Help- Need a Small, Soft-Sided Shoulder Bag

willie_901

willie_901

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I prefer not to use rigid shoulder bags. By rigid I mean those that have a permanent, fixed-box structure. I guess an example of a fit-to-your body or soft-sided might be the Bare Bones Bag. The BBB is too large.

I plan to carry a X100T or a X-T1 with a two primes. I don't need room for a tablet... just a couple of spare batteries, thin SDHC card case and a cleaning cloth. That's it.

Right now I'm using a small 8 year old Mountain Smith bag (discontinued of course). It is starting to look a bit ratty.

The new ONA Bond Street seems to be the right size. In fact it seems narrow enough to make my objection to a rigid bag moot. Unfortunately leather is inappropriate for my current climate and I dislike the material they chose for the canvas version.


Any suggestions of how to burn more some money up on a new, soft-sided bag?
 
Domke f5xa will hold a gripped x pro 2 with a prime in on it and two more primes next two it. I have the 14,18 and either 35 mm this way. Any of the those lenses can be on the body. Batteries go in front pouch. The trick is to glue rear lens caps back to back so that you can safely put two lenses vertically in the bag.

With the F5xb I can hold the body with 5 primes in this manor.

Shawn
 
There are quite a few bags that might do you well. These are a few that come to mind that haven't been mentioned yet:

Artisan & Artist ACAM 1100
Black Label Bag "Oskar's One Day Bag mark II"
Tenba DNA 8, Cooper 8

G
 
Tarmac Apache 2.2 (will hold my M3, 2 lens and a few rooms of film) or Apache 4.2 (holds my D810 with 35 Sigma lens plus a 2nd prime lens) - I have both. There is also a 6.2 even larger version.
 
Peter Wijninga said:
Billingham Hadley Pro or the Small Hadley. I prefer the Hadley Pro since it has a carrying handle.
Click to expand...

This.

For less money, see if you can locate a Think Tank City Walker 10. Think Tank discontinued the line but you might still the various models if you do some shopping. It's a great lightweight bag, about the same size as the Billingham Hadley Pro and, if memory serves, I paid less than $100 for mine. Also Lowepro Event Messenger 100. It's a smaller bag that I've used with an X100S and XE2 with 35/2. I've seen them on Amazon for less than $40 but it is a little structured so it may not be to your likings.
 
If you want a body-hugging bag, take a look at the Kakadu shoulder bag. It may be a little bigger than you want, but with 2-3 Domke inserts, it's a great bag for smaller gear. Note: The bag has a heavy duty zipper than runs across the entire top, under the flap. So if you don't like zippers, this may not be for you.

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I was also thinking I need a small bag, smaller than my Small Hadley, for an XT2+35mm. Then the Filson Small Field bag was mentioned and I remembered that I have one somewhere. Thanks mabelsound.
 
Courierware

Courierware

There are several styles and sizes available from courierware.com that you can customize with inserts, straps etc. I have the small classic messenger bag that does well with 2 Bessa bodies and a couple of lenses with 6 rolls of film. I believe that they make the bags for Bare Bones Bags.
 
mabelsound said:
Big fan of the Filson Small Field Bag, if you can track one down. Mine has domke inserts in it.

Click to expand...

My daughter used mine when she went to France and Italy last summer. She kept it. Looking for another and the prices have gone through the roof. I think I paid $60 for the small field bag back new.

The A&A bag mentioned above it a great choice actually. And the Oscar One Day.

I have a newer Filson Camera Field Bag that hugs the body well if I keep the inserts out. Kinda big, but roomy for two cameras.
 
Just as a heads up...Best Buy has their custom Domke versions of the F5XB and F803 on closeout. The online price of the F5XB is 63.99 which I purchased with in store pickup as the local store had them in stock. When I went to pick it up they refunded me another $16 as the in store price was lower than the online price.

The Domke custom versions are olive waxwear with leather piping trim around the flap and front pouch, the Domke labeled is sewn *inside* the flap (much more subtle) and a leather strap. Nice looking subtle bag. It looks better in person than in pictures. Not sure about the leather strap yet (staining) but I have an olive strap off a F5XA that will work.

Shawn
 
The Domke F3XB is really nice. I've been using that for a little over a year every day and it's been great and broken in well. Before that I had the Filson McCurry shoulder bag and it was great as well.
 
F3Xb is pretty big. I use one for a Mamiya 7 with an extra lens and it's borderline too big for that. Think a small rangefinder would swim in one.

Wish there was something along the lines of an F5xb with no zipper, no belt loop, an extra full length pocket and something like a magnetic closure instead of velcro.

Good heads up on the Best Buy deal. Like the look of this, a little hesitant about the leather shoulder strap.
 
The front pocket on the Best Buy F5XB is full length, not sewn into two separate pockets like all the others I've seen. You also have space in front of the padding on the inside as another storage area for something flat. I'm back and forth on the zipper too. I ended up using the included dividers against the sides of the bag (they are pretty thin) and that blocks the zipper from hitting the contents with something full height on the sides. Moved thicker dividers from another bag to give me three compartments on the inside.

A traditional Domke clip on the front would have been fine with me too. The snap on the Peak Design bag (also at Best Buy) is pretty slick, it feels like a magnetic clip but once it is latched you have to slide to the side to disengage it, more secure than just a magnet.

The leather strap isn't bad, just not what I prefer. You can always return it to BB if you don't like it. I realized I have a Optech SOS strap that I may use for more comfort too.

Shawn
 

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