Firstly, I must excuse myself for this rather back and forth with Leica. Truth be told many articles exist in the galaxy of my brain, doing concurrent revolutions around my sun (or.. living as 1's and 0's in my Macbook). So at any time I could have three articles about the same subject, written at different times, about different stages in the thought process.. and being written in bits and pieces, more or less concurrently. If this confuses you, don't worry, so am I. Basically I struggle to finish anything.. I start, good intentions and all, and then get distracted. My wife says I have undiagnosed ADHD.. I'm also left handed. So..
Anyway, this long preable just to say that there was supposed to be an earlier article to my Leica Part 2, but so excited was I when I received my Leica M10, that I wrote that piece, and completely hopped over my earlier work. So, this is my attempt to put the threads of time back in their place..
How one bag ruined my bank balance.. or a review of the Billingham for Leica Combination M bag
It’s not often that something small has a massive, outsized impact, all way out of proportion with the object itself. Think of an asteroid. When it does happen though, you feel it. But first a word from our sponsors.. No, no, none of that. Just an introduction with whom you’re “speaking”. I’m a middle aged man who started photographing at 12 with film, and who over the past years has managed to own every camera that he ever dreamed of in his 20’s, when he struggled to afford expired film. I own more bodies and lenses than my wife does shoes.. and that’s saying something. I’ve bought and sold into camera systems, expanded and contracted my “collection” through bouts of G.A.S. and progressively owned more lenses and taken fewer pictures with them. Sound familiar? It was therefore inevitable that I would, one day, try a Leica. And so it was.. I went on a Leica buying spree.. found a decent looking M3 for a(n) expensive song.. and an actual modern Leica lens, the Emarit-M 90mm f2.8.. supposedly the sharpest 90mm leica has made (words of Erwin Puts, author of the authorative Leica Compendium). I was set for photographic perfection. And then a strange thing happened. I didn’t like it (pun intended). The rangefinder ethos just didn’t gel with me. And so like a petulant child, I found something else to lust over, and promptly sold my whole M system (at a slight profit I might add!). However that wasn’t the end of the affair with Leica itself, as I realised that it wasn’t the brand or the quality I had an issue with. Indeed, the M3 was like a jewel, a mechanical watch with Rolex levels of quality. It was amazingly well built. And the only other camera up to then that could compare to it was the Hasselblad 500c/m (which I also bought during a sleep deprived late night Ebay binge session). So I then did the next best thing and started buying Leica R lenses and bodies.. and when I had enough I sold off the surplus bits (who needs 4 Leica R bodies?!) and kept the cream.
And then another thing happened. I needed a nice bag to hold my jewellry.. I mean cameras! And after iterating through the usual American suspects (Lowepro, Temba, Peak Design, ThinkTank) I gravitated to Billingham. Think of it as if you went from American fast food to a Michelin starred restaurant. The American stuff just never quite filled you up, no matter how often you went back for more.. The Billinghams were the real deal though. Built to last, unlike the American crap that had sealed seams separate, plastic delaminate and metal bits rust. No brand (except maybe Temba) survived my rigorous tests.. And so I started getting Billingham bags for different occasions and camera systems. If you’re a photographer then you know.. you need several bags. One that will take your medium format system. Another for casual walking around. And then, you’ve gone mirrorless, right? Well then, another smaller bag for your mirrorless setup. Minimum 3. Probably many more.
So where am I going with this long-winded introduction into my rather uninteresting personal photographic journey?
Well, after tasting the Billingham style, I happened upon an unusual bag with Leica blazoned on it, but made by Billingham. A black one. Unusual because the Billingham dna is khaki with brown leather and brass. This bag was different. Simpler. Black with chrome snaps and zips. And an intriguing little label inside that said Billingham for Leica. Such are the wanderings of Facebook Marketplace that you find these hidden gems. And so I researched the bag, and found out that it had been created to hold an M system (whereby the Combination M part of the bag name). And so intrigued by the bag, I was, that I quickly arranged to buy it. It arrived.. and contrary to my other Billingham bags I already owned (remember something about at least 3 bags...) this one exhuded.. style. But more than that, it had a simplicity of purpose, that my other Billinghams simply didn't. There was no fuss with this bag. It had been stripped down to the essentials, but it's strap went all the way around the bottom of the bag. Quality too. Fewer pockets and zippers than a standard Billingham.. It was perfect. Except.. my Nikon Z8 mirrorless camera wouldn't fit! Imagine that, I had a bag, and couldn't fit my camera.. So what do I do? Sell the bag, right? No... Get a new camera!
And so started my odyssey in searching for a Leica M.. Many hours of research.. many hours poring over the auction sites.. and many hours making lists of features that I needed, and things that I didn't need, or didn't want. And slowly the choice began to coalesce. The M3 had not worked.. because it was film, and I needed instant gratification.. ahem.. immediate feedback on my out of focus shots.. So digital it would have to be. And then.. an external viewfinder was going to be necessary, because I like using wide angle lenses.. So out went the M8 and M9.. Then.. I thought long and hard about what output I wanted.. And then I remembered my recent trip to italy, where I had used my iPhone exclusively (no space for a mirrorless camera with big lenses), and then converted all my pics to black and white.. So..a monochrome camera (in Leicaspeak, we drop the E at the end). Ok, a monochrom camera.. And so it was, that my Billingham bag precipitated my biggest purchase of the last few years..
Moral of the story. Use Lowepro!
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