 lens, spare set of four AA batteries for my flash, a spare battery for my camera, an extra memory card, and my Nikon Digital Field Guide book. The main part of my bag is full, but there's still plenty of room for extras like cables more memory cards and other small accessories. It's compact and carries all my necessities in a very organized fashion. The bag is weather resistant and seems very durable. I would definitely recommend this bag and consider it a must have for a DSLR camera owner.

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I bought the Tamrac Explorer 2 for a Nikon D80 recently, and it seems to be pretty good. I like the general look and design of the bag, as it looks like a traditional gadget bag. I especially like the extra zipper for the cover, which helps keep dirt and dust away from the main compartment where I store my camera, and the single clip securing the cover works well when I don't need the extra protection of the zipper. While reasonably compact, the bag is fairly sturdy, although I haven't "taken it on the road" yet to see how it holds up under normal travel wear and tear. Storage seems adequate for now, although I only have one lens for the camera (18-135mm), which I keep mounted on the camera when I store it in the Tamrac. Adjusting the velcro-secured panels to accomodate my stuff took a little time, but the final configuration seems to meet my needs, and secures the camera quite well. My only complaint is that when I store my camera "lens down" within the space I created with the velcro panels, the lens extends when I remove the camera because the fit is so tight. I also wish the Tamrac Explorer 2 had side pockets to store additional items. Other than that, it's a nice bag that keeps my camera safe. The shoulder strap seems comfortable, but I won't know how it feels after extended use and lugging the fully loaded bag around on my next vacation. Overall, I would recommend buying this bag.