Billingham Hadley Small vs ONA Bowery

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Has anybody had either or both of these bags and could give me some real world recommendations on either one, pros and cons etc? I'll use it when I'm out for the day with the Mrs, don't want loads of gear with me and don't want to look like I'm carrying a camera.

I probably prefer the look of the Bowery but by the sounds of it the Billingham is better made and more practical. It ideally will hold an Xt1 and a couple of fuji's smaller lenses so either shouldn't be a problem.

Thanks.
 
Support a British company rather than a US one that gets their bags made in possibly one of the poorest countries on this planet (Dominican Republic)
 
I have an ONA Bowery leather bag. It is certainly a lovely well made bag. I do however find it quite heavy and limited in how much it can carry. I tend to use it when wandering around towns and have a single camera body and lens.I tend to use a Sony AR72 and either the 55mm or 28mm pancake lens. I have used it with the 24-105 but find it gets a bit heavy. It could also do with a shoulder pad like the Think Tank Respective 6 has. The pockets are very tight and you cannot put a great deal in them. Usually a couple of batteries, cleaning clothes and not a lot else. I can't comment on the Billingham. I am sure others can.
 
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I have the Bowery too but not the leather version. Just the right size for an XT-2 and a couple of extra lenses. It's quite discrete in as far as it doesn't shout camera bag.

Agree with Trev on the pocket size - I get a couple of batteries, wallet, phone etc in the front ones and a book / iPad in the rear one. They're not big but big enough for me when going light.

Looked at the Billingham and, whilst lovely, wasn't for me. Horses for courses I guess.
 
Sniffer said:
I have the Bowery too but not the leather version. Just the right size for an XT-2 and a couple of extra lenses. It's quite discrete in as far as it doesn't shout camera bag.

Agree with Trev on the pocket size - I get a couple of batteries, wallet, phone etc in the front ones and a book / iPad in the rear one. They're not big but big enough for me when going light.

Looked at the Billingham and, whilst lovely, wasn't for me. Horses for courses I guess.
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I think if I was to buy a Bowery bag again, I would forgo the leather for the waxed canvas. Save a bit of weight and it might be easier to use the pockets as the leather used is really good quality and quite thick.
 
tijuana taxi said:
Support a British company rather than a US one that gets their bags made in possibly one of the poorest countries on this planet (Dominican Republic)
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(Controversial to say this but...) People in those countries need the jobs way more than we do :S

That aside, nowt wrong with supporting a classic local brand!
 
Billingham - no contest.

ONA are cheap bags with very ordinary designs and poor finish. But they smother them with leather and stick a big price tag on them and everyone falls for it.
 
db247 said:
(Controversial to say this but...) People in those countries need the jobs way more than we do :confused:

That aside, nowt wrong with supporting a classic local brand!
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I do agree, maybe Ona are a responsible employer, but would want to know more about how those workers are treated.
Seeing as the bags are so expensive it would be interesting to know how much of that wealth is passed on to their employees

Too often these days you see phrases such as "designed in ??????" straight away know that means made elsewhere
You always have to dig deeper to find out exactly where, too many people just see the UK or US bit.
I find the whole thing rather disingenuous, much rather see made in Taiwan rather than the company HQ address
 
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Not used a ONA bag I have a large Billingham bag that is an old one and I love it.

I would go Billingham as they are British and they are made less then 1 mile away form where I work! (And I only found that out last year it was very difficult not to go an see them instead of fetching parts for one of the machines at work!)
 
Thanks for all the replies, I was leaning towards the Bowery simply as it was a little smaller. I have an over shoulder type bag already but it is quite big and I'm not keen on it as it was a £30 amazon no brand job, its functional but has a loose insert and is a bit too big to be smart.

I may order a Billingham and just see if I like it, I can always return it if not.
 
Or save yourself a fortune and get a domke f-5
 
Having got back home I have dug out my ONA bag and you know what, it is a lot lighter than I gave it credit for. It still has tight pockets etc. but for a walk around town bag with a single camera body and lens combo, it is pretty good. I still would have liked a shoulder pad for the strap but then thats probably just me.... Sorry if I over egged the weight of the bag.
 
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I recently purchased a Billingham Hadley Small for my Canon M6, 3 lens, the optional viewfinder, plus other bits and pieces like filters, spare battery. There is still room for more stuff if you wanted to carry it. It’s like a Tardis. When it first arrived I thought oh it’s too small, but I was very wrong.

It did take me a while to take the plunge as it’s not cheap as you know but I’m glad I did, it’s a fantastic bag and absolutely perfect for my gear.
 
Thanks everyone for all of the replies, I've ordered a Billingham. They are expensive but you pay for quality I guess, I've barely seen a bad word said about them which is rare for anything you research on the internet these days. I can also use it as a general 'man bag' (at least that's how I'm justifying it!)
 
I know you’ve already ordered a bag now but I’d have echoed some of the comments above about the Ona bags. I can’t help feeling like they look like a generic handbag but with a high price tag.

With regards to other options, if you’re trying to not stand out when walking around town etc, I’d recommend anything relatively cheap that doesn’t clearly shout “money”. The billinghams are nice but again, still look like expensive bags so are going to stand out to anyone looking to lift something.

I’ve got a tan coloured canvas medium sized National Geographic bag that I won a few years ago. It’s small enough to blend in but I can still fit my A7, FE 50/1.8, Samyang 85/1.4. OM Zuiko 24/2.8 in the front pocket along with a couple of batteries.
 
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stevelmx5 said:
I know you’ve already ordered a bag now but I’d have echoed some of the comments above about the Ona bags. I can’t help feeling like they look like a generic handbag but with a high price tag.

With regards to other options, if you’re trying to not stand out when walking around town etc, I’d recommend anything relatively cheap that doesn’t clearly shout “money”. The billinghams are nice but again, still look like expensive bags so are going to stand out to anyone looking to lift something.

I’ve got a tan coloured canvas medium sized National Geographic bag that I won a few years ago. It’s small enough to blend in but I can still fit my A7, FE 50/1.8, Samyang 85/1.4. OM Zuiko 24/2.8 in the front pocket along with a couple of batteries.
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Not sure the doesn't stand out thing holds true if it ever did, tea leaves are usually quite shrewd bastards.
Just having the reasonable sized bag means you have something to carry, tattered old messenger bag often contains a pricy laptop.

Few other precautions worth taking are wearing it across your body, preferably at the front of your body.
Fasten the two zip ends with a little clasp like you have inside a bag to secure keys, stops the casual thief
Noisy tough to open Velcro is another deterrent, you would feel the bag being tugged and hear it too
 
For me the not wanting it to look like a camera bag is less about security and more about the actual look of the thing. Call me vain, but I really dislike the look of typical camera bags. They may well be functional, just as a pair of crocs are probably very comfortable, there is no way in hell I'd ever wear any.

If I'm walking round a city or town with the camera (which is when this will be used) I'll probably be dressed relatively smartly and just want a nice looking bag. Different strokes.
 
tijuana taxi said:
Not sure the doesn't stand out thing holds true if it ever did, tea leaves are usually quite shrewd bastards.
Just having the reasonable sized bag means you have something to carry, tattered old messenger bag often contains a pricy laptop.

Few other precautions worth taking are wearing it across your body, preferably at the front of your body.
Fasten the two zip ends with a little clasp like you have inside a bag to secure keys, stops the casual thief
Noisy tough to open Velcro is another deterrent, you would feel the bag being tugged and hear it too
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Good advice and, let's be honest, the second you take the camera out of the bag it's pretty obvious what you're carrying!
 
Billingham bags are superb quality, I have a quite a few and they have received loads of use and abuse over the years, I've had some over 15 years now, and some were even secondhand when I brought them back then, and they are still in great condition, and always protects my gear and I'm a full time photographer, with absolutely loads of heavy gear stuffed inside them.

I have one Hadley as my small lightweight event bag.

In addition to this I know many photographers who've had their models 20 or even 30 years plus and still going strong.
 
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