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Photography News Issue 23 absolutephoto.com
Reviews
Tamrac Anvil Slim 15 £239 Tamrac is a popular camera bag brand and its products are a common sight in photo stores everywhere. What you might not know is that the brand went into bankruptcy last year, since has been bought and now, under the auspices of its new owners, is in the process of being revitalised. For more on the Tamrac story, see this month’s Profile on the company’s new president, Greg Schern. The Anvil line of six professional backpacks is the first of the new Tarmac bags to come to market. Three models are for deep-bodied and full-frame DSLRs and there are three Slim models targeted for CSC as well as DSLRs. The numbers after each product name tells you the bag’s internal capacity in litres. On test here is the Anvil Slim 15. Photo rucksacks can be surprisingly heavy even when empty so it’s a good start that the Anvil 15 seems light for its size, weighing in at just over 2kg. Tamrac says that with the considered choice of materials including the foamused for padding, weight savings of around 30-35% have been made compared with its preceding backpacks. The main compartment comes with a full set of padded adjustable dividers and despite its Slim name tag, the bag is deep enough for my Nikon D800 full-frame DSLR without a grip. That’s great news because its suits both my full- frame system and my FujifilmX-series system. Capacity-wise, the Anvil 15 can swallow a good-sized outfit. Two full-frame Nikon bodies, one with lens attached, plus five more lenses and a flashgun can be comfortably accommodated with space for filters and other accessories. Three clear-fronted zipped pockets are available for memory cards, spare batteries and so on and the zips have little ‘garages’ to slip into so there’s no chance they’ll rub against your kit. The Anvil has a separate, well-padded compartment for a 15in laptop too. Three pockets are available on the rear of the bag and are big enough for things like remote releases, snacks and the supplied rain cover. Tripod attachment straps (which can be removed entirely if that’s what you prefer) are Review by Will Cheung
Above I tested the Anvil Slim 15 but it is still deep enough for a full-frame DSLR (without any grip). There’s plenty of capacity too for a very good-sized outfit without compromising protection levels.
provided to hold it in place with the legs stowed in the base rear pocket. Full-size tripods are not so convenient to attach to the rear but travel or more compact models fit fine. Many photo backpacks have waist or hip straps for enhanced carrying comfort, but most are permanently anchored in place, which can be a nuisance because you don’t always need them. A neat innovation on the Anvil is that the waist strap can be quickly removed entirely – a couple of clips and a large patch of Velcro holds the belt in position. That saves a bit of weight too. Better still, it can be used as a waist-belt and independent accessory carrying strap. It has various hoops and Tamrac has a range of Arc pouches that fit, and MOLLE (Modular Lightweight Load-carrying Equipment) accessories from other brands fit too. I have a couple of Lowepro pouches I use for filters and these fit onto the Anvil strap no problem. Of course this extra carrying capacity is also available when the waist strap is in use too – a good place for a water bottle perhaps.
If you want to go full out, there are two accessory attachment straps on each side. There are plenty of thoughtful design touches. For example, the hand carrying handle at the top of the bag is padded for carrying comfort. The clear face of the interior pockets are made from TPU, a material that remains supple in extreme temperatures. And the sternum strap design means adjustment is easy but there is no way that the straps can become detached as I have experienced with other brands. There is much to like about the Anvil so how was it in use? Loaded with my two-bodied, five- lens outfit, flash, filters, spare batteries and an 11in Macbook Air, the whole lot weighed a little under 10kg so a substantial load. Iwouldn’t want to walk too far or for too long with that burden but the Anvil did make the walking I did with it bearable. The shoulder compression straps, the support from the waist strap and the sternum strap all played a part in the comfort stakes. I still had a sweaty back but that was inevitable. Protection levels are high so no worries there and that didn’t compromise gear accessibility. There are a few things I would’ve liked to have. An elasticated pouch on the bag’s side to hold awater bottlewithin easy reach as standard would be good, as would a wallet or phone-sized zip secured pocket on the waist belt.
Specs
Material
600D Tripod holder Yes with removable straps Sternum strap Yes Laptop pocket Yes, 15in Waist belt Yes, removable, and with hoops to hold accessory pouches Zips YKK Dimensions (WxHxD) Exterior 31x47x21cm; Interior 28x44x12cm Weight 2.1kg Contact intro2020.co.uk tarmac.com If the Anvil range is a sign of serious intent from Tamrac’s new owners, then there are exciting times ahead. The Anvil Slim 15 is a quality, thoughtfully designed product at a competitive price that is excellent to use. If you need a photo backpack this collection is definitely one for the shortlist. All in all, though, this is a fine bag that does its job very well indeed and competitively priced at £239. Overall A good backpack is worth its weight in gold and usually you only discover a bag’s flaws after a few week’s use. It’s fair to say I haven’t found any flaws in this Tamrac, so I can highly recommend it. Verdict
Above Three clear-fronted wallets in the main compartment are perfect for spare batteries, extra cards and cleaning aids like the LensPen. Right A travel or medium-sized tripod can easily to strapped to the back. All these straps can be taken off if you prefer.
Pros Versatile, well made, plenty of storage Cons Missing a couple of design niceties
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