Leica What is your camera bag(s) for your Leica?

I commute 55 miles (each way) by train Mon-Fri. I have, virtually always, an old, black Billingham Hadley with one M Body, 35mm and 90mm Summicrons + spare roll of film (+ phone, glasses case, etc).

Last weekend, the same bag contained my Hasselblad 503cx, 80mm f2.8 and 50mm f4 + 3 rolls of 120 and all my other bits and bobs. For those familiar with Doctor Who, I call this bag my "Tardis" as it is capable of carrying much more inside than its external appearance suggests.

There are numerous other bags in my cupboard, some considerably larger than the Tardis but I've never found a better, more protective, ergonomic and durable bag than those made by Billingham. But I can only speak for myself, of course....

I have the Billingham f/2.8 for larger kits and the Hadley Digital for when it's one camera and one (possibly two) lenses. It's in between where I look for something else.
 
There are numerous other bags in my cupboard, some considerably larger than the Tardis but I've never found a better, more protective, ergonomic and durable bag than those made by Billingham. But I can only speak for myself, of course....

+1. I can vouch for the durability of the Billingham. Not that expensive if you compare it to the other 'signature' brands.
 
I have way too many bags. Just can't get the ideal bag... I know what I want but can't get one made yet. Anyway, I pulled the trigger on a new ONA Bowery canvas bag. Saw in on EBay, the price was right and I bought it.
This is a very nice bag and almost perfect. The quality is just like the reviews say, excellent. It's small, light and holds just about all I need to go shooting. I have the M240 with a 50mm 'Lux, a 28mm Elmarit and a 35mm "Cron as well as filters for all, EVF, filter cases, SD cards, extra battery and a lens cleaning pen + cleaning cloth... I could alternatively carry a 90mm Elmarit or a 15mm Voigtlander instead of the 28mm or 35mm... Not a bad bag at all. They make a leather one which I would love to have but at $270, it's more than I want to spend on it now..
 

Attachments

  • _P2M1049.JPG
    _P2M1049.JPG
    370.2 KB · Views: 126
  • _P2M1050.JPG
    _P2M1050.JPG
    420.7 KB · Views: 107
  • _P2M1052.JPG
    _P2M1052.JPG
    382.8 KB · Views: 98
I have way too many bags. Just can't get the ideal bag... I know what I want but can't get one made yet.
I also have more bags that I'll ever use and have recently given half a dozen of them away. Having carried cameras since the age of 13 (in 1974), I've never found a bag with which I've felt 100% happy. That might sound like a contradiction to my earlier post but, even with the Billingham range, there are tweaks I'd make to the range that's available. Nothing major, just slightly bigger here or an extra pocket there... It's because I hate cramming so much into my bags, and so tightly, that it becomes difficult to get stuff in and out. And yet, if there's a bit of available space, we often find something we think might be useful, and fill the gaps.

These days, I like to travel light. Gone, in all probability, are the days when I will carry a D800 + F5 (or F6), 14mm to 200mm by way of 3 x f2.8 aperture lenses, half a dozen Lee filters, flashgun, spare batteries, film, a battery charger, tripod, etc. I kid you not, I have done it, lots of times - and justified it to myself on the basis that I was tooled-up properly and would be unlucky to face a situation where I didn't have the right kit with me with which to take advantage. Settling on a bag for that lot was relatively easy as there are few bags that will do the job. However, there was never a time when I used all of that kit on one 14 day holiday, let alone a day trip. Ironically, I find that using Leica (and other rangefinder / mirrorless / 4 thirds, etc) makes life more difficult in some ways as this kit tends to be a lot smaller / more compact. Consequently, it's easy to believe we can carry a few more lenses, etc without it becoming either a burden or pushing our bags to (or beyond) their limits.

Other than when I'm using 5x4 or 120, I travel very light these days. One (occasionally two) M film bodies + two (occasionally three) lenses, some film and a lens cloth. My Hadley (Tardis) is probably as perfect for my needs as any bag can be. However, occasionally, we fall into the trap of convincing ourselves to carry more kit than is really necessary.
 
However, occasionally, we fall into the trap of convincing ourselves to carry more kit than is really necessary.

This is exactly what happens with me. I'm always thinking that I "might" just need that extra telephoto or ultra wide angle lens.... I truth, I could probably do very well with the WATE Tri-Elmar, the 50 'Lux and a 90mm lens when I go hiking to shoot waterfalls, landscapes and architecture as long as I have ND and CPL filters. Unfortunately, the tripod is indispensable but at least it does not need to fit in the bag.

I am happy about this aspect of the Leica system. The temptation to carry huge unwieldy telephoto lenses is eliminated almost 100%. Now I must start saving for the Tri-Elmar :rolleyes-79:
 
image.png


I'm getting this from Leica Miami with the new X-U, but if history is any indication, the bag and camera will likely arrive 6 months apart. So if it's the bag first, I could carry sandwiches and a coke, or if camera first, use something from Walmart until the bag arrives.
 
That bag is cute. Might also fit a film body M with a 35 cron.

I'm pretty sure it will, with a divider to one side for spare batteries etc. I had a perfect small Billingham in green, but I couldn't find it the last time I looked.
 
That bag is cute. Might also fit a film body M with a 35 cron.

I think it will. I got the bag - it's a perfect fit for the X-U, with a small area on the other side of the divider for extra battery, lens cleaner, etc. I suspect most compact cameras up to the M would fit fine with one lens, and a second lens could also fit in the small divided area if it isn't occupied by anything else. Leica Miami was good enough to pre-test the fit for me.
 
Back
Top