bag help needed, regarding billingham/domke/thinktank

I know. I'm already trying to find a used one. not sure about the color yet. the 5 I had was pinestone which I was quite cool.

after the trouble I had with the A&A I'm still waiting to get the money back to my account. if I get it I'm likely to order a 7 in either black or pinestone

I didnt forget your advice and help with the mail back alley 🙂
 
Marc G. said:
although I have a light thought that I might have mistaken the issue... were you talking about selling used bags or returned bags you've ordered just to try out?
...
the lowepro looks great! tried to call the German lowepro guys, didnt answer. gonna write an email about. I guess it's not really waterproof although it really is a whole new thing. I'm amazed Godfrey.
Click to expand...

I meant that there are a ton of relatively inexpensive bags (or bags that I've used for years and years and now stopped using) cluttering up the closet. I intend to drop them off to a charity as trying to sell them isn't very time/cost advantageous. Expensive bags ... I have relatively few of those and all of them either work well, are sold, or are given as gifts to friends who do find them useful.

New bags that don't work out are simply returned as quickly as possible to the vendor for refund.

The Lowepro Passport Sling (II) surprised me too. The design looked weird when I saw it on line, but when I started fooling with it in person, it started to make a lot of sense. And it's not particularly expensive .. nice to see that.

G
 
ahh I understand, thanks for the explanation..😱

oh so you did have it in person? what about the protection against rain? it's just a zipper and no flap on the top so I guess the water would definitely get inside which would be a no-go
 
Marc G. said:
ahh I understand, thanks for the explanation..😱

oh so you did have it in person? what about the protection against rain? it's just a zipper and no flap on the top so I guess the water would definitely get inside which would be a no-go
Click to expand...

Far as I can tell, Lowepro doesn't tag it as weatherproof, they just say it is made of water resistant material. Since it has open external pockets that can catch and hold water as well, I would guess that it is almost impossible to consider it as weatherproof-able unless you were to put it inside a cover. The top zipper is a sure path to leakage, regardless of how or whether it is considered a weatherized zipper.

That said, unless you are working in areas where continuous downpours are common, I've only rarely seen the need for full scale weatherproof camera bags. There's always a tension between ease of access and weatherproofing ... a flap-over on top of the bag can often make it a real pain to work out of but is more weather resistant, where an open throat and zipper closure is easy to work with but less useful in the deluge.

I've taken the approach that ease in use is more important than weather proofing, and that inclement weather can be managed with reasonable care. (Note: I'm not primarily a adventure sports, naturalist, or field photographer ... ;-)

The Holy Grail remains an elusive SOB, eh?

G
 
Godfrey said:
The Holy Grail remains an elusive SOB, eh?
G
Click to expand...

+1 - The Truth. I don't believe there is ONE Holy Grail, but rather a Holy Grail per situation.

While I always use a backpack for DSLR gear, I rotate a few bags for RF gear, depending on what gear I take and where I go.
  • For day trips in and around town - I use my new TT Retro 7 (ZI plus 2-3 lenses and a NEX6 with kit lens) - This is my MAX gear that I'm willing to carry all day; however, the TT Retro 7 will take more gear.
  • For day trips where there is uneven terrain - Mountainsmith Day lumbar pack - same kit as above, but no more than 2 lenses)
  • Travel - Either my old trusty Lowepro Stealth Reporter AW 300 or TT Retro 20 - same kit as above, but depends on what non-photo gear I take with me.
 
been more than a week but I've settled for a great choice now to complement the hadley.

my holy grail is the Wotancraft City Explorer Ranger

although I was sceptic about the bag I ordered it caus I could return it anyway if I didnt like it. came in today and I'm overwhelmed. perfect size for the gear although you might think its too big the gear has a very comfortable fit with easy access caus everything has its own compartment. no fiddling to get anything out of there. and better protection than the hadley

only compromise was weight but the strap is more comfortable than the hadley one

thanks for all the support. I've settled! 😎
 
it is the same length and width of the hadley large, but its deeper. this results in more space and far easier access to anything in the bag. the protection is... tank like. I'd want to see that one in a bag durability test...

you got more storage pockets, especially at the sides. i got spare rolls of film there. in case i need another roll quickly i can access it quick and shoot the hell out of it. could put other stuff in there too. light meter for quick access or battery+memory cards. i have yet to test how incredibly handy it really is.

good thing about the size is that it definitely doesnt look like a camera bag. my girlfriend yelled at me for having bought a teacher's bag (i already got one... still studying it but for trainee stuff i use it). that satisfied me quite quickly 🙂

I'll keep you up to date!

thanks godfrey 🙂
 
I have gotten tired of carrying camera bags. Here in Tokyo I don't have a car, so when I go out I will often be carrying a bag for several hours. The typical load is two 35mm cameras, a 21mm lens and finder, a Rolleiflex, a few rolls of film for each, and perhaps a light meter. I have been using a Billingham 225 bag, which is just the right size for the load.

But carrying a heavy bag makes my back hurt after an hour or so. I have begun using a backpack to carry my gear, and I find it to be much more comfortable.

I couldn't find a camera specific backpack that I liked. As a former infantryman, I know how to properly setup a pack, but nearly all camera backpacks have inadequate waist straps (with a heavy pack your hips should carry the weight, never your shoulders) and you usually need to remove the pack to get what you need from inside of it.

I finally found a small backpack designed for hiking. It has mesh pockets on either side in which I can carry film or extra lenses, and it unzips low enough that I can reach into the pack without taking it off my back. I can carry it all day without getting a sore back or shoulders. Also, since it is a backpack, I can carry much more in it than I can with a regular bag.

Yesterday's load was two Leica Ms, a Nikon F, Rolleiflex, and associated lenses an stuff. Sometimes I substitute a Pentax 67 and two lenses for the Rollei, or a Fuji GSW690, or even a Super Graphic. These are a bit hard to carry comfortably in a normal camera bag, but are no problem in a backpack.
 
Godfrey said:
... The Lowepro Passport Sling II surprised me too. The design looked weird when I saw it on line, but when I started fooling with it in person, it started to make a lot of sense. ...
Click to expand...

Was back at the camera shop today. They'd gotten in some more of these bags as well as the less expensive, Passport Sling model.

I spent a half hour playing with it. The two models are identical as far as I could tell, other than the little color stripe. I have no idea why they want $45 for one and $75 for the other. I bought a black one ... I think it will work for me as a good, light day bag with a hugely expandable space for extra stuff when needed. It's comfortable to wear due to the way they designed the strap.

And at $40 + sales tax out the door, it's cheap enough to experiment with.
 
Frontman said:
I have gotten tired of carrying camera bags. Here in Tokyo I don't have a car, so when I go out I will often be carrying a bag for several hours. The typical load is two 35mm cameras, a 21mm lens and finder, a Rolleiflex, a few rolls of film for each, and perhaps a light meter. I have been using a Billingham 225 bag, which is just the right size for the load.

But carrying a heavy bag makes my back hurt after an hour or so. I have begun using a backpack to carry my gear, and I find it to be much more comfortable.

I couldn't find a camera specific backpack that I liked. As a former infantryman, I know how to properly setup a pack, but nearly all camera backpacks have inadequate waist straps (with a heavy pack your hips should carry the weight, never your shoulders) and you usually need to remove the pack to get what you need from inside of it.

I finally found a small backpack designed for hiking. It has mesh pockets on either side in which I can carry film or extra lenses, and it unzips low enough that I can reach into the pack without taking it off my back. I can carry it all day without getting a sore back or shoulders. Also, since it is a backpack, I can carry much more in it than I can with a regular bag.

Yesterday's load was two Leica Ms, a Nikon F, Rolleiflex, and associated lenses an stuff. Sometimes I substitute a Pentax 67 and two lenses for the Rollei, or a Fuji GSW690, or even a Super Graphic. These are a bit hard to carry comfortably in a normal camera bag, but are no problem in a backpack.
Click to expand...

That's simply WAY more gear than I can or want to carry nowadays. One body, two or three lenses is about my limit. And I'm not talking pro DSLR body either... ;-)
 
Godfrey said:
Cool, interesting bag. Looks darn huge ... not always a bad thing. ;-)

Check back and tell us about it in a month or three!

G
Click to expand...

Hey Godfrey,

since about 1 month has passed I'd like to give a quick user experience on the wotancraft city explorer ranger

I'd like to do this in a pro-con-list

PRO:

-extraordinary protection. when I went to university by bike (and I carried the camera gear with me for a shoot afterwards) my back wheel slipped and I made a belly flop on the street. the bag hit the ground hard and after cleaning off the salty snow stuff everything inside was perfect. no rangefinder out of alignment, not a single drop of water in it and everything perfectly good

-good access. when you leave the 2 flaps and the top of the insert open you can gain quick access to your gear in the main compartment. besides that you got 2 front pockets, a zipper pocket and 2 small pockets on the side. interesting to know for film users: 1 side pocket fits exactly 3 films. great thing if you need a new film quickly. no matter where the bag currently is around your body. you always have access to a side pocket. a feature I personally like most is the fact that the pockets held close by buttons have a little lash behind the button where you can stick in your finger for closing it without applying too much pressure. my billingham doesnt have that although I wish it had

-a lot space: I divided the insert to have 2 leica M bodies on each side which leaves the middle. there I put the small dividers in a way that you can store 4 lenses comfortably with more lenses atop each other. the 4 compartments are deep enough to comfort even the longest m mount lenses. the slots are also good for my film case, lightmeter, charger etc. so much for the compartment. otherwise you have plenty of options right behind the insert for notebooks, pens and a laptop/tablet.

-style and crafting: okay so this is just subjective but I like the looks of it pretty much. the bag is made of soft leather for the flap, strong leather for every other leather part. the grey outer material is waxed canvas and on the inside you got soft cloth like material so no equipment gets harmed from the bag.


CON:

okay so the only con I found was the weight of this thing. it might be a deal breaker for many people but due to the shoulder pad that sits very comfortably around the shoulder I can carry the fully loaded bag (weighs about 6kg with umbrella, map, 1l water) for 4 hours straight without my back crying out in pain. this was even more surprising when you take into account that i suffer from scoliosis.

the price isnt really that much of a con for me because you get an extraordinary well made bag. after all I carry 4 leica lenses and 2 leica bodies in it. I'd be stupid to go big time on the gear and chicken out on the bag expense. after all the bag saved my whole gear once. pretty good deal if you count 350€ (minus the expense for the theoretical other bag) vs 2 rangefinder repairs plus eventually broken lenses/other gear...

I've tried to be neutral and emotionless about this review although I could have written it with a lot passion too because I do like this bag very much as far as "bag love" can go 😉. giving an objective review of it might be worth more to other readers.

so long story short: great bag that costs a lot but gives far more

Cheers

Marc
 
I currently own three bags, a lowpro 'dispatch' style bag, (cannot rember its correct name), a Billingham 335, (take a huge amount of kit, but when full its like lifting a tank), and a Billingham Stowaway, (this sturdy little bag easily holds an M2 and a couple of rolls of film.great little day trip bag). All of my bags are scruffy but servicable, i do not like to draw attention to my camera kit
,
 
back alley said:
how many bags does that make godfrey?
Click to expand...

At present, and counting quickly, about a dozen or so:

1 thinktank
2 BLB
2 A&A
4 domke
2 lowepro
1 billy
1 tenba

Plus a big, waterproof and bombproof, rollaway Pelican hard case. It's designed to be a regulation-maximum-size carry-on airline luggage camera carrier. My entire Hassy SWC kit fits in it, including the Feisol Tournament tripod and Acratech Ball Head.

The real problem is that all my bags are FULL. I still don't have enough space for all the camera gear I've managed to accrete in the past couple of years.

The ones I carry the most are the Lowepro Teraclime 100 and BLB Oskar's One Day Bag Mk II. I haven't started using the Lowepro Passport Sling yet ... it takes me a while to move from one "carry all the time" bag to the next. But after my Xday excursion to Tijuana and back, where I wished I had that one with me, I'm more motivated to start using it now.

G
 
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