Godfrey
somewhat colored
If you want a Billingham Hadley design "satchel" bag, and don't want to spend a lot of money, there's the Lowepro Event Messenger 100 for about $50. It's very nice quality and a good design.
Lowepro Event Messenger 100 - $50 at B&H Photo
They have a larger model as well.
For a bag of this design, I had the Hadley Pro and found it fantastic, but have since sold it and now use a Black Label Bag "Oskar's One Day Mark II" from The Photo Village in New York City. It's a development on the A&A ACAM 7100, a little nice in my opinion, and holds a bit more than the Hadley Pro while being a little more compact and of comparable quality overall. However, it's a $200 bag ... if I was trying to keep costs down, I'd buy the Lowepro in a moment.
G
Lowepro Event Messenger 100 - $50 at B&H Photo
They have a larger model as well.
For a bag of this design, I had the Hadley Pro and found it fantastic, but have since sold it and now use a Black Label Bag "Oskar's One Day Mark II" from The Photo Village in New York City. It's a development on the A&A ACAM 7100, a little nice in my opinion, and holds a bit more than the Hadley Pro while being a little more compact and of comparable quality overall. However, it's a $200 bag ... if I was trying to keep costs down, I'd buy the Lowepro in a moment.
G
Highway 61
Revisited
Come on, since 95% of Leica nuts wouldn't carry their Leica gear in something else, a Billingham is now perfectly identifiable as a "Leica bag". Just visit some Leica stores and some Leica forums to check by yourself.
As said above, that wasn't the case thirty years ago, but nowadays, it is.
Just a fact - with no value judgment.
So to end-up here as for my own remarks : Domke, Mekko, ThinkTank (and EastPak which we all forget : they make some excellent satchel messenger canvas bags too) : plenty of choice around for VGQ bags under $100, which is what the "college student with no substantial income" OP asked for.
Godfrey
somewhat colored
99% of thieves would not know what a Leica was if you handed it to them. All they see when they see a camera or a stylish bag is a $10-$20 bill. Or maybe a wallet or purse inside it with some cash in it.
G
G
Bruno Gracia
Well-known
Fantastic, awesome!! http://www.onabags.com/store/small-goods/the-bowery.html?color=field-tan#field-tan
Highway 61
Revisited
I can't help being surprised with how "rousseauists" you all are.
I'm not arguing but thieves are not all decerebrated crack addicts.
Some know very well what this and that are, what they cost new, and for how much they could re-sell on the black market.
And Leica gear is on the list, especially since the release of the M digital bodies and the recent lenses.
So - my point is that, nowadays, a Billingham bag is the best visible clue which tells "Hey, expensive Leica gear inside". Hence my remarks.
But by no means am I trying to say that carrying a Billy will automatically lead you to being robbered. And I know that some folks carry something else than Leica gear in their Billies.
Let's not see it in black and white, but rather in fifty shades of grey.
What ? Why the hell don't the ad photos display some Lomos or Holgas inside those things ?
And now for something (click) Joe must not look at.
Godfrey
somewhat colored
That's the other 1%.
Godfrey
somewhat colored
rulnacco
Well-known
Haha ! Now Fogg bags.
If there was something even screaming "$$$$ Leica photo gear inside !" louder and wider than the Billinghams, the Fogg bags sure were.
While you're right that Fogg bags can be a bit shrill--and looking at the prices of new ones can definitely cause you to emit an involuntary shriek--my Celia is quite petite...and stealthy. Here she is:
Like I said, I paid £40 for it (about 65 bucks at the time). The camera shop proprietor told me that, brand new, it would have retailed for over £200.
I don't find that hard to believe at all, based on their current prices.I gotta say, those ONA bags look classy and well-made. The price seems excellent, too, and they're just right the right size for taking a Leica on the street. Definitely something to consider!
RObert Budding
D'oh!
Just a question, how do Americans look when they travel and what is embarrassing about it (slightly OT though)
Long ago I sat in a pub in Germany and asked this same question of a Dutch cyclist. His perception of America women was that "They are a little bit fat, and they giggle a lot".
Roger Hicks
Veteran
All right, those are cartoon American tourists, and they certainly exist. But there are also subtler clues sometimes, and I'm not sure what they are. I'm British; my wife is American; we live in France; and sometimes we'll ask one another why a particular person (or more likely, couple) looks American or British. We have yet to come up with any convincing answers. My suspicion in many cases is that even if you can't hear what they're saying, you can hear the tone of voice.
Frances suggests that with women, make-up styles have national characteristics too, and that quite often with American women, this is combined with a look of wide-eyed innocence or perhaps surprise.
This is not quite the same as the generic international tourist 'stunned herring' look resulting from a cocktail of jet-lag, culture shock and an over-ambitious sightseeing schedule. ANY nationality can fall prey to this one -- and would, I think, be prize targets for that tiny percentage of thieves who do recognize Billingham bags and Leicas.
As the techniques for avoiding thieves are the same whether you're carrying a Billingham or a gas-mask bag and as there are far more opportunist thieves than skilled ones, I really don't see that carrying a Billingham is an invitation to be robbed. If I did, I wouldn't do it.
Cheers,
R.
umcelinho
Marcelo
seriously, guys, ive been mugged this monday downtown sao paulo with a friend from work by 3 guys with knives, probably addicts. one of them noticed me taking my m4 from my hadley small, taking a shot, putting it back. noticed my friend on her iphone. he doesnt have a clue on what is a leica or the brand of the bag. they just see it as something they can trade for drugs, period.
it wouldnt have made ANY difference if i was shooting with a bessa-r or an m9, if i had a billingham or a $10 bag, it would be stolen anyway due to the opportunity. i've used the hadley small for about 2 years before this has happened, prior to it i had a domke f6 (bought one again recently btw, i love how you can pack an absurd amount of things inside it). on monday a crazy lady at the bus terminal told me "piss off, reporter, no pictures of me!". i think the billingham might have helped in that sense, or maybe it was the glasses, the beard, the hairdo, the clothes i was wearing... i dont know. the billingham sure does look fancy. might be something to consider, but i dont think its a decisive factor. i wish someone could make a billingham in all canvas, sort of, and in dull colours to look cheap. i like the build of the billinghams, how they feel robust. the domke doesnt protect my stuff as much, i think, from eventual bumps. but ive used it for a couple years with no problems whatsoever.
i've learned a few things from the ****ty experience of monday:
- have everything insured. it will be relieving, you wont do anything stupid by impulse, you keep safe (hopefully) and everything can be re-bought.
- the way you behave and act are more important than believing taping a camera logo will make it less appealing to being robbed - it wont, it will just maybe put off people from those "wow you have a leica" comments
- have your gear tagged somehow to ease identification in case it shows up somewhere. leicas are not common and the market is not that big, eventually these might pop up somewhere. but there is always the chance they opened the bag, found an "old camera that is worth nothing" and just bashed it agains a wall, pissed off by the unsuccess of the robbery - as a photographer friend of mine told me yesterday he has already seen (two kids hammering an M3 into a wall downtown).
also, i wonder if there is any service/product/device you can leave in your bag in a sort of hidden place to track it down via gps, if i had one i could have followed the guy and found a police officer in the way. it was near a subway entrance so he could have gotten anywhere within minutes of the robbery. im thinking of maybe having a cheap smartphone with a gps on, connected to a tracking service, and with the ringer on the loudest volume possible. might be onto something here. they can always ditch the bag but who knows, could be something useful to track it right afterwards and sound the ringer, they might ditch the bag to get rid of the attention.
it wouldnt have made ANY difference if i was shooting with a bessa-r or an m9, if i had a billingham or a $10 bag, it would be stolen anyway due to the opportunity. i've used the hadley small for about 2 years before this has happened, prior to it i had a domke f6 (bought one again recently btw, i love how you can pack an absurd amount of things inside it). on monday a crazy lady at the bus terminal told me "piss off, reporter, no pictures of me!". i think the billingham might have helped in that sense, or maybe it was the glasses, the beard, the hairdo, the clothes i was wearing... i dont know. the billingham sure does look fancy. might be something to consider, but i dont think its a decisive factor. i wish someone could make a billingham in all canvas, sort of, and in dull colours to look cheap. i like the build of the billinghams, how they feel robust. the domke doesnt protect my stuff as much, i think, from eventual bumps. but ive used it for a couple years with no problems whatsoever.
i've learned a few things from the ****ty experience of monday:
- have everything insured. it will be relieving, you wont do anything stupid by impulse, you keep safe (hopefully) and everything can be re-bought.
- the way you behave and act are more important than believing taping a camera logo will make it less appealing to being robbed - it wont, it will just maybe put off people from those "wow you have a leica" comments
- have your gear tagged somehow to ease identification in case it shows up somewhere. leicas are not common and the market is not that big, eventually these might pop up somewhere. but there is always the chance they opened the bag, found an "old camera that is worth nothing" and just bashed it agains a wall, pissed off by the unsuccess of the robbery - as a photographer friend of mine told me yesterday he has already seen (two kids hammering an M3 into a wall downtown).
also, i wonder if there is any service/product/device you can leave in your bag in a sort of hidden place to track it down via gps, if i had one i could have followed the guy and found a police officer in the way. it was near a subway entrance so he could have gotten anywhere within minutes of the robbery. im thinking of maybe having a cheap smartphone with a gps on, connected to a tracking service, and with the ringer on the loudest volume possible. might be onto something here. they can always ditch the bag but who knows, could be something useful to track it right afterwards and sound the ringer, they might ditch the bag to get rid of the attention.
Sparrow
Veteran
In the summer Greeks address me in English if my wife is with me and Greek if I'm by myself, in the winter it's all Greek ... context makes a difference I would suggest, well, that and co-ordinating the Billingham with a fanny-pack ...
... whatever that is
And there is nothing wrong with dressing that way. I don't want to dress that way, but it is their choice. Weight issues? Well, America's not alone in that regard anymore. When dealing in stereotypes, sometimes you have to ask yourself if the one slinging the stereotype and being embarrassed by the way other people live is more of the problem than the person getting insulted. I'm not singling you out, because I deal with this type of judgemental behaviour too... but I'm starting to think that I may be just a snob sometimes. I have people in my family that fit your description and they are good people.... so I try to remember that. I'm speaking of appearance only, not attitude or ignorance.
Duane Pandorf
Well-known
I didn't mean there is something wrong with dressing that way but it a different dress attire than others that are native to the places I travel in Europe. So by dressing this way you're going to stand out in the crowd. I too have family that prefer to dress this way and carry some additional pounds and are very nice people.
But since I veered into my self dug hole :bang: all I was trying to point out was that if one did not want to get noticed was to try their best to fit in whether you have the Billingham bag or whatever other fancy camera bag may be hanging by your side.
Fair enough... sorry for the preaching. True though... that style of dress does stand out even in NYC.
dc5
dc5
The Ona Bowery bag looks like it is the bag that I have been hunting...what the Domke 5xb could have been without that darn zipper.
dave lackey
Veteran
Duane, I understand where you are coming from...it has been awhile since I was in Wales, London or whatever but I found that the worst thing about some American travellers is their mouth and their attitudes.
How many 20-40 year old loud-mouth, arrogant arseholes there were I don't know, but it made the flight back unbearable for us. We were happy enough to get a few extra bottles of vodka and sleep through it.
Now, the big question, as I agree with your general conspicuous clothing discussion...what would one wear to "fit-in" when in Paris in the summer?
I don't dress like you described but, God willing, we may be able to save up for a trip in a year or so and I was just wondering how to fit in with my Billingham Hadley Pro across my chest.
How many 20-40 year old loud-mouth, arrogant arseholes there were I don't know, but it made the flight back unbearable for us. We were happy enough to get a few extra bottles of vodka and sleep through it.
Now, the big question, as I agree with your general conspicuous clothing discussion...what would one wear to "fit-in" when in Paris in the summer?
I don't dress like you described but, God willing, we may be able to save up for a trip in a year or so and I was just wondering how to fit in with my Billingham Hadley Pro across my chest.
dave lackey
Veteran
+1 on that! I love the rugged wear 5XB but the zipper drives me crazy so I wrap the camera in a small cloth or cloth bag before putting them in the bag. Still hate that stupid logo on the front. But the bag is really wonderful! Works well with the X1 and an FE2/M3.
The Ono...just might be my next bag just for the M3 and whatever lens I wind up with.
furcafe
Veteran
Since Billinghams are basically just glorified hunting/fishing bags, you might want look at military surplus (army bags have the same pedigree) or outdoor supply joints. I think Mr. Hicks has mentioned gas mask bags on occasion.
Similarly, I have friends who swear by Filson bags, but they're almost as expensive as Billinghams, though (mostly) made in the USA.
Similarly, I have friends who swear by Filson bags, but they're almost as expensive as Billinghams, though (mostly) made in the USA.