Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2002/11/19
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]I just got my Billingham Hadley Pro in khaki/tan plus matching AVEA 5 accessory pocket from Robert White delivered today. As always, their service was superb! Shipping to the US took less than a week, I think. Speedy as hell, in any case. Regular airmail. I've only played with it for ten minutes, but I thought I'd post some remarks for those of you who might be considering bag purchases (who isn't? ;) So, some impressions randomly presented: You can fit a Macintosh PowerBook G4 Titanium in the padded main compartment. You need to adjust the straps (I set mine at the third notch from the bottom) because it juts up a bit, but the lid closes and you get full protection. Interestingly enough, the critical dimension isn't the width (side to side) of the machine, but the depth (front to back), which translates into height in the bag. I don't care what Rob Appelby says, I intend to use this as my daily G4 bag! So there! ;) The AVEA 5 *does* fit the Hadley Pro. The Billingham catalogue seems to suggest that only the AVEA 3 will fit, but the 5 fits the strap holders just as well. True, it does look a bit like a cancerous growth when you stick an AVEA 5 on a Hadley Pro, but it does fit. You can stick an M2 + RapidWinder + VC meter + 35mm f/2 pre-ASPH 'cron + square shade in the AVEA 5 and still have room left over for about three rolls of film. The whole thing fits inside the weather protection barrier and the lid closes nicely ontop of this. That's quite a lot of gear! The construction of both the Hadley bag itself and the AVEA extra pocket appears to be bullet proof, just as it is for my older Packington. These bags are not cheap (I ended up paying around $190 for the two, an SP15 shoulder strap pad, plus shipping to the US) but they look like they'll last forever. And while some may think that they look too classy, I can assure you that after travelling through three continents, sitting on beaches, being throw into the bag of cars, dragged along train floors, used as a pillow in airports, and spending endless hours on aircraft sitting on the floor under the passenger seat infront of me, my Packington does not look much like a bag carrying expensive cameras any more! (Thanks to Roy Zartarian who let me play with his Hadley Pro in Boston, when in reality he just wanted to go home and sleep at that point! ;) M. - -- Martin Howard mvhoward@mac.com - -- To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html