Tamrac Bag Disappointment
During my trip last week with Mike Colon he gave us a tour of his camera bag. See picture at right courtesy of Marie Moyers. For over 6 years I have been a loyal LowePro user however last week I placed an order for a Tamrac StrongBox LP2 rolling bag and a Photo Messenger 9 bag. These two bags were exactly what I have always wanted. My only concern was the LP2 was not officially airport carry on approved. I was willing to look this over given it was only an inch or so larger. My guess is you can still get it on a plane, have you seen the size of bags some people take on a plane?
Prior to placing my order with B&H I visited the Tamrac website to make sure I had the proper model.
The image to the left is the picture on the Tamrac website for the LP2.
Looks like Mike’s?
I thought so. I immediately went to the B&H website and placed my order.
A week later my order arrived. Upon opening the box it seemed a bit smaller than what I remember. The feet and the wheels also looked different. After visiting the Tamrac site it looked like the SpeedRoller 2. I called B&H and they immediately issued an RMA and shipped me a new one over night delivery via UPS.
The new one arrived today and again it was wrong again, the tags say it is an LP2. I called B&H and they recommended I call Tamrac. After speaking to Tamrac I learned they redesigned the LP2 and consider it the same thing. It is not!
It is slightly smaller, the support “feet” in the front are different and the wheels are different, I believe all of these changes are for the better.
Unfortunately they also redesigned the dividers and it now holds significantly less equipment. The picture above has two bodies and under them is a compartment where you could place additional bodies. This is gone. Take a look at the shot to the right. this is the bag with a fraction of my gear in it. If I recall correctly Mike has two D2XS and one D200 plus all his lenses, minus the 200 2.0 of course!
In a perfect world they would keep the new exterior design but maintain the inner dividers of the “old” LP2. Oh, and update your website so that others do not experience this same problem.
Needless to say I am not happy and I am left wondering if I should just return it all and stick with my LowerPro. For this weekend its back to looking like a dork with a backpack.
I am going to think it through the weekend.
2 comments
Try a pelican carry on-I used it for several out of state weddings last yr-and it is great.http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/285722-REG/Pelican_PCS172_PCS172_Wheeled_Case.html
I am even able to slide it under the seat when I take out the included laptop case.
Good luck!
Jen (from DWF)
Alexandro, take a look at the Think Tank gear…It might just be what you need. The “Airport International” is without a doubt my favourite bag:
http://www.thinktankphoto.com/ttp_product_ArprtInl.php
Take care
Renato
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