Awesome bag for rangefinder kit!

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AncientCityPhoto

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Hey everyone! I have been searching for the perfect bag to hold an M and several lenses since most bags are too deep.

I stuck a Hadley Small insert into a Timbuk2 xtra small messenger and it is just awesome! Perfect padding, feel, and size.

http://soundvisionpassion.com/2011/...illingham-insert-as-a-camera-bag-for-leica-m/

I have a bunch of pictures and examples on my blog about it.

I also have a ThinkTank Retrospective 5 arriving on Monday that I am reviewing. Has anyone else ordered this bag? I have the Retrospective 10 but it is way too big for an M.
 
I'm anxious to hear about the Think Tank bag that you're reviewing, as the company is headquartered here in lovely Santa Rosa. The combo you describe here looks perfect for the M.
 
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Uncanny that the Hadley insert fits so well.

I've noticed there seems to be an increasing number of people who find an ideal bag that isn't necessarily a camera bag. I've been wondering about producing custom padded inserts that allow you to take any bag you want and convert it to a padded/divided camera bag, with the added benefit of it not looking like one.

Do you think this may be of interest?
 
I used to shove a small camera bag into the bottom of my Rick Steves daypack. Didn't work very well, but your idea sounds like just the ticket.
 
The small Hadley also fits easily in Chrome's Mini Metro bag as well as other business bags & even some briefcases.

AncientCityPhoto said:
Hey everyone! I have been searching for the perfect bag to hold an M and several lenses since most bags are too deep.

I stuck a Hadley Small insert into a Timbuk2 xtra small messenger and it is just awesome! Perfect padding, feel, and size.

http://soundvisionpassion.com/2011/...illingham-insert-as-a-camera-bag-for-leica-m/

I have a bunch of pictures and examples on my blog about it.

I also have a ThinkTank Retrospective 5 arriving on Monday that I am reviewing. Has anyone else ordered this bag? I have the Retrospective 10 but it is way too big for an M.
Click to expand...
 
I bought my son a small Timbuk2 Messenger for his laptop and electronic gizmos. It is a very very nice bag.
 
I use a medium timbuk2 messenger every day for non-photo stuff. It's basically the most popular bag out there for college students, they have years of research behind them and know what they're doing to design a good bag. I got mine like-new on ebay for $30 or 40, list price of a new bag is much higher (and it's gonna get beat up anyway).
 
Bobfrance said:
Uncanny that the Hadley insert fits so well.

I've noticed there seems to be an increasing number of people who find an ideal bag that isn't necessarily a camera bag. I've been wondering about producing custom padded inserts that allow you to take any bag you want and convert it to a padded/divided camera bag, with the added benefit of it not looking like one.

Do you think this may be of interest?
Click to expand...

There's definitely a lot of interest, given that there's quite a few players in the premade insert market. But nobody I know of is making inserts to order, perhaps that's something you could do?
 
I've been using a medium Timbuk2 with a tenba insert as my camera bag for a couple years. It works pretty well. During the week, I pull out the camera stuff and put in my laptop and other stuff for work. When I take weekend trips, the work stuff comes out and I put a couple changes of clothes and just my camera. I highly recommend them.

On the other hand, I'm looking for a smaller single-purpose camera bag that I can stuff my camera and a couple lenses in. Sometimes it's nice not to have to redo my bag when I just want to grab something that's preloaded with my gear. Also the Timbuk2 medium can be a bit large sometimes - it really depends on what my plans are. It can also be a bit unwieldy if you are trying to work out of it. It's a bit too tall, so camera gear/film/lenses tend to get stacked on top of each other to make use of the space.

I thought about a smaller Timbuk2 bag, but at some point, they get small enough that I'd only use it for my camera stuff. So I ordered a ThinkTank Retrospective 5. I'm looking forward to it. I think it will be a great single-purpose medium sized bag for me.
 
breathstealer said:
There's definitely a lot of interest, given that there's quite a few players in the premade insert market. But nobody I know of is making inserts to order, perhaps that's something you could do?
Click to expand...

That's what I was thinking of doing, plus producing ready customised bags. :)
 
Wow, it is amazing how that liner fits so nicely. I use a liner in a Jack ***** messenger bag. Nicely fits like that as well plus can fit an Ipad2. Everyday though I just bring the M8 with 1 lens attached and store it in the neoprene case when not in use. Also in the bag I carry a Thinkpad (work computer), laptop charger, and Ipad 2. Works really well for carrying around when not in use... when in use the camera is around my neck.
 
The hadley small is around 70 bucks and so is the Xtra small timbuk2. So total was like $140 approx. That's just slightly more than the thinktank retro 5.

The catch with so many bags, or inserts in non-camera bags is that the gear is designed for SLR cameras with a lens. Even if the Leica fits fine...what about the lenses? Ever drop your summicron into a conventional camera bag...or even a non-camera bag? It disappears. With a bag at my side, my hand could not comfortably reach down and grab a small lens out from the bottom of a bag. I also didn't like the idea of the lens rolling around because its too small for the padding. Seriously, our rangefinder lenses aren't generally more than 2" long.

The hadley insert is perfect size for the lenses and a camera body. You can even arrange it for the camera to be facing sideways with a larger summilux or nocti lens and have room for one or two lenses still on the side.

I can slip a traveler tripod under the flap too. I will be showing this in another review I have coming up about heavy travel kits vs light weight travel kits for panoramic work.

I am so excited the Reto 5 bag arrives monday! I have a 10 in black, so I ordered the 5 in pine stone. They are definitely two different materials. I'll be discussing the benefits of each material too.

I can also report the timbuk2, even though it doesn't "seal" on the side, held rain out exceptionally when I had to walk in downpour the other day!
 
I did something similar. Had a Jack ***** Daddy Diaper messenger bag that was sitting unused so I got a Billingham Hadley insert. I removed the ***** label to deter felonius metrosexuals. It's pretty comfortable and doesn't broadcast the fact that I have a gazillion dollars worth of Leica gear.
 
I have some many bags already that I hesitate to invest in more options.

I use a LowePro Micro Trekker 100 the most, but it is still much bigger than required for my Leica stuff (it takes my D300 with 80-200 2.8 AF-S!). It is convenient to take all the stuff I want to use on a holiday trip, but I rarely carry it on my back all day.

I also have an old small LowePro shoulder bag that my wife used for her Canonet. It just takes my M8 + an extra (small) lens but screams "camera bag". At least it does not scream "expensive camera" ;-).

A third bag I sometimes use with my M is the LowePro Terraclime 50, which is very light but just takes a M with a short lens (like the CV 4/21 or 2.5/35, but not the 2.5/75).

The messenger bag + insert is tempting, although the Billingham insert is not cheap and Timbuk2 does seem to be distributed over here (Belgium), meaning international shipping and customs taxes...
 
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