It’s almost christmas and you’re probably already checking out all new camera bags on the web. Well, you might get yourself a nice Billingham 1.4 camera bag for free, with very little effort. I’ve received this bag from Degreef & Partner, the distributor for Billingham in the Netherlands and they wanted me to give it to one of my readers, after I’d be done with the review. So this is what you have to do:
The F-stop series are not the most well known Billingham bags. Maybe because the Hadley has been around for a much longer time, or maybe because we haven’t looked yet at the bags properly. After having used the bag for a few weeks, I can say they deserve to be among the Hadley and other golden oldies.
I received the 1.4 and the first thing I noticed was it’s weight. It is definitely lighter than a bag made out of canvas with the same size. However, it also feels different and if you’re used to the thick canvas of Billingham, it might feel a bit thin. And it sounds different too. Yet, I must say, as a former alpine climber, I’ve learned to trust synthetic fabrics and I have never been let down by any of these. No reason at all for not buying one of these beautiful bags.
Great colors: the chocolate leather is gorgeous.The trusted Billingham logo is where it should be: right in the middle.
Yes, beautiful it is. The colour is gorgeous, better than the khaki canvas: slightly darker and less prone to staining. Also, the thick, chocolate leather is not only very functional, it’s also extremely good looking. The strap is made out of the same material as used on the khaki L2. Sturdy, soft and not too wide. An extra shoulder pad is recommended if you’re walking around with it all day.
The zippered back pocket: fits an iPad or other flat things.
The lay-out is very simple: a zippered pocket on the back, where you can store an iPad (my classic fits just fine and that’s huge and thick), a front pocket, without any zippers or flaps and the main pocket, with two dividers. In the main compartment there is a slot for an iPad or a small laptop. An 11″ MacBook Air will fit. I’m not sure about the 13″. At first, I thought the camera compartment was just a little too big for a rangefinder system, but it depends on you usage. If you’re carrying one body and many small lenses, you’ll need extra dividers and you’ll have to stack lenses. But if you’re carrying two bodies with lenses attached, this is a very convenient bag. I had no trouble fitting an M9 with Noctilux attached and an M240 with 35 cron attached and still had enough space for three more lenses. Yes, I had to stack them for that, but still.
Padding for impacts from above. Like falling cameras on a Leica meet.
The front pocket could have been a little bigger, but Billingham designed this bag with weight in mind. Big pockets carry big things with big weights, so it’s probably a good thing. The front pocket is big enough to hold your chargers, cables, a hard drive and other small stuff.
The main camera compartment: simple and big.
The closing system is adjustable in two settings. Even if you carry a tripod under the lid, you can still use the tightest setting. To me, it felt that the 1.4 sometimes was a little too easy to open. With the Hadley, I always adjust the little belts so you need to apply a tiny bit of force to open your bag. Add the fact that the 1.4 has no zipper to cover the main compartment and you might want to pay a bit extra attention to the contents of your bag when pickpockets are around.
Leather straps for attaching a tripod are available, but this works as well.
Speaking of the Hadley: most people that will be interested in the 1.4 will compare it to the Hadley Pro. The Hadley is just a few euro’s more expensive and size wise, they look similar, don’t they? Well, I’d say the 1.4 is the L2 version of the Hadley Pro. The camera compartment has a more rectangular shape than the Hadley pro, which makes it easier to stuff a camera with a big lens anywhere you want. In the Hadley, the part in the middle is a lot wider that the edges of the camera compartment. Also, in the 1.4 you get a dedicated, padded iPad/small laptop slot, which is a good thing. But here’s where the comparison ends: where the L2 has more room for other stuff, the 1.4 has less room compared to the Hadley Pro. In fact, I stuffed the exact same amount of things in the Hadley Pro as I did in the 1.4 and had almost one complete front pocket left. Like I said: the 1.4 front pocket isn’t the biggest on earth.
All the contents in the bag. You’ll have to stack lenses and the front pocket is pretty much filled up.All the contents out of the bag. Don’t walk around with this all day please…
Manfrotto 190 series tripod
iPad classic
Rocket blower
Cable
Spare batteries
Lacie Rugged
Lens cloth. Will fit in all of my bags though.
Spare SD-cards
Mophie powerstation mini
Charger
Leica 28/2.8
Leica 75/2.5 (now officially a classic)
EVF, no need to bring this one without a 21 lens
Leica 50/2. Best lens ever.
Wallet
Leica M9-P with 50/0.95 Noctilux attached
Leica M240 with 35/2.
So who is the 1.4 for? Well, for people that are looking for a stylish camera bag that easily carries two rangefinder bodies with big lenses attached and one or two extra lenses – which they’ll need to stack -. Or for people with a medium format body with two lenses. Or for people with a DSLR with a couple of lenses. Or for people with just one rangefinder body, a few lenses, but a sweater, a laptop, a book, a bottle of water, some snacks… You get it right? The 1.4’s unique selling point is that it’s very versatile. And all that in a very light, yet stylish packet. Well done Billingham. Again.
The Pro is just a little bigger on the outside.But the camera compartment is better customizable…And this is what you get when you store the exact same stuff in the hadley Pro: one front pocket almost empty.
I’m a big fan of the Hadley series and when I started looking for a compact bag that could fit one or two M bodies, a couple of lenses and some accessories, I never spent much time looking at the L2. Why? Well, I just thought it was the same bag as the Leica Combination bag and that bag looked less nice compared to the Hadley small and is was even more expensive. But now I know why. Most of you that are interested in this bag, will compare it to the Hadley small. That’s how I wrote this review.
The L2 is nothing like the Hadley small and only a little bit like the Leica Combination bag. In theory, the Hadley is the bigger bag with a capacity of 3,5 l, compared to 3l of the L2. But the L2 is way more practical than the Hadley and there are three reasons for it. First, the Hadley is taller, which means you only have more capacity if you’re willing to stack lenses. During weddings, that’s a no go for me. The L2 has a slightly wider and longer base for the camera compartment. The reason it is still smaller than the Hadley is its height. And that’s good, because we don’t want to stack lenses and we don’t want to ‘dig’ in our bags to find something. The L2 is definitely designed with a rangefinder in mind – it fits perfectly!- , whereas the Hadley can also be used with a small DSLR. When looking at the two bags, they appear to be of the same height, but the bottom padding in the L2 is much thicker, plus the L2 has brass feet.
A sleek looking bag and bigger than you think
Second, the Hadley is not a perfect rectangle. It’s wider in the middle than on the edges, which means a camera with a lens can only be fitted in the middle of the bag, or has to be stored in another orientation in one of the edges of the bag. The L2 is a perfect rectangle and it’s just as big on one of the sides as it is in the middle. Perfect.
Brass feet keep your camera dry and prevent tipping over
Third, the Hadley has two small front pockets that are just big enough to store a wallet, a hard disk and some small stuff. The front pocket of the L2 is huge and way, way more usable. You can fit a hat, a compact sweater, your wallet and still have some space for small things. For me, that’s a huge benefit, because on a day trip, I want to carry other things besides my camera.
Unconventional flaps do their job just as good as the cover on the Hadley does
But there is more: the L2 provides better access to the camera compartment because of the overall stiffness of the bag. With the Hadley, which has softer and more flexible padding, the bag tends to fold to your body. Although that is a good thing while wearing the bag, it tends to make access to a bag a little harder. The L2 feels almost like a little suitcase. It’s very stiff and makes it very easy to get things in and out of the bag. For comfort, I’d say the Hadley is the better wearing one of this duo.
The interior of the bag: customizable and accessible
Talking about access: I much prefer the closing system of the Hadley. The system on the L2 is not adjustable at all, while the Hadley is. The Hadley is fitted with a lid that fits all over the bag, while the L2 has folding flaps on the side to protect your gear. I think both will do fine in bad weather. The Hadley has a padding just under the lid, while the L2 hasn’t. If you’re expecting impacts from above, the Hadley offers more protection. The padding also affects accessibility.
Here’s the bag with all the contents from the next picture. It’s quite full, but it works
Another key feature of the L2 that I absolutely love is the bottom of the bag: it is fitted with brass feet. Depending on how you fit your stuff in the Hadley, it tends to tip over. Very annoying and the brass feet take care of that problem. Also, if you ever put your bag in a pool of water – or beer -, you won’t drown your expensive camera. Like all Billingham bags, the strap is a bit narrow, so adding a shoulder pad increases comfort. If you plan on keeping it very light, you don’t need to add a shoulder pad.
And here’s what you COULD put in the L2. Be smart and carry less though…
Charger cable
Wallet (notice how it has shrunken after I got the Noctilux)
Lens cloth
Mophie powerpack mini
Optical viewfinder for the 21 (which is not even in the bag…)
Lacie Rugged
Charger
Spare batteries. No, they’re not made by Toyota.
Rocket blower for drying my eyebrows
Spare SD-cards
Leica 75/2.5 Summarit
Leica M9-P
iPad classic (less greasy than last review)
Leica M240
Leica 28/2.8 elmarit. Little gem.
Leica 50 Cron. All you need (says the man with a Nocti)
The Hadley has a removable insert, while the L2 doesn’t. If you remove the internal dividers you can use it for other purposes, but not like you can with the Hadley. While most photographers use the space behind the insert for storing an iPad, the L2 has a dedicated slot for that purpose. The insert is not the only difference with the Hadley: the interior is made of a smooth nylon material, just like in the 5-series. That means the interior is less customizable than the Hadley, where you can fit all the dividers where you want. With the L2, you’re restricted to the velcro on the fixed interior and the velcro on the dividers. I’m a big fan of the smallest dividers for the Hadley series. They have velcro on side only and they’re great for stuffing two lenses in a tight spot. I used some of these dividers to custom fit the interior the way I like it. If you don’t own a Billy yet, you might want to purchase some extra dividers.
Hadley small and L2 side by side. Notice the perfect rectangular shape of the L2.
If I had to choose between the L2 and the Hadley I’d definitely buy the L2. It may look more like a camera bag than the Hadley does, but it is more practical and is just a bit more expensive. I would keep the divider set of the Hadley for more customizability. If inconspicuousness is important, get the black one. The khaki bag will attract more attention. Both bags are very sturdy, good looking and practical and I’ll continue to use my Hadley Small until it’s got holes in it. Yes, I know, that will probably never happen.
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And one more. It depends on taste, but style wise I prefer the Hadley.
It wasn’t an easy decision. Although my business is doing very good, I’ve never spent this amount of money on a single lens. In fact, the Noctilux always made my summicrons look affordable and I often laughed at the price of the nocti. Yet, I also loved the very specific rendering of this lens and the extra stops it’d give me compared to the 50 cron. My system lacked a very fast 50 that I could use with the rangefinder and the Rokkor 58/1.2, although a good lens, works only with the laggy live view. I decided to give it a try and I just loved the output of this lens. In a few months the weddings will start again and I’ll use this time to get this beast to work. I’m looking forward to it!
Last week I’ve been shooting in Prague, which gave me the chance to test two of the new Billingham bags I received to review. I liked the L2 and 1.4 both quite a bit and I already can say I prefer the L2 over my own Hadley small.
Anyway: Prague has a decent metro system and I am a big fan of escalators, since they often offer good photo opportunities. The escalators in Prague however are so fast, you’d best hold on with at least one hand. While going up in a station I don’t remember, I noticed and old man with a hat just a few meters behind me. I wanted to capture him with his dark clothes in front of the brighter background near the end of the escalator. I had my settings right and when I stepped from the escalator I focussed by feel and snapped one shot. While I took the shot I noticed the old man looking at me. I like the way the light falls on his face and how shadow and light create an interesting scene. I’m still not sure what the old man was thinking when he saw me taking the shot, but I just like it.
Be sure to know how to quickly focus a rangefinder, even when there is no time to use the patch. With a 28 your chance of success is big enough to give it a try.
You can only tell how good a photo bag is after having used it for at least a few days. And with days I mean full days. Ten hours or more with lots of walking. Today, my wife used the F1.4 bag and since she carried only one camera and one lens, she stuffed the remaining space with womens things. After 8 hours of walking and shooting, she told me she thought the bag felt quite heavy on her shoulder. I tried her bag and it was twice the weight of my bag! No wonder why it felt heavy. If you’re going to walk around all day: pack light!
Today I received three new Billingham bags for a review. The Dutch distributor Degreef&Partner liked my idea of reviewing the most popular Billingham bags so much, they decided to just send me a few. I’ll be busy in the few weeks. I already can tell you: that L2 is a pretty sweet bag. Very well designed!
Tuesday I had two visitors for my Leica Masterclass workshop and we had a terrific day. We started with the basic principles of focussing a rangefinder camera and I showed a few simple rules and tricks to make this easier, faster and more accurate.
We headed into the city to shoot in the streets. My students had lots of fun and learned to put their new tricks to practice. We ended in a more urban part of the city where we could shoot during rush hour and had some opportunities to shoot in the dark.
Just a few hours after the workshop, Harko sent me this email:
A well-organized and very instructive Leica masterclass. You gave us good advice which makes taking photos with our Leicas real photography again…!
Here are some of the pictures that were taken by my participants. Quite proud of them!
Yes, the Leica Noctilux 0.95 ASPH is a beast. And with the same price tag as a brand new small car, or a second hand nice car, it doesn’t come cheap. Yet I’m in the process of buying one, because I think it will work for my documentary wedding photography and my other photographic assignments. It will take a long time before I can focus this monster in low light, fast action, no second chance situations, but I’ve learned to focus other fast lenses. So why not this one? To be continued I guess…
Today was a pretty good day. Vincent came over for a Leica Introduction workshop and we had a good time. First we had a good look at the M9 and it’s lenses and menu. After that, we took a train to Delft (one of the oldest cities in The Netherlands) and went for a walk with enough photo opportunities. Vincent was fast enough with the rangefinder to catch some nice moments and the portrait he shot of me was actually so good that I’ll probably use it for some work on this website.
