m-classics bag, any comments?

back alley

back alley

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i just bought a slightly used one and am waiting for it to arrive.

anyone own one and care to comment?

i like the no padding and what looks like easy access to a camera and to return the camera into the bag easily.

all input appreciated.

joe
 
I'm shy. I also don't know anything about it. Tell me. (Or show me a pic).

Ted (always up for a bag).
 
I have the original beige Leica bag, the one on which the M-Classics version seems to be modeled.

It's great as a bag into which you can just throw a lot of stuff (my dad borrowed it and carried it all over Europe as his airline carry-on) but with no padding at all, one hanging pocket, and nothing in the way of dividers except that loose-at-one-end tab to snake around your stuff, I felt as if I might as well just be chucking my equipment in a gunny sack in terms of protection.

Also, the suspended pocket is a tight fit unless your camera body and lens are very compact, and I tended to lose small stuff down at the bottoms of the front pockets, which are very deep but barely wide enough to get your hand into. Maybe they've improved these features on the new ones.

I've still got the bag, but I tend to find it more useful for carrying larger, more rugged stuff, such as flash equipment. You can get a whole portable lighting setup into it -- two or three Vivitar 283-size units, battery packs, slave triggers, clamps, etc.
 
Joe,

I've got the M-Classics (bought new) and I love it. Going out with it today, in fact. Yeah, no padding can be a problem, but there are three semi-compartments in the main body (two flappy things gives you three places to put stuff) so stuff stays more-or-less segregated. The design hugs my body more than any other I've tried, and it broke in nicely (nice and soft) and it is dirty, which is important to me.

I love the way I can secure the flap over the top with the velcro (lots of velcro) or I can strap it shut with the three big straps, or I can leave it all hanging open - nothing will fall out, but I still have very easy access.

It works equally well hung over one shoulder or over my neck-and-shoulder, and the wide canvas strap with leather pad is comfy as well as non-slippy.

The waxed canvas is waterproof as well as attracting dirt like crazy.

Gotta go now - doing a sunrise for the first time in a gazillion years. Taking the M-Systems bag, two Canon FD-mount SLR bodies, 28mm, 50mm, 90mm, flash, cleaning supplies, 2x extender, cable shutter release, 10 rolls of film and a cell phone inside the bag. Carrying a tripod and 200mm lens. The 28 and 90 are Vivitar Series One, so they're big, otherwise I could get the 200 in there too. Oh yeah, and a rangefinder of some sort. I guess an old Paxette. Way more than I'll need.

Later,

Bill Mattocks
 
I should have been more specific. I rarely use specialized camera bags as they're simply the wrong shape to carry non-photo stuff like books & documents. Most of the time, i.e., when I'm not shooting seriously, I put padded camera inserts (Billingham, Tenba, etc.) inside my briefcase, messenger bag, or whatever I would be carrying around anyway--all of these are bigger than the M Classic. In those situations, the M Classic has no real advantage over any of my other bags; aside from the shape issue, I've found that I prefer the velcro + snap closures of my messenger bags to the snap + buckle + tiny velcro patch system on the M Classic. Per jlw's post, I don't like the M Classic's complete lack of padding, especially if I'm carrying more than 1 body (w/lens) + 1 large or 2 small lenses + miscellaneous accessories (VFs, mini-tripod, compressed air, etc.); I simply don't trust the partitions to adequately protect the stuff from banging together, so I end up putting everything into a small insert & put that inside the M Classic, @ which point it's just a smaller version of 1 of my other bags. However, I'm in an urban environment & have to deal w/my bags banging into people & objects on the street, subway, etc., so YMMV.

If I'm out doing serious shooting, I can have 2 or more bodies (each w/lens & often a heavyweight like a Contarex or Kodak Medalist) + a couple lenses + misc. accessories. At that point, even if I could squeeze everything into the M classic, I'd rather have something bigger that accomodates 1 of my bigger inserts & doesn't require stacking anything on top of anything else, so I'm back to 1 of the messenger bags.

backalley photo said:
that's intriguing, can you give more details?

joe
Click to expand...
 
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thanks for the added info guys!

bill, i prefer to have the strap over the head on the opposite shouldar so how it 'hugs' me is important. i have read this abpout the m classic and that was one of the reasons i wanted to try it out.

furcafe, i see myself using this for when i am seriously shooting. 2 bodies w/ lenses attached and maybe an extra longer lens, film, meter etc.
the padding or lack thereof may be an issue but i hope not. that one i will have to evaluate with use.
i am sooo looking forward to my 'new' gear starting to show up.

joe
 
among the many bags, i have one of the m-classics- now a few years old, when they were using a fabric with titanium fibers(?). it looks like some additional leather trim has been added to the new version, which looks nice in my opinion. i covered a fittled piece of foam and put it inside on the bottom. i'm careful how i use this bag, but it does a nice job. now i see the black one and think it looks pretty good...
 
The 'tiny velcro patch' is huge - covers the whole flap, mostly. I seldom bother with the buckle/strap/snap things, just if I wanna be extra save.

Mine is navy blue w/black leather. Very dirty now, very 'broken in', very comfy. Did the job for me today, no problems.

Best Regards,

Bill Mattocks
 
Yes, the patch on the flap is big enough. However, the pieces on the 3 pockets are too small for my taste (@ least on mine, which is also navy blue w/black leather but a few years old) because they aren't big enough to accomodate different loads in the bag. For those who haven't seen an M Classics bag, look @ this picture from their web page:

http://www.mclassics.com/2767.jpg

You can see that the 3 pieces of velcro on the outside pockets (above the strap snaps) aren't huge @ all. I've had situations where mine was stuffed all the way to the top & the flap wouldn't stay secured using the velcro alone because the velcro on the flap barely reached the small patches on the pockets. IMHO, M Classics should take a note from messenger bags (like the Chrome bags I favor, http://www.chromebags.com/minimetro.php) & have the pieces on the pockets go all the way from top to bottom of the bag (but that would probably interfere w/the old-time look). Then again, maybe they've addressed this problem w/the newer bags.

Chris

bmattock said:
The 'tiny velcro patch' is huge - covers the whole flap, mostly. I seldom bother with the buckle/strap/snap things, just if I wanna be extra save.

Mine is navy blue w/black leather. Very dirty now, very 'broken in', very comfy. Did the job for me today, no problems.

Best Regards,

Bill Mattocks
Click to expand...
 
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Yep, you're right, I'm wrong. Mine looks just like the photo - except dark leather and of course dirty and scuffed and very loose and floppy - just the way I like it! And yes, I have to agree with you that if I load the bag right up, the flap hardly goes over the whole mess, let alone velcros down. But I try not to load it that much. It works much better with say 2 SLR bodies, couple of lenses, flash, meter and some film. That just about does it. Might could toss in a fixed-lens rangefinder or a Bessa R in place of one of the SLRs.

Best Regards,

Bill Mattocks
 
an update...

my bag did finally arrive and i have been using it regularly since i got it.
it is a great bag. very comfortable and holds all that i would take on a serious shoot or just an afternoon walkabout.
at first i thought the strap was too short to go over my neck and opposite shoulder AND to have the bag up against my butt too. but there was a touch more travel that i let out and it made all the difference.
i'm thinking of taking this bag on my trip to new york next month but the only thing holding me back is security. (from others, not things falling out)
to use it i leave the straps undone and count on the velcro to keep the flap down. works well so far. but that leaves little for security against those with quick fingers. but that is my only beef with it.
the bag holds 2 bodies with 35 and 50 lenses attached, an 85 lens in one of the 3 pouches in the front. a good sized hand meter, lots of film, my cell phone, some drugs (i am never far from my painkillers) a small (never use it) flash, my 'business cards', and ...

so, would i recommend this bag to others who use rangefinder cameras? yes, without hesitation. i doubt that i would have bought this at the regular price of nearly 200 bucks though. (cheap & poor, bad combo) but i got a (barely) used one for a much better price.

joe
 
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