The best camera bag ever?!?

[swoop]

... best bag ever for what?

That's the problem with "best bag" discussions. I have a Domke F-2 for when I need two bodies and several lenses. An F-6 for one body and a few lenses. A Timbuk2 small messenger with camera insert for a body and two lenses, a LowePro photo runner for riding a bike and working in large crowds, and a LowePro small backpack also for working from a bike but when I need a little more gear. They're all perfect... for their intended uses... and terrible for other uses.

Well if you're gonna throw logic around we're going to be arguing about this all day.

I did a wedding last night and the photographer I was 2nd shooting for asked me how I manage to pack everything so well because I can set up in like 10 minutes and pack it up in five and I told her it's just simple planning and experience. Knowing what you're going to need and not bringing anything you don't and that everything should have its own space and you should never have to remove one thing to access another.

 

[hepcat]

Well if you're gonna throw logic around we're going to be arguing about this all day.

Sorry... what was I thinking? 😀

 

[back alley]

possibly the best ever description of a British bag in this Billingham thread on TOP - see the featured comment by Tim Bradshaw.

i read that yesterday...made me empty the ona and fill the billinghan L2 for today's shooting.

 

[back alley]

logic plays a smaller part in choosing bags than i believe we would like to admit...for many anyway.
i am editing my collection down and needing to make some decisions...i might have 2 bags that will hold 2 cameras with lenses...do i need both? not really...but figuring out which to keep can be traumatic!!

 

[Pablito]

first thing I thought was the person 2nd from the right would be an easy target for a thief.

 

[Roger Hicks]

... best bag ever for what?

That's the problem with "best bag" discussions. I have a Domke F-2 for when I need two bodies and several lenses. An F-6 for one body and a few lenses. A Timbuk2 small messenger with camera insert for a body and two lenses, a LowePro photo runner for riding a bike and working in large crowds, and a LowePro small backpack also for working from a bike but when I need a little more gear. They're all perfect... for their intended uses... and terrible for other uses.

Don't be silly. Just buy more Billinghams...

You can, however, with sufficient use, wear them out. Frances's 'baby Billingham' was, after a quarter of a century, badly worn because of all but daily use as a handbag (or purse, in American). One of mine was a bit worn after a bungee lost its grip and it was dragged for 25 yards behind an Enfield Bullet in India, but it's still not badly worn.

Cheers,

R.

 

[hepcat]

Don't be silly. Just buy more Billinghams...

You can, however, with sufficient use, wear them out. Frances's 'baby Billingham' was, after a quarter of a century, badly worn because of all but daily use as a handbag (or purse, in American). One of mine was a bit worn after a bungee lost its grip and it was dragged for 25 yards behind an Enfield Bullet in India, but it's still not badly worn.

Cheers,

R.

I neglected to mention my 1981 vintage LowePro Elite II that, itself, went for a tumble at 25mph off the rack of a Honda three-wheeler in the Anza Borrego desert when it was fairly new with my (then-newish) M4-2 and four lenses contained within. It, too, had a bungee cord event. I turned around and retrieved it expecting to find each lens element to be glass-shards and a dented and unusable body. Neither was the case. Not only was the bag undamaged, but so were the contents. I still have that LowePro. It has a venerated place in my lineup of bags.

 

[Roger Hicks]

I neglected to mention my 1981 vintage LowePro Elite II that, itself, went for a tumble at 25mph off the rack of a Honda three-wheeler in the Anza Borrego desert when it was fairly new with my (then-newish) M4-2 and four lenses contained within. It, too, had a bungee cord event. I turned around and retrieved it expecting to find each lens element to be glass-shards and a dented and unusable body. Neither was the case. Not only was the bag undamaged, but so were the contents. I still have that LowePro. It has a venerated place in my lineup of bags.

Fair enough. I think that the underlying point is that any good bag is, well, good...

Cheers,

R.

 

[cz23]

I'm not much into bags and thought I'd likely use my customized J-803 forever. But I just got a tan Ona Bowery for my Nex kit, and whoa!, I love it. Surely the nicest small bag I've owned. I use it with an Upstrap, which is way better than Ona's wide, heavy thing.

John

 

[kxl]

a venerated place in my lineup of bags.

Only in RFF would "lineup of bags" be lingua franca...🙂

I am happy to say that I have finalized my own lineup of bags, and there is a common theme:

- Thinktank Urban Disguise 30 - a quick grab bag for a day's shoot

- Thinktank Urban Disguise 35 - for those times I also want to bring my Kindle and other things

- Thinktank Urban Disguise 40 - similar to UD 35, but I also use this for travel

I replaced the TT shoulder strap with a Pacsafe shoulder strap for all of the above. Other than these, the only other bag I use is a backpack for those times when I need to lug the heavy DSLR gear (too heavy for one shoulder - at least for me).

I'll be selling/giving away all other bags in the closet.

 

[squareshooter]

When I was photographing the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City members of the press were given a white Olivetti bag intended, I think, for a portable typewriter. It turned out to be the perfect bag for a Rollieflex TLR and a "handle" electronic flash. I used it for years.

 

[Pablito]

When I was photographing the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City members of the press were given a white Olivetti bag intended, I think, for a portable typewriter. It turned out to be the perfect bag for a Rollieflex TLR and a "handle" electronic flash. I used it for years.

That must have been quite an experience. We you in the stadium for the black power salute?

 

[Roger Hicks]

Only in RFF would "lineup of bags" be lingua franca...🙂

I am happy to say that I have finalized my own lineup of bags, and there is a common theme:

- Thinktank Urban Disguise 30 - a quick grab bag for a day's shoot

- Thinktank Urban Disguise 35 - for those times I also want to bring my Kindle and other things

- Thinktank Urban Disguise 40 - similar to UD 35, but I also use this for travel

I replaced the TT shoulder strap with a Pacsafe shoulder strap for all of the above. Other than these, the only other bag I use is a backpack for those times when I need to lug the heavy DSLR gear (too heavy for one shoulder - at least for me).

I'll be selling/giving away all other bags in the closet.

Highlight: ...for the moment...

Cheers,

R.

 

[kxl]

Highlight: ...for the moment...

True enough... sadly 🙁

 

[noisycheese]

My vote for Best Camera Bag Ever goes to the Billingham 550 for a large size bag; for a medium size bag, it's the Billingham 335. For a small bag, it's the Billingham Hadley Pro.

I must say that the Ona bags look like a close second. Since Billingham quit making their rucksack camera bag before I got one ( 🙁 ), I'm getting ready to invest in one of these: http://www.onabags.com/store/messengers-and-backpacks/the-camps-bay.html?color=field-tan#field-tan

 

[gilpen123]

Ona Bowery is almost perfect for what I carry, only issues for me are; shoulder strap is the slippery type (need to get a strap pad) and would love to have a grab handle.

 

[back alley]

Ona Bowery is almost perfect for what I carry, only issues for me are; shoulder strap is the slippery type (need to get a strap pad) and would love to have a grab handle.

the billingham pad fits well. the slippery strap works if you like to carry the bag over the shoulder.

 

[bonatto]

hadley pro

 

[kully]

first thing I thought was the person 2nd from the right would be an easy target for a thief.

Never had anything stolen and I have used that bag daily since 2006 in some right dodgy places all over the world.

 

[Pablito]

Never had anything stolen and I have used that bag daily since 2006 in some right dodgy places all over the world.

I'm glad you never had anything stolen but I would not walk around with bag behind me like that in the crowded parts of Rome or Barcelona 😉

I sometimes take university students to photograph in those and other cities. Once we had 17 students in Barcelona and each and every one of them got robbed or pickpocketed, despite many warnings to watch their stuff. Nothing against BCN, it remains one of my favorite cities...