Ten years (almost) of using Billingham Bags
There are many, many, many reviews of Billingham Bags online and if you're reading this then you're probably researching purchasing one. Or you're a super fan. I'm confident enough in their quality to predict that you have yet to come across a negative review of the company or its produce though. And I'm not about to change that.
I have used two Billingham bags in the decade since I started working in photography in my late teens. My first job was in a camera shop in Birmingham dealing with DSLRs and pro equipment. We were only about eight miles up the road from the Billingham factory in Cradley Heath, and we were lucky enough to stock Billingham bags. Needless to say, after selling them and admiring them for several months, I eventually bought a couple.
Things have changed a lot since those halcyon days: I no longer sell cameras to photographers, but work as one; I live in another city entirely; I have owned at least five different camera bodies since and probably bought and sold thousands of pounds worth of other equipment. Yet two things have stayed the same: I still look 18 years old, defying time and biology, and crucially, I still use those two Billinghams.
(Just under) ten years is probably a good enough amount of time to be able to judge if something works well or not, so it seemed only fair to Billingham to summarise my experiences of using these truly great bags.
I own a Hadley Original Pro, which I bought in late 2007, and a 335, purchased in 2008 to cater for my growing kit. Billingham no longer make the Hadley Original I have, so it's technically a relic, but it is basically the current Hadley Pro minus the top handle and back pouch. The 335 is still going strong - mine and the product line as a whole.
The Hadley:
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| Billingham Hadley Original, bought 2007. |
This is my Hadley Original Pro. It's ageing nearly as well as I am, with barely a scuff or mark on it.
The materials and build are all the same as the current Hadley series, so you can check those for the specs, but trust me when I say that these bags are almost indestructible.
The canvas is waterproof thanks to its construction (called Stormblock). When new, the water will "bead" off the canvas entirely. Over time (about five years?) this wanes slightly and the water just absorbs into the canvas itself. But thanks to a layer of rubber inside the material it will never get inside the bag proper. You could also apply water repellents to the bag again, should you wish to.
I put my bag through some pretty heavy use (which I'll cover later), so for it to still look this way is remarkable. I have had to have some alterations made though. Included in the picture above are the original leather straps (bottom left). You can just about notice the difference in colour of the new ones on the front of the bag. I had these replaced in 2015 after the originals wore out and were no longer secure enough. However, I have kept the originals as spares because they do still work, just not quite as well as I need. The fact you can even buy replacements shows just how well thought out and considered the whole customer experience and journey is. Billingham really do make bags for life.
By 2012 this bag, as my primary day bag, had visited 14 countries and been out in snow, wind, rain, sun and fog. It has been covered in petrol, dust, debris and who knows what else, surviving riots, shoots in clubs and music venues, travelling caves deep underground. It has flown thousands of miles and walked hundreds and hundreds of miles by my side across all terrain. I even bought a shoulder pad to make it more comfortable on long trips (definitely recommended). And despite all this it was in near perfect condition…except for one place.
Corners are the achilles heal of all fabrics. They are the literal points at which creases and seams meet and fray. On my bag, the top left corner of the flap had worn out, presumably because I rested my hand there when I walked with it. It was a small hole about five millimetres wide and only in the upper layer of canvas, the actual interior was still sheltered. But, given the tests I put it through, I emailed Billingham asking if they could create a leather patch to cover over the hole and prevent further wear in that area.
The customer service was great and they happily looked into my request. There were no automated dial menus or layers of bureaucracy, and everything was dealt with on a personal level. After sending pictures in, I was given a rough estimate and sent my bag back to the factory. A senior technician told me that due to the thickness of the leather and position of the hole, it would be simpler and more cost effective to just replace the entire section of the bag, so they did. The whole process took about a week. The quality and consistency of the repair was excellent, and they even took the original leather fixtures and fittings off the old canvas piece and attached them to the new one, to minimise noticeable change. I couldn't name another company with such attention to detail.
Early last year, when another area began to wear a bit thin in the place which is inevitably going to rub against your hip, I decided to pre-empt the problem and requested a leather patch to be added, as I would be travelling a lot and wanted to avoid a potential disaster later on (see picture, right).
My request was dealt with in the same way as before and just as promptly. The leather patch was added where I had requested and was done to the same exacting and high standards as the whole bag. It means my bag, which was nowhere near the end of its life, now has it extended even longer and will most probably outlast me.
This pride and care for customers is what makes Billingham great. They do their best to accommodate you, even if the request is fairly pointless or tedious.
In reality, it is highly unlikely most people would even have to contact the customer support team given the quality of the output, and any search online will show you far more battered and aged bags than mine which are still going strong. I just have a tendency to want to avoid problems before they occur, especially as I am outside in the British weather a lot.
Which means rain.
The 335:
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| Billingham 335 |
So, this is the greatest camera bag ever made. Fact. And I don't just mean mine, I mean this range. The 335 sits plum in the middle of the "5 Series" and is pretty much the prefect size/weight/capacity ratio for anyone with even a modest camera kit. Unless you hoard stuff (go for a bigger one).
It looks incredible. Look at it. Just look. I don't really need to say much else.
Admittedly, mine has, as with the Hadley, had some modification to it. You can see one of the two Delta Pockets I have added. These clip on to the strap on each side and are a perfect way to add capacity. Another great thought by a company which could just force you to buy a whole new, larger bag from them. The pouches came along when I started video work alongside stills and needed space for microphones, popsheilds and viewfinders etc. They're great. On a recent shoot, I was able to stick a Nikon PF 300mm f/4 lens in one pouch and carry that with me on my belt out to the location, whilst leaving the full bag at base and sparing my back some pain.
This said, the 335 is massive and you may not need the pouches at all. I've heard it described as a TARDIS, a cavern and as Mary Poppins' bag (i.e bottomless). I often find stuff in mine which I had forgotten even existed, like random eyepiece covers and hot-shoe caps. This is the slight drawback to the bag - you can get so much in it that it can require some organisational skills to use effectively. If you buy this, spend a good few days experimenting with layouts, pockets usage, what goes where etc, to ensure you get the best out of it.
I was walking back from a shoot in London one evening when a man jogged up from behind and said "that's a nice fishing bag". I don't know where he thought I had been fishing - the Thames? - but it shows Billingham's heritage is still very evident, but also the camouflage effect of it too. Bilinghams don't shout "camera!" to general opportunistic thieves, unlike most other camera bags. Plus, when this is full it can weigh a fair bit. Often over 10kg. So running away or fending someone off isn't really going to be easy unless you can crush them under the weight. So you really want to avoid being robbed in the first place.
That weight is because this bag is my portable store; it acts like a portable cupboard, storing everything I could possibly need on a shoot and enabling me to take what I need from it to use. Realistically, this bag isn't going on day trips. I carry it where I need it and then leave it there until i'm done and moving on. It is highly portable and fits into overhead lockers on planes, squeezes onto packed Tube trains and is nimble enough to move around at your side, but it kills your back after a while. It has metal feet on its base for a reason. Put it down once you're where you need to be!
Next, tripods: they're annoying to transport aren't they? When you have a camera bag on your shoulder, one of those annoying wheeley hard-cases with lights inside, a laptop under your arm and lunch in the other hand, a tripod is the least convenient thing to try carrying. Well Billingham know that feeling and created tripod straps. In all honesty, I haven't quite worked out how to use these effectively yet but I think I'm getting there.
At first I used the ready made loops on the 335's base, but this meant my tripod dangled below the bag trying to kneecap me with each step along Cardiff high street. I switched to using the loops on the top of the bag, which was a lot better but pulled the bag away from my body and made it a little unstable, despite the specially designed strap of the 335. In the end, I went for the process of pushing the tripod between the bag strap so that it rests on the top flap. Before, whenever I did this, it meant having to re-adjust the tripod every now and then, whereas now, combined with the tripod straps looped through the actual bag strap, all stays in place. Perfect. As said earlier, it just required some experimentation to get the right arrangement.
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And that's it. I could list all the inserts, pockets and tech specs, but the Billingham Website and other reviews do that better, I just wanted to share a few thoughts about the two camera bags I use for my daily work. They weren't cheap (even with my staff discount all those years ago) but the investment has more than paid off. You invest in lenses to use for years with a variety of bodies, think of Billinghams in the same light. They aren't a short term option, they will be there for the duration, probably generations.
The company is family owned, from my local area, has great respect for its products, customers and heritage and does what it says on the tin. It makes camera bags that last. Bags that look good without being obvious. And most of all, which do the job they are intended for. Get one.
***I am neither working for, sponsored by or an associate of Billingham Bags. This is a personal review in a personal capacity and I make no money from it***
