I am thinking of getting a new bag for my RF kit. I 've been using the Domke "little bit smaller" bag (f-6 maybe) for a while now. I like it very much. But I fint that it sticks out from my hip a bit more than I would like.

Can someone who uses the m classics bag tell me how thick it is in use, not just measured dimensions? By comparison, the Domke is 7-9 inches when filled with my gear (CL, 40/2, 90/4, Voigt 25, small sekonic meter, film, etc). Also, any other comments would be great.

-- Josh Root (rootj@att.net), July 26, 2001

Answers

Josh, this doesn't answer your question, but is a suggestion regarding the F-6 Domke.

When I got my F-6, I took out all the thick and rigid Domke foam inserts and replaced with some soft pliable inserts that are about 1/16" thick. I got them at a crafts store in town. It turned the F-6 into a beautiful body hugging bag. Although I use it for a Contax Aria kit, it would for an M kit equally as well.

-- Dan Brown (brpatent@swbell.net), July 26, 2001.

Josh:

I am not sure what an M Classics bag is, but from the photos I have seen they look a lot like the two bags that I have had for decades. The ones that I have are about 5 in thick at the bottom but you can expand them in the middle if you put enough stuff in them. After all of these years, they are stained but not broken. They are still as strong as when they were new. They have this little leather patch that says Leica. Of course, I don't use them that much any more. I have, for some time, switched to a backpack design for use with MF and 35 mm.

Art

-- Art (AKarr90975@aol.com), July 26, 2001.

There is an old thread on this, but I can't find it. I have two of these bags. They ride in the bag of the Jeep as ditty bags for raincoat, first aid, weather radio, water bottles, flashlights . . .

As a camera bag? I don't think so. There's not enough protection to keep items from clanking together and getting marred up, or worse. The strap is thin and cuts into the shoulder. The slip bockets in front are great for quick access to flashlights and water bottles.

-- Bob Fleischman (RFXMAIL@prodigy.net), July 26, 2001.

I've been using the M Classics for a few months now and quite like it, but then years ago I was the happy user of the original Leitz version till it wore out. For a small kit (body, a couple of lens plus notepads,etc) I think it works fine. I've used the soft bags (Domke, M Classics), padded bags (Lowe Pro mainly) and found that the protection was the same in any of them. If you bang your stuff around a lot the padded bags may be more to your liking, but for everyday street shooting and such the soft bags are fine IMO.

-- Bob Todrick (bobtodrick@yahoo.com), July 27, 2001.

Have you tried any of the Fogg bags? I use 2-the Celia (there's a new name) for 1 M with either a 35 lux or a 50 cron attached plus a 90 elmarit and a 21 elmarit + viewfinder and film. The second bag (something like a B minor???) holds 2 cameras, small tripd abd ball head, flash and my fourth lens with room to spare.

They're well built, have a wide, comfortable and secure strap. A little pricey, but so is the cargo.

Good luck.

PS Tamarkin in NYC has a great sock of these.

Al

-- Alan J. Simon (Al) (asimon@metisassoc.com), July 27, 2001.

The thickness of my Classics M loaded is 5 1/2" that includes the fron pockets the main section is 3 1/2". I can carry three Ms with lens and hoods mounted, film, meter, etc. I also have the Domke F6 and 803 satchel. But the Classic bag is the best of the three. Some people do not like them because they have no padding, but I wonder what people who insist on a heavily padded bag, that looks like an oversize breadbox hanging off their waist, do with them? Jump up and down on them? Slam them against a brick wall? I have had unpadded canvas bags for years, and so have many others, and have never had any problems. Each to his own I guess. The main advantage of the Classic bag is the way it wraps itself around you.

-- Steve LeHuray (icommag@toad.net), July 27, 2001.

As a camera bag? I don't think so. There's not enough protection to keep items from clanking together and getting marred up, or worse. The strap is thin and cuts into the shoulder. The slip bockets in front are great for quick access to flashlights and water bottles.

Boy do I feel foolish. I didn't know that they were bags for the M system. I have never used them for that. I mostly used them for MF stuff. I made my own padding from woven place mats [not real fond of foam]. Worked well. Carried the M stuff in another kind of bag. At the time they were cheap [two for $50] and looked strong [turns out that they were]. They have been used for everything except the M system.

I do mostly outdoor stuff [never do photo's in cities] and backpacks work better.

Art

-- Art (AKarr90975@aol.com), July 27, 2001.

Can I let in on little secret that may brand me a nut case? Here goes.

I do not use a conventional camera bag anymore. Instead I use a Calvin Klein CK bag that is designed to hang across the body like a mail carrier’s bag. Inside I put a large camera waist bag (really too big to be worn around the waist comfortably for any length of time). It is partitioned into three sections where I put my two cameras and the extra lenses. The CK bag has two outside pockets where lens and other stuff can go. It also has a small inside pocket for odds and ends. I fixed on (with Velcro) a hard carrying thingy (I do not know quite what to call it) for credit cards, money and extra pens. Carrying the bag around the body distributes weight very well (I avoid the aches and pains I invariably got with a traditional bag) and is very nicely thief-proof. As it is soft and floppy, it stores nicely under seats on airliners. I figure that in an emergency I can take the waist bag out and save my cameras (yeah, right). I think that the layers of cloth do protect my M's. It's close to the body so your body is also an ipso facto protector in ways that it cannot be with a conventional off the shoulder bag.

I do not expect the zippers to last two long. I'm actually on my second bag now. The first is okay except the zipper on the little inside pocket broke.

Once, when I was shooting the Kobe Orthodox Church for an article I was writing on White Russians in Japan (the be published in The East in a few days) I carried two CK bags--one with my Leicas and the other with my Fuji 6x9 and New Mamiya 6x6. A little heavy but more managable than traditional bags.

This mail bag design is now quite trendy and I hope that the camera back companies take notice. I got my first CK bag in Napoli and the second in Paris. I did see them for safe at JFK International in NY.

What's also cool about this bag is how expandable it is. I can stuff it with papers and even a small book.

-- Alex Shishin (shishin@pp.iij4u.or.jp), July 29, 2001.

At the risk of going off-topic, I got a Domke F-803 (the ballistic nylon version) satchel intending to use it for my Leica. Its the best darn office/travel bag I've ever had. The design of the pockets is simply brilliant for travel, and the satchel easily holds a modern laptop and a decent sized stack of files/papers. The pockets hold all kinds of handy stuff in an organized and ready-to-get-at way, organizer, business cards, passport, pens, charger, etc. etc.

I'll have to get something else for my Leica.

-- Mani Sitaraman (bindumani@pacific.net.sg), July 30, 2001.