Tamrac 613 Super Pro: The Bag I Love To Hate

Tamrac 613 Super Pro

This is the ultimate camera bag, and a thorn in my side at the same time. My personal Tamrac 613 Super Pro has traveled all over the world with me and protected my gear in some harsh climates, yet has created some headaches at the same time.Let me first start with the good points of this bag.

1. Size.
   This is absolutely the biggest camera bag you can find, that you can still fit under the seat of an airplane. As long as you don’t over stuff the top of it, there isn’t a plane made that cant accommodate the 613 under its seat. (If you are a regular traveler on regional jets like the Bombardier CRJ-200,you must sit in the aisle, on the side of the plane that has two seats.) Unlike many bags that hold a camera in the “lens down” position, the 613 is more than capable of carrying pro camera bodies like the Canon 1Ds mark III or Nikon D3x. It seems size does matter at times.
2. Durability.
   This bag has never torn, worn, or lost a stitch in 3 years of being kicked, punched, pulled, dragged, soaked, and just plain old beaten. (However, it has never been lit on fire.) The strap alone could support the weight of a hippopotamus.
3. Pockets.
   There are more tiny places to store things than any bag I have ever seen, as well as some crucial built in compartments that are Tamrac specific. Slide out battery and memory card organizers that are attached to the bag ensure that you never leave your memory card wallet anywhere, and the red markers help you decipher which cards are full.

The above three items are reason enough to buy, and keep this bag. Tamrac is nothing shy of a fantastic company, and stand by their product 100%. If something happened to my 613 now I am sure they would repair it with care and haste. This being the largest camera carrying vessel you can stuff under the seat of a plane is all the validation I need, my camera gear will never go into the baggage compartment. Keep in mind the good points, when reading about what makes me crazy.

What I would change to improve the 613 Super Pro.

1. The divider system
   As genius as the divider system is, the Velcro just doesn’t stand the test of time. Currently my 613 looks like a pile of gear surrounded by limp padding, a pile of electronic mashed potatoes. Every time the dividers are repositioned the Velcro lets loose before my hands are out of the bag (after 3 years).
2. The laptop pouch is of very poor design.
   Many of the Tamrac shoulder bags are designed with the capability of sliding some part of the bag over the handle of a rolling suitcase to make travel in airports easier. The concept is great, and wonderful to have on some of the bags. In the case of the 613 and 614 Super Pro , the pass way for the handle is between the camera bag and the laptop. This creates a ton of stress on the laptop compartment literally bending it to the point where a 15″ laptop will no longer fit in the sleeve, furthermore, if you laptop is already in the sleeve you run the risk of bending or breaking the chassis. Note: Flexing of the laptop sleeve is also an issue when you have the bag full, or slightly overloaded. The chassis of my previous Macbook Ti fell victim to some bending over time from this issue. Tamrac offered to put in a rigid insert, preventing further bending, but I never had enough time where the bag wasn’t needed to send it in.
3. No camera bag truly accommodates larger lenses.
   In the case of the 613, being a larger shoulder bag, one would expect to carry larger lenses (any lens with a 62–77mm filter diameter and a lens hood) with ease. At this time there is a Canon 1Ds Mark III, a Canon 70-200 2.8L IS, a Canon 24-70 2.8L, a spare body and some accessories in my bag. There is no way another “L” class lens would fit. My assumption is, when Tamrac claims it fits two bodies, five lenses, and a flash they were talking about manual focus equipment, or smaller prosumer lenses.

Tamrac 613 Super Pro has been good to me, but I don’t believe there is a truly “pro” designed bag available, Tamrac or otherwise. If you want a bag that won’t fall apart, and fits as much as humanly possible on an airplane, this is your bag. In the event that you desire the perfect camera bag for any occasion and use nothing but high-end lenses, I am just as stuck as you are at the time of this writing. There are a few more nuances that could be added to any bag to truly make it a “pro” level bag, my invitation to assist in the design of a bag must have been lost in the mail.

All of Tamrac’s products produced with a three digit number (eg. the 613) are made in the USA. Tamrac products with a four digit number (eg. the 5613, a bag very similar to the 613) are produced overseas.

Happy Shooting!

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