Top critical review
3.0 out of 5 starsBillingham 445 SLR
Reviewed in the United States on May 11, 2013
Have no doubt about it, this is a very well made bag. I like the attention to details, and I have no doubt it will last me many years. My only complaint is that it is not very customizable. It comes with two inserts, each has two compartments, and there is a divider than can go between them. What I don't like is that the two inserts are fixed in their compartment sizes; one compartment will hold a normal size lens, and the other is made for a flash. Well, I don't use flash, but here I have room for two! The divider has only velcro on one end which make it feel a bit flimsy. I would very much have preferred the usual system where the outer wall have velcro and then you build your interior with a selection of straight dividers of various sizes. As it is now, two of my "L" series lenses are in there very tight, a third is very lose and the fourth fits well. The two flash compartments are waste of precious space, while my camera body is either too lose in the remaining space or I keep it in one of the two outer pockets - where it is less protected.
This is really a shame because it would have been so easy to supply the bag with enough building components to make this a truly fantastic bag. Had they done it that way, this bag could probably have had room for six large lenses and two bodies.
I will make it work, but it is just not the perfect tool it could have been, which is really too bad.
This is now about 6 months later. Before a trip to the west coast, I re-organized the bag using cannibalized parts from old camera bags, and I got it working pretty good, all though not the way I wanted. I recently came across neoprene lens bags, bought them and they work very well.
So well, in fact, that I could rip out all the inner compartments, except for one that still holds my camera body. The lens bags typically stand on their bottom in the bag, each marked with a colored label on the draw string. If I need to haul more gear, I can lay down the bags and create
space for additional 3-4 more lenses. If you use "S" series (Canon) or equivalent, you can easily double these numbers.
I never mentioned the shoulder strap! Oh, what a great thing. It is wide, and the shoulder pad has soft rubber that makes the bag almost refuse to slide of my shoulder.
NOW it works for me, but would I pay $500 knowing what I know now? Nope, but I would buy the shoulder pad!
