Business travel bag suggestions

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anerjee

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Small issue that has been bugging me for a while now. My usual luggage is a small suitcase and a laptop bag, which cannot really hold anything other than, say a Contax T2.

Some more info -- I'm usually carrying a 13 inch notebook, cellphone charger and some papers on my trips. For camera -- I would love to take my ZI + 40mm cron along with a few rolls of tri-x.

Any suggestions for a bag that can be "business" in the day and "camera bag" at night, and both when required. I personally do not like the look of brown leather bags, so something else would be nice ....

ani
 
have you looked at the ona bags, the union station or the brixton?
they might fit your needs…carrying just one camera/lens kit means a small bag is all that you need for just the camera/shooting end of things…maybe something lightweight that could fold into a larger day bag? if you took the insert out of the shibata bag it would crumple into a bigger bag easily.
 
I won't offer a specific model but I'm a big fan of crumpler camera bags and I know they also do travel bags. Another option is to source a general travel bag which has an expansion zip built in, with this you could add some padded inserts for the camera. At night you then remove the day to day stuff, zip back the expansion to reduce the size and then use it for the camera.
 
there is always the old domke 802 satchel…nice & big, could hold an insert for the gear and plenty of room left over for various sundries...
 
anerjee said:
..... I would love to take my ZI + 40mm cron along with a few rolls of tri-x.

Any suggestions for a bag that can be "business" in the day and "camera bag" at night, and both when required. .....
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Why do you need a camera bag at night when all you have is one body, one lens and few rolls of film? It sounds to me that all you really need is a business bag that has space to fit your camera and lens when traveling.
 
back alley said:
there is always the old domke 802 satchel…nice & big, could hold an insert for the gear and plenty of room left over for various sundries...
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+1 on the 802
a great all around bag.
I put my wallet and phone in the flap, which adds weight, and don't need to lock it all the time.
opening and closing is very quick, unless the Billinghams for example (only one locking point vs two)
What I also like is that it is big enough to hold what I really need when shooting: a sandwich, a small bottle, film light meter, sunglasses etc.
There is no padding, which is better in my opinion.
 
anerjee said:
Flap is ok, but prefer no velcro. The Crumplers look interesting, I'll drop by the store later today.

Anyone can comment on using the Think Tank retrospective bags for my kind of use.
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Retrospectives have lots of velcro. However they have a flap to cover up and deactivate the velcro.

They are big bags though. I have the 10 and wouldn't want anything larger. However to fit a 13 inch laptop you will need the Retrospective 40, which is bigger again.

For the camera and lenses you suggested a Retrospective 5 would be more than adequate. You will need a separate bag for the laptop though.
 
For business travel I use 1 trolley bag (small) fits in overhead lockers on aircraft and Billingham 445's. I have 2, 1 tan and 1 black.
The 445's are equally suitable for casual wear, jeans and t-shirt or chino's and blazer. They're not cheap but for me they are the best.
Travelling light I can get away with a change of clothes, camera kit, razor and toothbrush in a 445 no problem.
 
I plan on getting the new Billingham Hadley Pro Large for the same purpose. It should hold plenty of cameras (Leicas and/or Mamiya 7s) as well as a laptop. Seems perfect to me...but I'm a huge fan of Hadleys and know that not everyone is.

Edit: for the record I currently use the Hadley Large for the same purpose, and while it's great the lack of official laptop compartment makes it less than ideal even with a thin ultra book style laptop.
 
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adam satushek said:
I plan on getting the new Billingham Hadley Pro Large for the same purpose. It should hold plenty of cameras (Leicas and/or Mamiya 7s) as well as a laptop. Seems perfect to me...but I'm a huge fan of Hadley's and know that not everyone is.
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I have a hsdley pro as well and would say that when I have my mac in it that a small camera and a couple of lenses is all you will get in. They are really not all that big. With a 445 I can get a spare pair of shoes as well as a shirt and trouser change.
 
I would add my support for the Billingham. I have a 550 Classic.

I can pack enough clothes and papers for three days work and my M6 or Fuji X100 and it is still within limits for "carry on" baggage - even for Ryanair!!
 
nobbylon said:
I have a hsdley pro as well and would say that when I have my mac in it that a small camera and a couple of lenses is all you will get in. They are really not all that big. With a 445 I can get a spare pair of shoes as well as a shirt and trouser change.
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Yeah I have a Hadley pro as well, and yes it is small, but that is not the bag I was talking about. I was referring to the recently released Hadley Large Pro which is much larger and more suited to the use I described. Probably wouldn't put shoes in it, but it will hold a laptop (in separate compartment) and several cameras with room to spare. It's larger than the Hadley Large and therefore much larger than the normal Hadley Pro.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produ...gham_505301_01_hadley_large_pro_shoulder.html

If traveling by plane I plan on using this bag to hold a laptop and cameras and all other luggage in a small duffel bag that will fit in the overhead. I actually tried to get the bag for a recent trip but nobody had it in stock yet so my current Hadley Large worked fine, but the Hadley Large Pro would have been better. It seems to me like a good mix between camera bag and laptop bag that looks somewhat sleek and professional (especially in black) but can still hold a lot of gear. Of course I don't have it yet...but I think it will suit my needs perfectly.
 
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