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Leather Camera bag....suggestions..


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Maarten ...... yes the Dothebag catalogue on the Monochrom site is confusing as they all look the same and you have to check all the dimensions .... all the larger ones are really too big for Leica gear 

 

next post gives you some idea of the comparison sizes of the 6 & 7 which I have .... the 7 is actually quite a lot smaller than it looks as it is closer to the camera ...

Edited by thighslapper
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'big' is Mono 6 (at the back)


'small' is Mono 7 (at the front)


I engaged in a bit of surgery to the dividers to suit my requirements


The larger is now 5yrs old and has been carried all over europe and has worn very well. 


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Edited by thighslapper
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as explained here https://leicaqstreet.wordpress.com/

 

I wanted either bag, but went with the smaller one - then I sold my ipad air 2, bought a dell XPS 13 and needed a bigger bag to handle it.

 

Turns out the Brixton wasn't nearly as massive as I thought it might be

 

20836313035_f2a93a512e_b.jpgWotancraft Ryker vs ONA Brixton by dancook1982, on Flickr

Edited by dancook
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I am also looking for a nice bag in leather, not too big, just for my new Leica Q.

I started with the ONA Bag The Bowery in leather an I agree with the first posts here: it is too heavy...

At Friday I ordered the Aneas Bag made for Leica an got it yesterday.

i am not sure if the size is ok cause I need my sunglasses an my iphone also inside and maybe therefore the Bag is to small...

 

http://de.leica-camera.com/Unternehmen/Presse-Center/Pressemitteilungen/Photokina-2014/Press-Release-„Aneas-Edition-for-Leica“-Die-edle-Kameratasche-„Made-in-France“

 

and a video on YouTube:

 

The prices are heavy: 590 EUR for the small and 890 EUR for the bigger one...

 

I also like the Wotancraft Bags. they look very cute and the price is ok, i think

I asked Wotancraft if they will produce a brown Raven (a little bit smaller than the Ryker Model)  in the near future cause i don't like the black color.

They said that they will produce the brown ones some day. I asked again what they mean with "some day" 

if i get an answer i will post it here. 

Maybe there is someone here who also want the Ryker in a colour more friendly.

 

Andi

Edited by supertruper
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I bought an Ona Berlin II. I like it, but it's kinda heavy, a bit too small, and is a little distinctive. My normal carry bag for my Leica gear is a small Timbuk2 custom messenger with a snoop camera insert. It's light, well made, and very discreet. It looks nothing like a camera bag. 

 

Here is a review from my blog - http://www.kenrieves.com/?s=Timbuk2

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One more vote for the Hadley digital. It's my everyday bag, and takes my M240 and up to 3 lenses. I like the inserts so much that I bought a set for my Billingham Leica bag in which I can cram up to 5 lenses. I prefer canvas to Fibernyte by the way.

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If I'm putting the bag down-Domke.

If you mean putting it down gently then I agree.  I have numerous Domke bags and like them, but I would not want to accidentally drop one.  The padding is adequate for modest side impact, but I would really worry about a drop.  Especially if it happened to land top-down, because there is no padding on top of the contents.  But even bottom-down, the bottom padding is pretty thin. 

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One more vote for the Hadley digital. It's my everyday bag, and takes my M240 and up to 3 lenses. 

 

 

...and another as my everyday bag.

 

However, I would have liked a small pocket that was a bit more secure for sd cards, etc (rather than the open front section secured only with a press stud).

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Usually, when I don't have anything good to say I prefer not to say anything at all.

Having said that, I feel a word of caution is in order when it comes to ONA leather bags.

 

Some time ago I did a favour for a customer and made a few hardware changes to his ONA leather bag.

One of those changes was to replace those brass snap hooks and rings on the shoulder strap with something more elegant and less heavy.

Anyhow, to make a long story short after a closer inspection I had to dismiss any ideas that would involve stitching leather back together.

To my surprise i realized that what looked at first sight like thick, rich leather was in fact very thin leather that was folded 4 times (!!!) to get it up to strength and than machine stitched together. This basically means, these very thin layers of leather (about 2oz thick each = 0.8mm or 1/32") got in fact perforated rather than stitched together.

The result is a camera bag with two, one on each side, predetermined breaking points built in.

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There are a lot of bag options out there.  I wanted to add one that I didn't see here.

 

The nicest leather bag i own and use on a daily basis is the Saddleback briefcase.  It does take a bit of imagination to see how to get cameras in there; or might take a bit of extra casing or padding; but it is perfectly serviceable.  Extremely tough, thick leather.  Strong riviets.  Extremely sturdy.  I once knocked a little 8 year old who ran in front of me out of no where.  Knocked him flat on his bottom.  

 

I use the Saddleback thin Briefcase.  Which has my papers or journals.  Some daily stuff I carry.  And I have plenty of space for lenses or bodies.  Actually one of the front pockets is big enough to hold an extra body, without a lens.   

 

It is a Great Bag.  

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I have a Billingham Hadley Pro in Black/Black canvas, Liked it so much bought a Sage and Chocolate leather one in Fybernite. I also have a hadley small in Black/Tan. Great bags. I have tried various other bags and they are either too busy, to flashy (wotancraft was a little to much for me), or to much like a purse. Billingham seems to have always fit my need.

 

Hadley Pro will fit 2x bodies with mounted lenses and 2 additional lenses.

 

Typically I carry M240, 50Lux, 35Lux, 24D flash, pocket Air, and microfiber clothes. Also Fit a Macbook in the back (2015 version) or I use to have my Macbook Air there and a Ipad. All this with plenty of space in the front pockets for other items.

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So Harry whats you favorite small leather camera bag....Who do you like and when will you be making one? 

A little off topic I hope I didn't peak the rules

I hope I won't disturb any rules with my answer either...

 

My favourite small leather camera bag? – Now that's a loaded question…because my personal, honest opinion sounds awfully self-serving.

But since I'm a No-BS-straight-forward-kinda-guy, there's no other way for me to answer than to say what's on my mind.

The answer is simple: There's none I could think of.

 

Don't get me wrong, there are many nice (leather) bags out there. They just don't work for me as a photographer all that well.

(You can't blame anyone, though. Not many bag manufacturers are photographers.)

Basically, it's the same problem I used to have with camera straps. Something was never just right. Like many others I kept searching and buying. And in the process I spent so much money on it that I simply got fed up with the situation. Frankly, I'm too poor to buy cheap stuff. I always end up buying it more than once.

 

Okay, I'm not pulling a Kanye here. I don't make camera bags … but by now you guessed it, I will do so at some point in time.

I already started. Just like I did with camera straps, I made first a list of 'what I don't like about camera bags/what's not working for me.' Now I'm busy coming up with ideas that will cross-off each of those points… Stay tuned.

 

PS: This list is by no means complete yet. Input is welcome.

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Those ONA bags are all marketing and no substance.  Their Twitter account is one of my daily sources of cringe.  It's a shame because the Berlin II is really nice _looking_.  But then you see one up close... and hold it, and examine it, and you realize how flimsy it is.  It's like a stage prop.

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Those ONA bags are all marketing and no substance.  Their Twitter account is one of my daily sources of cringe.  It's a shame because the Berlin II is really nice _looking_.  But then you see one up close... and hold it, and examine it, and you realize how flimsy it is.  It's like a stage prop.

Stage prop – perfect way to describe their bags.

As I said earlier, for whatever reason (probably to save costs) they use for their entire bags only very thin leather. In fact any other, decent bag manufacturer would use leather this thin only on the inside of a bag to cover up fabric edges or zippers and such.

ONA on the other hand, simply folds their leather 4 times instead of using the proper leather weight required for a camera bag (or any bag for that matter). This has absolute nothing to do with quality!

 

To be crystal clear: Leather this thin is mainly being used for billfold wallets or card cases! To give you a better understanding of what I'm talking about, see the video below (at 0:34sec).  

http://www.ettinger.co.uk/about-us/videos2/how-to-make-a-card-case

Edited by haribo
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 It's a shame because the Berlin II is really nice _looking_.  But then you see one up close... and hold it, and examine it, and you realize how flimsy it is.  It's like a stage prop.

And presumably the Berlin II was created to address some of the shortcomings and complaints about the first version discussed here....  http://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/227763-be-careful-trusting-the-strap-on-your-ona-berlin-bag/

 

Jeff

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Stage prop – perfect way to describe their bags.

As I said earlier, for whatever reason (probably to save costs) they use for their entire bags only very thin leather. In fact any other, decent bag manufacturer would use leather this thin only on the inside of a bag to cover up fabric edges or zippers and such.

ONA on the other hand, simply folds their leather 4 times instead of using the proper leather weight required for a camera bag (or any bag for that matter). This has absolute nothing to do with quality!

 

To be crystal clear: Leather this thin is mainly being used for billfold wallets or card cases! To give you a better understanding of what I'm talking about, see the video below (at 0:34sec).  

http://www.ettinger.co.uk/about-us/videos2/how-to-make-a-card-case

Disclaimer:

None of my observations or comments that follow are made with the intent of disparaging anyone on this forum who owns and uses an Ona camera bag.  They are just my observations, that's all; your reality may vary.

 

I finally saw some of the Ona leather bags at one of their dealer shops a couple of days ago.  The Bowery in leather is the one that interested me the most due to its small size.  This bag looked like nothing special in terms of design or appearance, but the thing that surprised me was the weight of the bag.  When it was empty sitting on the shelf, it was so heavy that it felt like it already had a camera inside it!  The leather was thick and stiff, which I thought was good because it would provide more impact protection.  I was not impressed with the internal padding of the bag; it was too thin IMHO. 

 

 

"...Stage prop – perfect way to describe their bags."

That's a pretty sad commentary on Ona's bags, but there is a measure of merit therein.

 

The reports in this thread of thin, flimsy leather being used in Ona bags are contrary to the Bowery I saw and was able to inspect; this makes me wonder if Ona just buys whatever leather they can find at sale prices regardless of the thickness or quality of the leather and builds bags out of it to maximize profit.  If that is the case, they have no concept of quality control IMHO and it is a sad commentary on their product line and their business philosophy. 

 

If you look at their website, it seems pretty obvious that Ona's target customer is the young city dweller hobbyist photographer and/or hipster poser.  Sadly, Joshua hit the nail on the head when he said

"...Those ONA bags are all marketing and no substance."

 

The Berlin II is indeed a beautiful bag, but at $400, there are better bags available for much less money.  The Billingham Hadley Pro comes to mind.  Outstanding design, materials and craftsmanship trump marginal quality leather and "style" every time.

Edited by Carlos Danger
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