Bags Billingham Hadley Pro 2020

[mike3996]

I have been most satisfied with my Hadley Pro canvas bag ever since (April '18) I bought one off of eBay for peanuts. Extremely comfortable around body and so on. There are times when I wish it had more room but at the same time I already think the bag is way too heavy if I fill its available volume with camera gear, so I don't really wish for more room either.

Now I hear there's a new revised version. "Hadley Pro 2020". I have no real reason to upgrade, only minor ones.

1. The bag is stupendously fine quality and lightweight and all that. I would very much like to show the company my support and buy directly from them at some point.
2. This current bag sure has all the rainproofing that I want, but as is the case with used bags can I be super sure it's not cracked or anything under the stitching?
3. The new design allows hanging some items by the outer loops. For example, my tiny telescope umbrella doesn't fit inside the bag but could hang outside.

The downsides to getting a new bag:

1. The warm and fuzzy feeling of having something real usable for little money goes away. As a Leica shooter this shouldn't matter much to me.
2. Breaking in the new bag can always be slightly frustrating.
3. If I buy new, there's a massive selection of colors to choose from. I could never settle for one!

So I don't think I'll be upgrading just yet. I have to run the dimensions though. If it's suddenly an inch taller inside (very unlikely) it could be a dealmaker for some items that don't currently fit comfortably due to their length.

Cameras come and go all the time. Lenses stay for a little longer. Camera bags are forever.

 

[kyteflyer]

Camera bags are forever.

Indeed they are. My favourite bag is one I bought to carry my Minolta SRT303b + lenses, back in 1979. I'd had the camera for a few years by then but didnt have a dedicated camera bag. Its the ugliest bag I've ever seen, and yet, it does the job better than most I have had since then.