More Domke/Safrotto talk

[Little Prince]

After painfully oscillating between one and the other, I have come to the following conclusions:

1. I liked the F-5XB. When Ralph put his up for sale, I was struck by doubt. Then I abandoned it mainly because it looks too much like a man-purse 😀 . Or so I think.

2. Having given up the really small one, I looked at the F-803. But then I have a 15.4" powerbook that won't fit in it. The laptop doesn't belong to me (school) but if I get a bag it sure will be handy to be able to carry the computer sometimes.

3. This takes me to F-802. I won't go any bigger than that. It's already looking too big for my taste.

4. The Safrotto is supposed to be a better deal than the Domke (by consensus here). More stuff (padding) + better materials. Cheaper too. Recently folk have bought some off of a seller on the bay who is in the US so that shipping comes down too. This guy (photo1818) lists a bag he calls the equivalent of F-802 but it's size is not consistent with the Domke bag. It's sized more like the F-803. Anyone know what's the deal with this? Are the Safrotto bags identical in size to the corresponding Domkes?

5. I read somewhere (can't remember where) that the F-802 is nylon and not canvas (unlike the F-803). Is this true? Gotta be canvas. No nylon for me.

I need to put this matter to rest and get one of these bags. The people with the bags need to reveal themselves now.

 

[JoeFriday]

my Safrotto is scheduled to be delivered on Thursday.. as soon as it arrives, I'll let ya know if my 15" Powerbook fits in it

 

[rover]

Speaking of man purses 😉, I took delivery of a Domke F-3x today. I think I am very happy, but I have said this before. It won't help you with your laptop though.

I believe that Domke makes the 803/802 bags in both canvas and ballistic nylon. I also have an F-803 which I gained in a trade. I had settled on the Saffroto copy but then the Domke came up for me. I believe when I looked the two bags were identical in size.

 

[Little Prince]

Brett, I believe you bought an F-804 clone. That is about the same size as the F-802 except a little thicker. Now, I revisited your auction link again, and the size is off on that one too. The size mentioned by the seller is similar to the F-802 (although he says it's an 804 clone). Aaargh... someone is screwing up somewhere.

 

[pshinkaw]

I bought the F-804 clone in "sand" color. It's very heavy canvas. A terrific bargain. Photo1818 added the padded shoulder strap at no extra charge.

It's actually bigger than my briefcase. About the size of a medium sized courier bag. I don't have a laptop computer, so I can't tell if one would fit.

-Paul

 

[pshinkaw]

Oh yes, I forgot to mention. The Safrotto label that people complain about is inside and is covered by the flap. It's only visible when the flap is up.

The outside flap-clasp is metal. I would prefer plastic since it doesn't have to accept a heavy load and plastic is less likely to scratch a camera.

-Paul

 

[Little Prince]

Oh, good information. Did you ask for that strap or did you just get it?

 

[JoeFriday]

Brett, I believe you bought an F-804 clone. That is about the same size as the F-802 except a little thicker. Now, I revisited your auction link again, and the size is off on that one too. The size mentioned by the seller is similar to the F-802 (although he says it's an 804 clone). Aaargh... someone is screwing up somewhere.

well, it didn't matter to me about the Pbook since I already have a great carrying case for that.. I suppose it would be nice to combine the camera and laptop gear, but if I'm planning on taking my Mac, I limit myself to one body and one lens

either way I'll let ya know

btw, HERE'S THE LAPTOP CASE that I bought a year ago

I'm checking it out with my photo gear right now.. it would easily hold both my Powerbook, an RF body and a lens or two, plus film and filters.. it would be rather heavy, and you'd have to rig up some dividers for the camera gear.. but it actually would work pretty nicely

 

[JoeFriday]

aw man.. I just tested it out.. it works great! the camera gear is in an outside 'pocket' that's nearly the size of the laptop case.. it'll hold 2 M-bodies with lenses, a half dozen rolls of film, and my Gossen Luna Pro meter.. this is going to work out great for my Chicago trip this Saturday!

I was in a big hurry to get that Safrotto, but now I wonder if I'll even need it

 

[Little Prince]

You sure you want to put your M gear in an outside pocket with no padding?

Yes, it is a nice bag and a good price (some laptop bags can be expensive). But I'd rather have one bag only and be able to combine both laptop and camera in it. In fact, the laptop is not a priority. Plus, I want that canvas!

 

[JoeFriday]

the outer pocket has a slight amount of padding.. moreso than a typical canvas bag.. and I'm talking about Kievs, not Leicas.. but I'd still probably put a Leica in that pocket.. the only thing about it that bothers me is the lack of dividers and the fact that it doesn't have any sort of locking mechanism.. I could jerry-rig something to cover both those shortcomings, tho

you might wanna consider getting that bag just for your Powerbook.. it's a great deal.. but whatever trips your shutter 🙂

and I'd also highly recommend getting a screen protector.. I picked up a nice pseudo suede cover from THESE GUYS.. the idea being that it prevents oils from your fingers that get onto the keys from ruining your screen when the Pbook is closed.. it also makes a great mousepad the rest of the time

 

[Trius]

Wow, youse guys sure fret a lot about bags! My wife thinks =I= have a bag fetish/problem... I have two canvas bags I bought from military surplus (non-padded), a little Digital VCR bag from Wall-o-China Mart that houses my Olympus C2000, and now the Domkes. That's it for me, folks, no more bags or I'm sleepin on a couch OUTSIDE for the rest of my life... which may be short if I buy one more camera...

My F-6 "little bit smaller" bag shipped today form Helix via UPS ground, so it probably won't make it by Friday AM. We leave for Toronto in the afternoon, and I'd love to have it.

Trius

 

[Trius]

I got an email from Helix stating that the bag had shipped. I quickly asked them for a tracking number, which they supplied right away AND stated that delivery is scheduled for tomorrow, 8/4. Yay! Signature is required, but no one will be home, so I'll call early in the morning to try and head that off and get UPS to hold it at the local pick-up centre. If not, I can pick it up Friday morning before ... we're not leaving until mid-afternoon.

For a moment I panicked as I wondered whether I had ordered the right fabric. I wanted canvas, not nylons. Looking up the item number on Helix' site, I was relieved that indeed I should be getting the canvas model.

I have nothing but good things to say about Helix. They have handled my order perfectly, customer service has been proactive, responsive and swift. Maybe they should be an RFF sponsor, as they handle Leica, Xpan, Mamiy 7, etc.

Trius

 

[jrong]

I recently got a brand new Safroto bag from an Ebay seller, saying that it was a Domke F-2 "clone", apart from well, looking a bit different (light tan canvas etc). Well, it is anything but!!! It is much bigger than the F-2, has many more pockets and compartments, and frankly, feels a lot heavier - although admittedly, it costs about 30% of the full Domke F-2 price. 😉 However, I favoured the F-2 because of the velcro and easy accessibility of gear. The Safroto version really disappointed me because it had lots of zips and unwieldy flaps.

I ended up getting the Domke F-2 anyway. The Safroto was just too big and unwieldy to use, and is bulkier and heavier than the F-2.

Jin

 

[Trius]

As I posted elsewhere, my F-6 Domke arrived a little bit ago, and it is what I expected in terms of construction, pockets/inesert, etc. But it is a bit smaller than I expected. The measurements were available online, but I am bad at visualizing these things, I should have used a ruler to really get an idea!

BUT... I will take out the insert and use the dividers from the F-5XB instead for this weekend, and it will be PERFECT.

The only problem is... what if I need a larger bag. My CFO has declared I'm done with camera bags!

Trius

 

[Little Prince]

But it is a bit smaller than I expected.

It is supposed to be 'little bit smaller' isn't it? 🙂

The measurements were available online, but I am bad at visualizing these things..

Me too. 🙁

My CFO has declared I'm done with camera bags!

At the risk of generalizing, women usually can't resist bags. Nice trendy bags. Get her (if I read you right) a nice tote or something in a nice fabric along with your next installment and you're done. 😀

 

[Trius]

Anand: Good idea! Thing is, she bought THREE (I think... I lost count!) very cool bags lately. There was wee, not so wee, and FREAKIN' HUGE! 😉 They are purses, if you will, but are shaped sort of like a wineskin. They hang on the shoulder in such a way as to not exert undue stress, and inside there are just the right number of pockets, etc. They're actually very cool, at least one of them is leather. So I'll remind her of her recent purchases!

I'm taking her to Toronto this weekend ... she's buying the ferry tickets, I've paid for the hotel and other expenses. In any event, I will wait for a long time before I buy another bag. With the F-6 and F-5XB, I can load up both, with the F-5XB on my belt and I'll be fine.

Trius

 

[peter_n]

I recently got a brand new Safroto bag from an Ebay seller, saying that it was a Domke F-2 "clone", apart from well, looking a bit different (light tan canvas etc). Well, it is anything but!!! It is much bigger than the F-2, has many more pockets and compartments, and frankly, feels a lot heavier - although admittedly, it costs about 30% of the full Domke F-2 price. 😉 However, I favoured the F-2 because of the velcro and easy accessibility of gear. The Safroto version really disappointed me because it had lots of zips and unwieldy flaps.

I ended up getting the Domke F-2 anyway. The Safroto was just too big and unwieldy to use, and is bulkier and heavier than the F-2.

Jin

Jin I'm sorry to hear about your experience. When I looked at the Safrotto "F-2" bags, I thought that they looked different from the Domke F-2, which I already have. They have all kinds of stuff like extra straps on the top of the bag and that bag IMO is not an exact copy of the F-2 in the sense that the CF700 is of the F-803.

 

[Leicanthrope]

I've done some eBay searches for Domke bags and the Safrotto 'clones' and come across another brand which also claims to be identical to Domke, but at half the price. It's called Marlans, and there's a seller in the UK called want2375 who is selling the F1-X for 50 - 60 pounds (item number 7535579918 and7535579919). Has anyone come across these?

The Safrotto eqivalent is available from a seller in China for about 20 pounds less, but the postage brings it up to about the same cost, so I'm wondering whether there is any difference in quality.