It is a bit stiff, so it does not collapse shut and makes it easy to get the camera in and out. It carries my OM-D body with the kit 12-50 lens and the Panasonic 7-14 mm lens, with room for spare batteries in one end pocket and the 20 mm 1.7 lens in the other end pocket.
For the Panasonic 100-300 lens, this bag is not quite deep enough, so the Crumpler 5 Million Dollar Home works well for this combination.
Adam211 wrote:
That Bowery is tempting. I've been thinking of the F803 or Retro 5. The F803 has the super-stiff top panel, which prevents me from buying it. The Retro 5 seems pretty good sizewise, but is a little bulky (back to front is a bit wide) and quite heavy for its size, and I'm not super keen on the looks although it is nicer than most bags. Still, that seems a great option. But the Bowery looks like a winner. Could it hold a NEX body and 3 small SLR or rangefinder size lenses, or is that a bit much?
It should fit, but it really depends on the size of the lenses.
Which lenses are you using?
Nice looking bag. Not in stock. No photos of the inside? It has one of my favorite hated features, metal clasps for the strap. I always manage to scratch something with these. Once it was a lens, another time a Gitzo carbon-fiber tripod. No more metal for me.
I have a Domke F-5XB. It's nice and functional though I wish it was just a little bit larger so it doesn't give off that "man purse" or mini "satchel" look.
I have noticed over the years that bags (often expensive/ fashionable designer bags) that use those metal eye type spring clasps seem to break at that point under heavy use. Perhaps some are made better than others but I have also noticed that some of the camera bag companies that have been around for a LONG time tend not to use them at all on their higher end bags. Often times, they use a permanently attached shoulder strap.
My experience with the Grafea is that the clasps and the leather is of somewhat subpar quality, have had both leather problems and a clasp that broke and made a lens fall out and break :/
I'll add my recommendation for the TT Retro5 as well. Always been a fan of the TT bags; their quality is second to none and I've never had anything fail on them in many years of using them.
Hmm, I will add a -1 for the Think Tank bags. I have one, the Retro 30, and I find that the metal on the strap (which scratched up my Gitzo GT3541XLS before I realised what was going on), and the placement of various flaps and velcro pieces, often leaves me frustrated with it. My Domke's have 1/10th as many pockets, but somehow they are more logical and I don't lose stuff in them. The construction of the TT is top, but the design leaves me wanting. I can see how others might like them though.
The retrospective 5 has no metal on the bag at all, except for the eyelets that attach the strap to the bag. It looks like the 30 is the same way. Odd you've had issues...I don't think the metal on that has ever contacted anything I've carried, since it sits very close to the edge of the attachment points.
I've used Domke bags many times in the past, and I like my Retro 5 as well as any of the Domke bags I used for my DSLRs (I used an F2 for about 6 years before going m4/3).
The 3541 is a long tripod, which I carry with a strap rather than a bag, and it would touch exactly those loops. I don't understand why camera bag manufacturers use metal at all. There is always someone with a use case which causes scratches. I nearly scratched up the LCD of my D3 on the TT as well, by carrying it over my shoulder, and the bag fairly high, and that was when I bought the Domke. Problem solved. Now I use the TT for my Linhof Technika.
ulrikft2 wrote:
My experience with the Grafea is that the clasps and the leather is of somewhat subpar quality, have had both leather problems and a clasp that broke and made a lens fall out and break :/
Sounds like the failure point was those metal spring-type eye clasps I mentioned earlier. They seem to be used widely on those "chic" pretty boy bags.
As far as the metal on the TT bags, I think I would prefer the heavy duty plastic that Crumpler and Domke use for their attachments and buckles. It certainly would help reduce weight.
I've just ordered the Tamrac Evolution 6 which is a relatively compact backpack-cum-slingpack. I should be able to pack 2 gripped OM-D's + 8 lenses or so + FL 600R + batteries/charger + external hard drive + small tripod, etc, etc for an upcoming trip to Asia.
