GAS Dear Giary!

[Brian]

Mike- you got the deal of a lifetime this past week. I'd settle back and enjoy. Keep the Summilux, you have it- a Summicron is not going to do anything that it cannot.
The TTArtisans- if you decidee it is too big and heavy, and want something closer to a Noctilux 50/1.0, sell the 50/0.95 and buy the Nokton. You are not going to lose money on these if you decide to turn them over. I tend to buy lenses that I can work on and sell for more than I bought them for OR that I think are novel designs at an affordable price.
And that is how you get 120 lenses in Leica mount.

 

[mike3996]

I haven't had GAS, not about camera gear.

Let's talk about bags a little bit.

My Billingham Hadley Pro is a wonderful bag and its design instantly appealed to me. When I first got it it felt a little too big, but lightweight and sturdy.

It has seen a little action.

It carries a lot. In one way it carries just enough that I wouldn't like to carry any more because it would start to weigh too much. But it's not a carrier for large cameras or lenses.

No bag is perfect. Hadley Pro has some minor issues as well. It features no bottle holder. I like to remain hydrated so it's a must. I carved a space for a 0,5 L bottle inside the padded area which is all good. But it eats up space.

The Hadley Pro can handily contain setups of M43/APSC/Leica M easily with multiple lenses. But Nikon Df or Panasonic S1 or even a dual Leica M is stretching the limits of what it can fit.

To answer the question of increasing space demands, I was trying to be smart and I got a sensible small backpack with side accesses and stuff. It handily carries what I want to be carrying. Its divisor setup is not quite 100% designed with small cameras in mind but I can secure the Leica there. But my heart is with the Billingham nonetheless.

I have let this lie for now.

I've been thinking about a day when I'd show my appreciation to Billingham by buying brand new. What should I be buying? The Hadley Pro I have and I don't need a new one. I've been on the fence about Hadley One. Large bag, too large probably. Would look funny on my 5'7 frame.

Billinghams brand new are not cheap either. The Hadley One would run about 400 € with the accessories. I snatched my Hadley Pro very well priced, which is part of the reason I don't want to replace it. I think most of you feel the same way about useful tools that cost particularly little to obtain -- there's a certain sentimental value about things of low prices.

I've been okay with the Hadley, no problem. It fits plenty of gear. A bottle of water, Leica M + 2 extra M lenses, and a M4/3 camera with a say 35-100 f/4-5.6 (plus an extra couple of compact primes/zooms in M4/3 don't take any space really) fits all together wonderfully.

But I have to look. Someone is selling a Hadley One in olive green with accessories for 250 €.

There are also other brands out there. Wotancraft Pilot 10L was recently featured in DPReview ad space. It's sized similarly to Hadley One, has a little more features of convenience and is priced at 200 €. What particularly strikes me is its light weight.


Wotancraft is an unknown to me and I wouldn't buy one brand new without being able to test it first. Bags like cameras are tools that have to be pleasant to operate. I know nothing about Wotancraft bags. I'm not even sure if there's an importer in Finland. I'll probably consider it if someone is selling their Pilot 10L.

Meanwhile, I contacted the seller of Hadley One.

 

[mike3996]

Now that I thought out aloud about bottle carrying, I was able to think clearly about my requirements and found this solution:

3.85US $ |Tactical Molle Water Bottle Bag Pouch For Military Outdoor Travel Camping Hiking Fishing - Water Bags - AliExpress

Smarter Shopping, Better Living! Aliexpress.com

www.aliexpress.com

It adds an extra 100 grams but definitely makes sense. The fastening mechanism is similar to what Billingham's own side pockets use.

It won't look as pretty and streamlined as a plain old Hadley looks, but the fact is that carrying liquids next to €€€€ cameras inside padded bag is not a good idea. Especially so in wintertime when I'd like to carry hot beverages in thermos. It'll leak warmth and I fear it will produce condensation inside the bag. Makes all the sense to get an external holder for liquids. Billingham won't budge -- there won't be a Hadley with an outside pocket or mesh designed for flasks.

 

[bartjeej]

Chris Niccols of DPReview TV picked a Wotancraft 10L bag as his gear of the year, and he's handled a whole lotta different bags and camera bodies. And it has a bottle holder on the side.

I added a MOLLE bottle holder to the belt of my waist pack, but don't really enjoy the bounce of the bottle while I walk. Much prefer an integrated elastic bottle holder on the pack itself.

 

[Ad Dieleman]

A backpack provides comfort for carrying the weight but reaching for your camera gear almost always requires taking off the backpack and putting it on the ground. Shoulder bags are very convenient in terms of gear access, but I can't carry much weight comfortably with them. For me the ideal compromise between a backpack and a shoulder bag is a sling bag; my everyday carry is a Thinktank Turnstyle 10 V2.0 and for somewhat more gear a LowePro Slingshot 202 (IIRC). When I want to carry significant extra stuff besides photo gear, I take the Mindshift Rotation backpack, which ingeniously features a compartment that can be swung from behind to the fore, enabling reaching for your gear without having to unload the backpack itself.

 

[bartjeej]

I tend to carry more gear, water and food than is comfortable for any single shoulder carrying solution, so slings are out for me. Also for reasons of stability, stabilizer straps nonwithstanding.

I carry a submersible waterproof waist pack, that's starting to become a bit small given the increased length of my hikes. But for access and walking comfort, it's superb.

The Mindshift Rotation backpack is a very cool bit of gear, combining the best of waistpack and backpack. If I had cash to spare I might just pick one up, but I don't.

 

[mike3996]

Ah, good news. The seller of the Hadley One won't budge on the price so luckily I am not getting the bag just now. As well it is priced right now, do I need more crap in my closets, argh.

When the holder arrives in February it'll be an interesting time. My Billingham layout has served me unaltered almost four years. It's tried and true. The new bottle placement solution means I need to adjust it if I need to make sense of the new purchase. Now that the bottle doesn't have to take space inside, I can then shift the layout, allow room for my larger cameras.

And now I am again thinking about the larger Hadley One.

Chris Niccols of DPReview TV picked a Wotancraft 10L bag as his gear of the year, and he's handled a whole lotta different bags and camera bodies. And it has a bottle holder on the side.

Yes this was the trigger I read the other day.

Wotancraft and the MOLLE holder both have that "tactical" aesthetics about them. They look at home with a little tinkering done on the carrying setup. The Billingham bags are uneasy with extraneous things attached to them. I'll have to see what the bottle holder does to it.

A backpack provides comfort for carrying the weight but reaching for your camera gear almost always requires taking off the backpack and putting it on the ground.

I bought the Mindshift Urban Access 13 off a sale. It has side accesses on both sides and therefore combines features of a back-opening backpack and a sling bag. It even works in practice!

It's not a bad bag by any means. My back just aches just as the same whether I carry a heavy load on it vs. Billingham. Maybe I haven't been able to fasten it properly.

Also, it's a good and interesting mindset when you put the bag down to access your gear. Perfect for landscape things, and several urban scenarios as well. The slinging mechanism works but with a thick winter jacket on it doesn't. And of course during hot summers a backpack will warm your back.

Currently my main problem with the pack is that its dividers are designed for large DSLR zooms. I should buy several sets of extra divisors or protector pouches if I wanted to carry Leica M lenses securely in it. I've used socks so far.

The Mindshift Rotation backpack is a very cool bit of gear, combining the best of waistpack and backpack. If I had cash to spare I might just pick one up, but I don't.

This bag seems super. Not for me though since I don't do such hikes that necessitate large space for clothes, food, whathaveyou.

 

[Ad Dieleman]

Also, it's a good and interesting mindset when you put the bag down to access your gear.

Not for me, thank you very much. I really hate that. In general I hate everything discomfort, despite claims that it'll improve your photography. Nothing personal, just totally disagree with you on this one .

 

[mike3996]

Not for me, thank you very much. I really hate that. In general I hate everything discomfort, despite claims that it'll improve your photography. Nothing personal, just totally disagree with you on this one .

It's not my new preference either. But when I tried it during one walk I found it refreshing to take that micro pause before shooting: with the pack on the ground and everything equally accessible I was also offered a low-obstacle possibility to consider my lens choices and all that.

 

[mike3996]

I can't seem to let go. I loaded up my browser with half a dozen unread Billingham Hadley One reviews. I'm trying to find a review that I read some years back about One wrapping comfortably around the wearer's body, whereas the ever-so-slightly smaller Hadley Pro is more rigid and won't mold itself against the wearer as much.

 

[mike3996]

While searching for that review, found out a Finnish retailer having Billingham bags in hefty discounts. Wow. Hadley One for 279 € when importing one from the UK would run me about 355 €. The used one I'm looking at does come with a couple of accessories (total worth around maybe 80 quid if bought new) but also with dog hairs, for 240 €.

Sadly the local retailers don't seem to stock those half-inserts that Hadley One uses. I'd preferably like to get a second one. I can't get it from Billingham directly either because they demand a minimum order of 165 GBP to ship to EU.

Dog hairs (includes a shoulder padding, I'm not sure if I ever need it, and it includes both the original half insert and the full width insert) is maybe 240 €.

Buying from Billingham.co.uk, One + full insert is something like 420 €, plus shipping.

Buying new from Finnish discount, 279 without accessories. Shipping is not much extra.

I'm initially thinking half + half is probably better than half + full. Then again, if I want that comfy 'wrap-around' then half+half is more rigid than the full-width insert.

 

[RichardC]

Billingham bag addict here.

I have had success in buying used Billingham bags from ebay. Especially auctions which finish before lunch-time mid-week.

There are a lot of people who don't buy them for the waterproof qualities - more like fashion accessories. The Sage Green with Dark Tan leather trimmings are my favourite colours.

The f2.8 will take an OMD EM1 Mk2 sideways - it's a cm or so deeper than the Hadley. Pity it's discontinued!

 

[mike3996]

My Hadley Pro was a good snatch from eBay. It ran me 76 € if I recall correctly. Pristine condition.

I really like Billingham as a brand and now if I can show my support by buying brand new, there's a chance I take it.

But the full-width insert is tough to find for sale outside Billingham's own direct shop.

 

[mike3996]

I happened by a Youtube review/sales pitch of a Wotancraft bag. Their design points were well presented. Customizability, malleability, and quality.

In direct comparison to how Billingham bags present themselves to the world, it's a stark difference.

I was reminded of a quote from Joel Moses I once read. It concerns some older programming languages but perhaps you can envision how it applies to camera bags.

“APL is like a beautiful diamond - flawless, beautifully symmetrical. But you can’t add anything to it. If you try to glue on another diamond, you don’t get a bigger diamond. Lisp is like a ball of mud. Add more and it’s still a ball of mud - it still looks like Lisp.”

Wotancraft is that ball of mud. I also happen to like Lisp languages, enjoy the language family tremendously. It's likely that aesthetically a poorly kept worn Wotancraft matches my person better than a Billingham.

Billinghams do have points of extension. But it won't look like a diamond anymore.

I didn't buy a brand new Billingham off of the sales. I'm still weakly thinking about the dog-hair Hadley One. My GAS can give me plenty of good sounding reasons to get the bag. We'll see!

 

[RichardC]

I had never heard of Wotancraft. They look nice.

I am biased though, but for good reason. I've got a Billingham backpack (ebay again) which was cheap but has the beginnings of a tear on the joint of a strap to the base of the bag.

The factory is 14 miles from my house and they do a repair service

 

[Ad Dieleman]

I have a few Billingham bags but I don't use them for going out: they're much too heavy for me, the weight of the bag is the equivalent of a number of lenses. The Thinktank Retrospective bags are very nice but are heavy as well, reason why I switched to lighter shoulder/sling bags.

 

[mike3996]

I used Thinktank Retrospective 7 before Hadley Pro and it was super lightweight compared to the Retro. The impression continues to last.

For rain resistance I think I trust Billingham's rubber insulation more than cordura. Not that it ever rains in Finland like it does in the British islands.

Wotancraft as a brand entered my radar a couple of years ago when people reviewed their bags. The general sentiment was that they were heavy but had tremendous expandability and so on. The new batch of bags such as the Pilot series are super lightweight so that's one reason I'm kind of raising my ear now.

The Wotancraft bags imported cost about 300 € so they're not that cheap compared to Billingham bags anymore. And Billingham's insides work for me very well. There's no telling I could get a Wotancraft set up as conveniently as my Hadley Pro.

That's the number one reason I'm not going to exactly buy a Wotancraft bag unless someone inside the EU is selling their preowned one for low money.

 

[mike3996]

I got myself an exercise machine (elliptical trainer) a couple of months ago. At the same time I decided I won't be consuming any Youtube unless I'm on the machine. It's been good that I wanted to see more bag reviews so I had to get my sweat on.


I watched BHT's cool Wotancraft review. The immediate reaction I have is that it's close to what Thinktank Retrospective bags do for me. Maybe with some smarter choices (of course comes with a 33% heftier price tag also) but the basic experience might be close to what Retro offered me.

I had the Retro 7 as my first real camera bag. It was okay I guess. I didn't have good points of reference. Then in 2018 I got the Billingham and I really liked it from day one. I don't want any velcro in my bag! The Billingham padded inserts are also ah so very fluffy. And it felt light for its size.

Then I guess it was this year when I bought a cheap Retro 10 to relive the old days. Definitely not the bag for me. Luckily I was able to sell it away without any particular loss.

In this context Wotancraft is an open, unsure question.

At least I found a European distributor for Wotancraft. They sell the Pilot 10L for 199€ which is very reasonable. Good, very good! But what am I talking about here? I will have to rule Wotancraft out for the time being. I must, mustn't I?

Hadley One brand new goes for 335 € and supposedly fits 8,75 liters of content. The Pilot 10L for 199 € should probably do 10 L as to its name.

What is problematic in all this is that it's not clear if Hadley One even offers a reasonable upgrade (over my Hadley Pro) in storage capacity.

 

[mike3996]

The Billingham discount is over, a Wotancraft EU retailer discovered, Hadley One seller not budging.

I achieved some clarity. I'll first wait for the Molle mug holder to arrive. If it works, it frees up good space inside my Billingham.

If it doesn't work for me, I can go look at the Wotancraft bags again.

 

[mike3996]

Shipping on the accessory holder was preliminarily delayed further 3 weeks.

My Hadley Pro is a good and roomy bag, until I started to demand more and more of it.

Leica Q + Olympus Pen-F with lenses, no problemo.
Leica M with lenses, no problemo.
Leica M with lenses, + Panasonic GX80 with lenses, no problemo.
Leica M with lenses + Nikon Df with a lens, even this fits.

A lot of interesting use cases and plenty of gear options are being covered by this modest bag.

But then. Larger cameras such as Panasonic S1 starts to be a bit much.

Leica M + TTartisan 50/0.95 is a bit much. Doable, absolutely, but I am spending extra time trying to get the camera in and out of the bag. Especially if you put in another Leica M!

~

The more I try to study* the Wotancraft bags and how they organize inside, more I think they're not the perfect choice for me.

*) Reviews don't seem to like spending any time explaining divider designs or internal organizing of gear.

Billingham makes a conscious choice to sacrifice volume for good padding. I'm not sure what these Wotancraft dividers do, or how well. They look somewhat similar to what Thinktank Retro might have used. No fluffy softness of Billingham's!

Billingham on the other hand makes the vanity/aesthetic choice of not offering extendability. No loops for tripods or umbrellas, nor any pockets for water bottles.

For me I've made do. A collapsible umbrella goes inside the bag (wastefully inside the padded area where now cannot be another camera) when dry and if I have to use it, I use a string and a carabiner ring to fasten it outside the bag. Not pretty, not very functional, but it works... somewhat.

~

I love my Billingham to bits, but I should have to recognize my style has shifted.

I am bringing a bit more gear with me, the cameras and lenses can be larger than before. I do more overnight trips so I'd like to comfortably pack a change of clothes and other evening items with me. The umbrella situation is another thing, not to mention the tripod. I bought a nice lightweight tripod that I don't really bring anywhere because Billingham refuses to host it. And don't forget a snack or two.

Plenty fits in the Hadley Pro and I like the haphazard attitude it sometimes necessitates. A sandwich in a bag against a Fujifilm X100 and an apple on top of that. It's a system waiting for a catastrophic failure but then again, I only do this with the lesser cameras. Leica M sits on its throne.

Hadley One is also a tough candidate given what I just listed for requirements. It lacks the outside extensionability just as much as my current Hadley Pro.

Who knows, maybe a Billingham insert fits inside a Wotancraft bag and that's the best of both worlds situation?

My economical Thinktank backpack is the sensible thing to expand on, but my heart is fixated towards the shoulder bags still.