dkCambridgeshire Posted March 30, 2022 Share #1 Posted March 30, 2022 Advertisement (gone after registration) d Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here… Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! My Billingham System 2 ordered 'straight from the factory' 28 September 1979 ... cost £28.75 inc. shipping ... 42 years young and still used regularly ... materials used in 1979 are better quality e.g. thicker leather ... Panasonic S1R / Panasonic 20-60mm dunk 3 Link to post Share on other sites Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! My Billingham System 2 ordered 'straight from the factory' 28 September 1979 ... cost £28.75 inc. shipping ... 42 years young and still used regularly ... materials used in 1979 are better quality e.g. thicker leather ... Panasonic S1R / Panasonic 20-60mm dunk ' data-webShareUrl='https://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/331146-1979-vintage-billingham-system-2-bag/?do=findComment&comment=4409541'>More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted March 30, 2022 Posted March 30, 2022 Hi dkCambridgeshire, Take a look here 1979 Vintage Billingham System 2 Bag. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
pippy Posted March 30, 2022 Share #2 Posted March 30, 2022 Very Nice, Dunk! Glad to read that the bag still gets used, too, rather than having been 'pensioned off'... Philip. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
John McMaster Posted March 30, 2022 Share #3 Posted March 30, 2022 I still have and use the original Series 1 with the two end pockets and two front pockets, as well as a Cordura Series 3... john 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pippy Posted March 30, 2022 Share #4 Posted March 30, 2022 1 hour ago, dkCambridgeshire said: ...My Billingham System 2 ordered 'straight from the factory' 28 September 1979 ... cost £28.75 inc. shipping ... As I found this thread - and the bag! - of some interest I have just had a look at the Wiki entry for Billingham and it would appear that Dunk's bag dates from just about their very earliest days as a manufacturer of camera-bags (as opposed to fishing bags). Here's a quote from the relevant passage; "Originally a manufacturer of fishing bags, in 1978 Billingham discovered that a large number of their bags were being sold to a Photographer in New York City. Within a year production had switched almost entirely to specialist camera bags..." I don't know how old my own Billinghams are. Two of them (a 225 and a 335?) were given to me by one of my 'regular' photographers whilst I was a freelance assistant back around 1990 and the other - a "Billingham f5.6" model (production period 1991-'96) - was only bought at the end of January this year from Ffordes. The latter is in almost-new condition. The others...erm...somewhat less so. Philip. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dkCambridgeshire Posted March 30, 2022 Author Share #5 Posted March 30, 2022 (edited) The original Billingham System 2 bag invoice / receipt 25 Sept 1979 ... at that time I'd just bought a new Canon AE1, Canon New FD 50/1.8, Canon New FD 135/2.8 and Canon New FD 24/2.8 ... still have the latter which easily adapts to Leica SL 601 ... Subsequently upgraded to Canon F1 which was used with Leica 100/4 Macro Elmar bellows lens via an adapter ... close focus only as infinity focus not possible ... My first experience of using Leica lenses. d Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here… Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! Note VAT just 15% and before VAT cost £23.80 ... thus actual cost of manufacture in 1979 could be less than £15? At that time all Billingham bags were orderered / sold, direct from the factory ... dealers did not stock them. dunk Edited March 30, 2022 by dkCambridgeshire 1 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! Note VAT just 15% and before VAT cost £23.80 ... thus actual cost of manufacture in 1979 could be less than £15? At that time all Billingham bags were orderered / sold, direct from the factory ... dealers did not stock them. dunk ' data-webShareUrl='https://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/331146-1979-vintage-billingham-system-2-bag/?do=findComment&comment=4409648'>More sharing options...
pippy Posted March 30, 2022 Share #6 Posted March 30, 2022 Fascinating that you still have the receipt! To put the price (inc. VAT!) into context; according to the Bank of England Inflation Calculator £28.75 works out at c. £155 in 'today's money'. Quite a bit less expensive than the equivalent bag from Billingham these days but, then again, if they were only available as direct sales in '78 it's hardly the same thing as nowadays where they are being sold through a dealership network with all the extra associated costs such a system involves. Philip. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
John McMaster Posted March 30, 2022 Share #7 Posted March 30, 2022 Advertisement (gone after registration) Probably quite a rarity, I had not known of that version - from Billinghams site (https://billingham.co.uk/collections/museum) it must have been their first bag and only made in 1979. The System 2 I knew was part of the next versions (1 to 4), although interestingly most of the System 3 bags they show have the later/simpler means of attaching the main strap, whereas mine is like this Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here… Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! john Link to post Share on other sites Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! john ' data-webShareUrl='https://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/331146-1979-vintage-billingham-system-2-bag/?do=findComment&comment=4409843'>More sharing options...
Graham (G4FUJ) Posted April 1, 2022 Share #8 Posted April 1, 2022 Dunk, bet your Billingham lasts longer than any of my Lowepro bags! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pippy Posted April 2, 2022 Share #9 Posted April 2, 2022 (edited) On 3/30/2022 at 8:04 PM, John McMaster said: ...most of the System 3 bags they show have the later/simpler means of attaching the main strap, whereas mine is like this... Thanks for the link, John. Very interesting! Curiously I couldn't see anything which matched, exactly, either of my two longest-serving Billinghams there either. Perhaps, as in with the VW 'Beetle', details were changed throughout the period of production as and when Billingham came up with newer ideas? FWIW here are the two bags of mine mentioned in post #4. If anyone knows which models these are then, just for the sake of interest, please let me know! Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here… Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! Philip. Edited April 2, 2022 by pippy 2 Link to post Share on other sites Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! Philip. ' data-webShareUrl='https://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/331146-1979-vintage-billingham-system-2-bag/?do=findComment&comment=4411303'>More sharing options...
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