Looking for the smallest bag to hold a 3-lens m-240 set?

[w44neg]

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I'm hopefully going to be back in the Leica fold tomorrow, with an m-240. I'm buying it with a 35mm lens, but will also add a super-wide and a 50mm. I've seen the Hadley Digital from Billingham which looks as wide as I need, but very tall. I do like the fact it's weather resistant and also doesn't look like your average camera bag; I'll be traveling a lot so discretion is appreciated with a bag like that.

 

Which bag do you use and do you have any recommendations for me? I'd like to travel as light as possible.

 

Thanks 

[lawman]

I think you'll find the bag too small for three lenses - I would try the Hadley small or even the Pro if you go for fast 50/wide angle lenses

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[pechelman]

for one body with a lens and 2 spare lenses the hadley pro will be cavernous. While a slim bag, it's quite tall and wide.

 

The hadley small, while much more appropriately sized than the pro for your kit, it might even be bigger than you really need or seem to want by your description. For reference, I routinely carry 2 M bodies each with a lens and still have room for at least 1 or 2 lenses, a couple of batteries, a couple of filters, a lens pen, sunglasses, and still have room. Overall though, I love the hadley small. It's extremely discrete and tiny and will be allowed into many places that typically dont allow most other bags.  For one other option, I've never used one, but the APS-C fuji guys seem to love the ona bowery, though that may be a touch small to fit your camera+lens and 2 extra lenses.

[Soden]

Hadley pro - a little roomie for a three lens kit but you'll be grateful for the space later. It's a soft bag so it will expand or compress as needed.

 

Small is perfect for a two lens kit. Digital is too small for even a two lens kit if they are on the large side.

Edited April 3, 2017 by Soden

[digger1914]

Another vote for Hadley small. I can easily get my 240 and up to 3 lenses in it. Plus room for goodies in the pockets.

[ECohen]

I opened a similar thread about a year ago.
I searched and researched this exact subject ad nauseum

Look no further the Hadley Digital from Billingham is the only way to go.

One lens on the camera the other two on either side, very well protected

....28mm f/2.8, 50mm f/2, 90mm f/2.8 also also fits an EVF, extra battery, iphone, and a cleaning cloth ...even a filter or 2

Have you seen it ?  Let me know if you need photos, I'll photograph my kit tomorrow.
 

IMHO It is the perfect 3 lens  walkabout bag.

Edited April 3, 2017 by ECohen

[lawman]

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I'd like to see a photo of a Digital with a 240, 35/2, 50/1.4 and wate to meet the op's requirements

[Lord Lucan]

This seller has some interesting leather holdalls.>>>>

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[Lord Lucan]

And another>>>>>>

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[taosantamonica]

Hadley small, m240p, 35fle, 28cron, 50lux and divider flap. Front pockets (with room to spare) evf/battery, 6 filters in case, lens pen and cloth. An ipad mini also fits between insert and back. i also used it for a m240p mm1 noct and 35fle

eta...WxDxH 10¼” x 3⅛” x 7½” inside for the small and 7⅛"x 4"x 6¾" inside for the digital

Edited April 3, 2017 by taosantamonica

[w44neg]

Thanks for the replies. Looks like the digital or small from Billingham, although even the Small looks larger than I'm looking for. I'm thinking I'll glue two lens caps together and create one unit for two lenses together. I've done this with my Olympus system and it makes changing lenses easier as I'm juggling less.

 

Any pics of the Digital bag would be great.

[FeralCoton]

Oberwerth Munich bag is great as is the more compact Fogg Lyre. Neither is inexpensive, but both are extremely well made.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[w44neg]

Oberwerth Munich bag is great as is the more compact Fogg Lyre. Neither is inexpensive, but both are extremely well made.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

Thanks but the Munich bag looks much bigger than what I need, and the Fogg Lyre just looks like something from the 1980s :-D The Hadley Digital may well be ideal after watching a video review just now.

[250swb]

Thanks but the Munich bag looks much bigger than what I need, and the Fogg Lyre just looks like something from the 1980s :-D The Hadley Digital may well be ideal after watching a video review just now.

 

You said in your opening post you liked the idea of a bag that doesn't look like a camera bag. But a very small bag can only really be one thing, a camera bag. Unlike a Hadley Pro, which looks more like a fly fishing bag (because that is it's origin). A thief isn't going to see a small bag as anything other than stuffed with cameras because of the weight as it swings around and then to confirm it the extended period of time he gets to look at the contents as you struggle to wrench a lens out of it's confined space. A Hadley Pro on the other hand conforms around the body because it has more space inside, and it doesn't swing around like a stuffed full small bag bouncing off the hip. If you are travelling a larger bag allows you to put things other than camera equipment into it, useful, you don't then need your 'man bag' as well. And as previously alluded to, you just reach in and take a lens and drop the previous one into its compartment, no fiddling, no squeezing, no trying to stack lenses and body into the 'perfect' size hole. But hey, get a small bag, they have the advantage of being cheaper, and who wants to look like an eccentric fly fisher anyway? 

Edited April 3, 2017 by 250swb

[w44neg]

Yes you're right actually. It is handy having extra space so perhaps I should look at the small version as well. I just don't want to lug around more than I need, which is tempting with lots of compartments.

 

A bit like buying extra cupboard space and filling it with junk you should have sold or trashed years ago :-)

[taosantamonica]

the digital will work for what you say you want to carry.  personally i'd need a little more room in my bag for your choices.....and I learned that continuing to buy lenses/bodies made a few bags too small.  With either the digital or small think about getting a Billingham shoulder pad too. If you have a store close that carries Billingham take your camera and see how you like the size and the room for what you want to carry.  I now have a pro since adding a SL and a couple of bigger R lenses and to carry two cameras....personally it would be too big for one camera and even four lenses for me. I still use the small when i carry just one camera and an extra lens or two so if your comfortable with what you can carry in the digital you still will later even if you do need to go to a bigger bag for other items.

Edited April 3, 2017 by taosantamonica

[LocalHero1953]

For walk-around shooting, e.g. while on holiday, I found that the smallest possible bag just for my camera kit was a mistake. I typically wanted to carry also a guidebook and/or map, passport and possibly a bottle of water. Never an iPad (why would I carry that around on holiday?) Money and phone in my pockets.

My bags are now bought for that purpose: I'm a Fogg guy, so I have the b-major for the SL, and a b-laika on order for the M240 + 1 spare lens (2 lenses are enough for me at a time).

 

A couple of other comments:

- leather is beautiful and usually provides good protection but is intrinsically heavier than canvas.

- being a thief magnet is, I suspect, not so much down to the type of bag you own as (a) carrying any bag at all (who knows what valuables it might have in it) and (b whether you look like someone who is not paying attention to risks and what is going on around them.

Edited April 3, 2017 by LocalHero1953

[taosantamonica]

 Never an iPad (why would I carry that around on holiday?

my iPad mini allows carrying books to read while waiting for the right light, maps, guide books, music, its camera etc etc etc.

Edited April 3, 2017 by taosantamonica

[graphlex]

Fogg B-Laika.

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Hallo,

Look here: Leica M

[w44neg]

I suppose another option would be an insert for one of my regular bags. I have a Dunhill leather one that doesn't see enough use, so this could be an option.