Camera bags that look stylish

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mart77

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Amyone know any bag makers that make stylish bags evrything i see always looks so boring.
 
This one has nice Italian leather
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Another vote for Crumpler, if you live in the real world! if not Billingham!
 
Hi,

I've tried most brands, but I always come back to Billingham. They are stylish, attractive, but above all, beautifully made, with top quality fittings. The 550 at the back, I bought, I think in 1980. It was one of the first ever Billingham bags. The black 440 is my favourite, and by Billingham standards, beginning to look a bit shabby. The 335 represents the best compromise for size, and in the cordura fabric, it's bombproof. The hadley digital is for travelling light. It will easily take any one of my cameras, and the 200 f4, or the 2.8/200.

I like Pelicases too, especially for travelling.

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Think Tank retrospective bags I think are stylish, I have the 5 and 30. Also just received a Billingham Hadley Digital with a recent camera purchase, I haven't even unwrapped it yet but I do kinda like the look of them.Douglas, that is some Billingham collection you have there!!
 
antc said:
Think Tank retrospective bags I think are stylish, I have the 5 and 30. Also just received a Billingham Hadley Digital with a recent camera purchase, I haven't even unwrapped it yet but I do kinda like the look of them.Douglas, that is some Billingham collection you have there!!
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here is my rationale:

550. Great bag, and comes with the pockets FOC. Trouble is, it fastens with buckles only, so you have to do up the buckles , if you want to carry it with the handles. It makes it a poor camera bag if you are lazy, but otherwise fine. I decided to keep it, but use it as a travel bag.

440. Once fitted with OE pockets, it becomes everything that the 550 isn't. Strangely it's bigger, with better padding. Permanently fitted handles make it more convenient. But, it's big.

330. Bought to use when the 440was too much. Same as the 440, but more manageable. Still takes 2 big bodies, 2
'L' wide angles and a 200L tele photos. You can use the pockets from the 440 if you need the extra space. A sublime bag, and for me the best Billingham ever.

Hadley Digital. I'm not at all certain if it was designed for what I use it for! nevertheless, it's a fabulous carry around bag, and will take my 1d 2n plus either a 70/200L, or a 200L, or any of my big L wide angles. I'm sure it was designed for a mirror less camera, but it,s brilliant for one camera and a single lens. You can even stick a spare battery, a couple of filters and a few cards in the front pocket.

So there you have it. Four bags! but they all get used.

I use the Pelicases to store kit in the baggage hold. Lockable, secure and safe from pilfering bar stewards.
 
Crumpler had some great designs last time I checked.
 
It depends what your definition of stylish is.

There's no getting away from the fact that Billingham are very well made but I know people who love them yet wouldn't want one if they were only £9.99 :shrug:

Crumpler aren't Billingham quality but have some radical designs which may suit your own definition of stylish.

Lowepro and Tamrac meet my needs - I'm more interested in function for hiking.

Kata might be worth a look. They do practical but put a bit more thought into the visual style.
 
Crunpler gets my vote for style and contemporary looks. Now this is going to upset the apple cart a bit, I know that the quality of Billingham bags is fantastic and they are a long standing name in Photography (Ive been a keen tog for 35 years so I know this to be a fact :thumbs:) but I'm sorry, I have never owned or want to own what to my mind is a Gamekeepers/fishermans bag redesigned for camera equipment "STYLISH" seriously ? :cuckoo:

Rural chic maybe, but they always strike me as being the preserve of people who wont wear wellingtons unless they are Hunters or jackets unless they are Barbour waxed or dryzabone. :naughty: Let the games begin. :exit:
 
dinners said:
It depends what your definition of stylish is.

There's no getting away from the fact that Billingham are very well made but I know people who love them yet wouldn't want one if they were only £9.99 :shrug:

.
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Lol, posted while I was typing. That'll be me then. :lol:
 
Crumpler. Because Billingham is the sort of thing a middleaged+ man would use.

Also, Crumpler are exceptionally high quality. They have a 35 year guarantee.
 
Mmm may have to re-word some of my statements. i am basing what I said on Crumplers. up to mid 2013 range. They have discontinued all the old designs. Just looked at some of there new stuff and YAWN...... come on Crumpler what have you done. Apart from maybe 2 of the Back packs.. DULL DULL DULL.
 
Gazamonk said:
Mmm may have to re-word some of my statements. i am basing what I said on Crumplers. up to mid 2013 range. They have discontinued all the old designs. Just looked at some of there new stuff and YAWN...... come on Crumpler what have you done. Apart from maybe 2 of the Back packs.. DULL DULL DULL.
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That's just it though. Crumpler are about design and style. Like fashion, styles change and people who are image conscious may just buy another.
 
dinners said:
That's just it though. Crumpler are about design and style. Like fashion, styles change and people who are image conscious may just buy another.
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Totally agree but its just disappointing that the new look is , well.... Fairly Traditional .:( Where are the Company Gigolo 7000 or the Big Cheese backpack and the uber cool Jimmy Bo hip/shoulder bags. :mad:
 
Gazamonk said:
Totally agree but its just disappointing that the new look is , well.... Fairly Traditional .:( Where are the Company Gigolo 7000 or the Big Cheese backpack and the uber cool Jimmy Bo hip/shoulder bags. :mad:
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This. What happened? Have they sacked the designers?

Oddly there's still some interesting bags in the non-camera ranges, it seems it's just camera bags they've wrecked.
 
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CharlotteM said:
Because Billingham is the sort of thing a middleaged+ man would use.
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I am a middle aged man and Billingham do nothing for me - am sure they are very well made etc but even if they were priced a lot lower I still would not buy one. Then again I have never been accused of being 'stylish'. :) I just use a backpack - small Tamrac one if just going light with micro four thirds gear or minimal dslr stuff and Lowepro one for when I take more stuff like a telephoto lens or whatever. I have seen people lugging huge shoulder type bags with loads of gear and it just looks uncomfortable to me - much prefer the load on my back rather than all slung to one side.
 
I have seen people lugging huge shoulder type bags with loads of gear and it just looks uncomfortable to me
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Do agree that a load is much better distributed using a backpack, no doubt better for the body too. Also think that messenger type bags have their place especially when travelling on public transport and generally wandering around towns/cities

I fall in the camp of not ever wanting a Billingham, always see them like having a whicker basket on a bike instead of a modern bag.
 
Been contemplating one of these — Nest
 
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I've always been one for function rather than form. Couldn't give a Castlemaine what something looks like as long as it does the job! LowePro do it for me, although I like the RedSnapper bag I have too.
 
My ideal bag would take loads of gear, and make everything as light an feather when carrying it all
 
CharlotteM said:
Crumpler. Because Billingham is the sort of thing a middleaged+ man would use.
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I am, but it didn't stop my Daughter, who is 19 wanting to use my 440 as hand luggage. I have a 20 year old Barbour too but my wife's claimed it. I have to make do with trainers and t shirts.

dinners said:
It depends what your definition of stylish is.

There's no getting away from the fact that Billingham are very well made but I know people who love them yet wouldn't want one if they were only £9.99 :shrug:.
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They are foolish snobs. Got mine 2nd hand on ebay, still quite expensive but it will probably outlast me. Maybe I'll leave it to my daughter in my will. She'll be middle aged, or better still, old then. ;)
 
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I picked up an ex-demo Billingham Hadley Large a couple of years ago and I use it as both a camera bag and to carry my notes to uni. The number of times the waterproofing has come in handy living in Manchester :thumbs:.
I only paid £100 for it but when I was buying both a camera bag and a day to day bag, it doesn't seem expensive at all considering. The workmanship is excellent and although it's a few years old it hasn't got a mark in it's daily service.
 
Wayne Els said:
They are foolish snobs.
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Surely the foolish snob would be someone who doesn't particularly like how Billinghams look but would buy it anyway because its expensive and says "Look what Ive got"
I think someone who wouldn't buy a Billingham if it was £9.99 simply because they don't like the look of it is an Anti-Snob and doesn't give a toss how expensive it is.
 
Ive got a Billingham from the 70s still OK, ive got lowpro bags and back pack but to be honest when I go on holiday I dont want a stylish bag, makes it more a target, some old bag mines not a camera bag its just a shoulder bag so isnt doesnt scream I have an expensive camera and lens in
 
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forgot to say I do take the decent bags with me on holiday for transportation but never use them when out travelling around
 
Gazamonk said:
Surely the foolish snob would be someone who doesn't particularly like how Billinghams look but would buy it anyway because its expensive and says "Look what Ive got"
I think someone who wouldn't buy a Billingham if it was £9.99 simply because they don't like the look of it is an Anti-Snob and doesn't give a toss how expensive it is.
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I think you're mis-quoting yourself. In your original post which I commented on you stated that the people who would not buy them for £9.99 loved them. So given a definition of a snob is a person who believes in the existence of an equation between status and human worth. (wiki) if they love them but won't buy them for under a tenner, presumably because it's cheap, they are snobs.

Someone who doesn't like the look of something and therefore doesn't buy it isn't an anti snob, they are just normal.
 
Crumper for Backpack and Think Tank Retrospective for shoulder bag are my choice...

I really don'w want something that looks like a camera bag at the moment and that's the drawback I see with a lot (including most Billingham I've seen....)

A
 
AlistairD said:
Crumper for Backpack and Think Tank Retrospective for shoulder bag are my choice...

I really don'w want something that looks like a camera bag at the moment and that's the drawback I see with a lot (including most Billingham I've seen....)

A
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That's my problem. I try to avoid camera bags that look like camera bags (lowepro etc) because I'm a small, young woman and like to avoid anything that says 'I'M CARRYING SEVERAL THOUSAND POUNDS WORTH OF TECHNOLOGY'.

The last thing I need is to be mugged... raped... both...
 
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