[Leica] Re: Expensive Bags

[Doug Cooper <visigoth@echonyc.com>]

I find this talk of bags a bit amusing.  The Billingham in particular is
hilariously overpriced, and seems to offer nothing over a no-name bag I
could buy on 14th St. for a few bucks.  It also looks moderatly expensive
(if not particularly beautiful); if I were a thief, I'd be tempted.

The Domke too strikes me as a joke.  I shot with one in Kyoto, and
not only does it offer very little protection -- supposedly a feature, not
a bug -- but it has way to much metal on it for my liking:  just the thing
to scratch a lens in the field.  And you can find stuff like this in army
surplus stores for a *song*.  Just buy a Tenba insert (twenty bucks, and
unlike the Domke, capable of modification) and you're off and running.

I use Tenba bags mostly -- at least they're well-made -- but I'm starting
to think they look too expensive with the leather trim.  My favorite at
the moment is a Tamrac fitted backpack:  I can carry all my equipment, and
barely feel it.  (And it's about a third the price of a Billingham.)

Feeling the flames already,


Douglas Cooper