Part Five - A Messenger From Mr. Gladstone, Your Majesty.

As a new chum in Australia in the 1960's, I might have been forgiven for a little confusion as I watched the railway workers clocking on and off at the East Perth sheds as their shifts changed...all those big burly engine drivers and firemen and wipers - all carrying little leather doctor's bags? Could they all be part time physicians?

Well, the Gladstone bags I was looking at were carrying their lunches to the job and spare coal back home...and similar containers were going to work all over Australia at the time. It was the most elegant set of lunch pails I have ever seen.

The Gladstone - a bag that opens at the top and then is suspended by two sling handles or a central articulated handle - is also a standard for overnight bags and now for camera systems. It is the bag of choice for the discrete and discerning photographer who also wants to take sandwiches. In the case of the Barber Shop Medium Borsa bag, those are likely to be expensive sangers, as this is a pricey little Gladstone.

Okay, that thought out of the way, this is a beauty. It is blue canvas with dark brown leather trim, stitched in Italy  ( Ah, there's the price...) and lined perfectly. There's a protective top flap but a full-length leather-edged zip for access as well.

Look inside for an iPad pocket, a removable and reconfigurable camera holder, and a captive leather leash. I am again lost as to the exact purpose of the leash.

There's an extremely well-finished shoulder strap with leather shoulder pad.

I'd use it as a camera case here in Perth to impress the ladies and the clients and a one-night overnighter on the airplane to the eastern states to impress the airline staff. Don't try to impress the Camera Electronic salespeople because they are cynics down to about five inches under the skin.

One final thought - if you are the train driver for Le Train Bleu or The Orient Express this might make a nice lunchbox...

The Pukka Pack For Particular Persons

Choosing a back pack for exploring the less developed corners of the empire is a delicate task. One must accurately assess the opportunities that will be presented as well as the risks that will be run. This is why our featured article - the Think Tank Trifecta 8 -  will be on the short-list of many adventurers.

The basic idea of the Trifecta 8 is to take enough equipment onto the wild to enable you to capture images of the savages whilst not weighing you down in case you need to make a run for it. Modern thinking has provided us with mirror-less cameras and lenses of reduced size and weight and this is all to the good. Now we have a way to carry them about the person.

Just as Kipling’s cavalryman spent the winter preparing his spring campaign - paring an ounce of weight where he could to extend the range of his mount - so we can reduce the amount of gear we carry. But it still needs to be accessible at short notice when we come across a herd of wildebeest or porcupines.

The Trifecta 8 accomplishes this by maximising the main openings in the case - two lateral flaps and one ventral opening. The two former features allow the user to access either side of a central divider whilst the pack is worn on the back. If it is taken off, the ventral opening gapes wide to allow access to the entire equipment compartment.

Security amongst troublesome natives can be increased by cable-tying the zips of the side panels tighter and only using the ventral access panel.

Note that there is also a dorsal panel at the top of the pack that opens to allow storage of watercress sandwiches and bottles of cold tea.

So the next time you are headed out past the perimeter of the camp - or the range of the Gardner guns - remember to pack your mirror-less camera and lenses in this splendid case. It is professionally - made and will give years of sterling service.

Pip Pip!

Red Bags In The Sunset

Red is such a cheerful colour  - no wonder it is the chosen hue of The Grenadier Guards, Leica, and the people who make the stop signs.

It is also a feature of an extremely well-made camera bag from ONA that is designed to catch the eye and wallet of the Leica enthusiast. Of course it could be used for many other camera systems, but the distinctive red dot that is featured on one of the bags buckle straps does rather label it as Leica oriented.

If that were not enough the interior has been lined with a plush red cloth that will not scratch your best lenses and bodies. You can protect the investment whilst showing off to other people...all quite legitimately.

The structure of the case is very strong and as it is real leather, a little heavy. It will wear and mark distinctively in the coming decades to give a distinctively individual case.

Come in and fill it up with new Leica lenses at our Stirling Street store. We've got fresh stock now.

The Clarendon - Not Just A Hotel...

Boy, was that a surprise. I Googled up Clarendon thinking there was just one. They're everywhere!

Well the one on the top of this page is the one that Camera Electronic favour - because we have them for sale. They are a leather organiser pouch for travel necessities and photographic accessories.
And what leather...top quality grained hide with no raw edges.

Lined and compartmentalised for memory cards, batteries, business cards, notepad or mobile phone, pens,and travel documents. If you were travelling very light, this and one camera would be your hand luggage on the plane. You could enjoy yourself immensely watching others struggling down the aisle sideways to their seats and then trying to hoist shopping bags full of Wright-Cyclone aero engines and scrapped battleships into the overhead locker. If you elect to do this practise your sneer in the bathroom mirror for a week to get it right.

This is heavy leather - this thing will not wear out. It won't escape either, if you loop on the wrist strap before carrying it. You'll be using it for decades. Explore the Ona range online.

Out On The ( Bolton ) Street With Ona

The ONA company seems determined to rewrite a number of the designs for camera and equipment bags with a stylish pen - the Bolton Street back pack is one example.

The pack you see here is in tan waxed canvas though there are examples available in smoke grey or black. The basic design does not vary - side access for camera gear and internal space for a 13" laptop. The whole is sewn with fierce water shedding seams and flaps and a a padded and vented back piece.

As with other ONA products there is good quality leather used in areas prone to wear. Good quality strapping and padding material too - this is not a bag that will be wearing out in a year. It is designed to go into poor environments while keeping your camera gear safe.

Now you pay for it, of course, in weight and dollars, but the fact that it is such a customisable design means that even if you change your mind about major equipment and run off to another system, you can adapt the compartments to fit.

You also get some personal space as well as the DSLR room. Full range available at www.cameraelectronic.com.au

Chelsea Is More Than Just A Suburb - Welcome The Ona Chelsea Bag

Bag time again, and the gentlemen may adjourn to the vestibule with their cigars. I wish to address the ladies.

Ladies, the Ona company has not stopped at one design for your camera bag. You saw their Capri model in tan cognac-coloured leather a little while ago in this column. This week it is the Chelsea model in a fine cross-grain leather.

The colour is similar but the design quite different - this bag features an arch design that keeps the internal volume open - even when the equipment is out of the bag. The lining inside is half and half - one side soft velour for camera protection and one side smooth polished cloth for regular handbag items you may choose to carry. The signature leather edging for the small pockets is still provided.

It would appear that this bag is not primarily designed to carry a computer or tablet though small ones could slot in. It is for cameras and fashion. The same handle provision exists and I note that this bag has a very attractive leather shoulder strap provided with top-quality metal fittings.

Not cheap, but then good leather luggage and personal bags never are cheap - not if you want them to look good for years to come. And the Ona will certainly do that.

What? No Umbrella? They Didn't Issue You With Your Umbrella?

Go back to the Quartermaster and demand your umbrella...

Those of you who have watched others kitting-up in the stores when you know how much gear you actually do need in the field will recognise the punchline of the joke. This column wishes to introduce the mirror-less camera user's version.

If you are a photography enthusiast who wishes to have one of everything with you when you go on holiday, this f-stop bag is for you. Called the Slope ICU Large, it has 14 separate compartments set up to begin with and invites customisation for your own kit. I can see space for body, lenses, flashes, filters, laptop or tablet,cords, panoramic head, and a myriad of extra bits.

Plus the signature f-stop shapeless carrier bag - I should load this one with cognac, if I were you.

It's light now, but won't be when you pack your entire supply of lenses into it. You might swing it into the overhead locker but you'll give off a tell-tale grunt. If you swing it up there at an angle you'll be on Voltaren for a month. Be warned.

Okay - you might not have to take every lens you own for a cruise holiday - particularly if the cognac bottle has a loose cork. But you may need to do something more sensible - you may have to take duplicates of camera bodies, flashes, and lenses to a commercial shoot somewhere. If you're moving into being a mirror-less pro you'll know all about redundancy and contract insurance. This case will provide capacity for that.

Still going to be heavy, and you'll have to do your own arguing at the airline ticket desk as their notorious bushranger Captain Overweight says "Stand And Deliver", but the bag will do its best to contain the gear that you need. And it will not contribute tonnes to the final result.

F-Stop It Or Else...

...Or else resign yourself to taking your entire camera outfit onto the plane in your pants pockets. If you are wearing cargo shorts and shooting with a Canon 1Dx and a 100-400 lens your 22-hour non-stop flight to Toronto should be memorable. You'll be able to dine out on the story for years. Standing up straight will be another matter.

Should you wish to live a more normal life, we suggest that you come into Camera Electronic and have a look at the f-stop range of camera bags. This column features a couple of mirror-less models that show some unique features - and may help with your next holiday.

The smaller one is the model m206 - listed as a Micro ICU Tiny. It is going to be good for a small mirrorless body, one little zoom lens, and the charger. You can also pack in a miniature tablet or mobile phone and a couple of cards.  Whack it through the scanner at the airport and heave it up into the overhead locker and you're all set. All you need now is the drinks trolley and a Dale Brown novel.

The bag is a box shape with, thank goodness, metal D rings for attaching a shoulder strap. The outfit also comes with a shapeless cloth carrier bag inside - perfect for carrying it through the airport with a couple of quarts of rye from the duty free. A bag that caters for the important things in life. Remember to get some chocolates for the wife...

The larger one is referred to as the Shallow ICU Small and can expand your carrying capabilities. In addition to the shapeless booze bag - this one fitted to carry gin bottles - this has lid space for the larger tablets and 6 internal compartments. You can take the camera and charger but this time you can stretch out to a fast portrait lens, a macro, and an external flash unit as well.

You'll be carrying more weight, and will know it by Day Three, so you'd better be prepared to make some use of the extra glass you've brought along. If you are a landscape fiend you might be prepared to eliminate the long lens, pack in an extra widey, and save a space for one of the small Lee Filter system holders and rings.

In any case this can still go into the overhead locker without raising the suspicions of the cabin crew.
There is sufficient wall padding to resist pressure from the Tanqueray when the plane stands on one wing and the external covering is rip-stop nylon.

Some of our readers will not be able to stop themselves at this point - and we will dedicate the next f-stop column to them.

SNAP SALE! Staff Decision - Get 'Em While We Can Get Away With It

We've come to momentous decision down here to put up a SNAP SALE for Vanguard camera bags and cases. The pricing guns are chattering away like Maxims and the bags are piling up like...umm....oh let's just say we're having a sale.

25% off all new Vanguard. And Vanguard are good bags. They are an imaginative accessory company who have devised camera and lens carriers in all sorts of sizes and shapes.

Some are dull and professional and some are bright and fun. Backpacks, slingers, messenger bags, video boxes, belt and pocket bags. Black, blue, red, green, orange...Hey, take your pick and take 25% off while you do.

Score.

PLUS.....25% off selected Think Tank Bags. Not everything - selected. But come down a browse and se if your desire is in our selection - and score again.

The Fitted Case - Camera Luggage As A Status Symbol

Look back into the literature of the 1920's, 30's and 50's and you will see a remarkable thing - the fitted case for system cameras. Leather boxes put together with all the cunning of medieval artisans and meant to contain the finest photographic gear.

We still see them here when old collections arrive for valuation. The leather is generally extremely good quality and is frequently a rich tan colour. The stitch work is prominent but if you examine it closely you will see that it follows the best pattern; angled awl slits and double tensioned waxed thread.

Linings are frequently flock over internal divisions in thin wood. These may suffer over the years with mildew or dirt but can be recovered to some extent. Indeed, even if original stitching has deteriorated it can frequently be re-stitched. Leather work shops carry craft books with instructions for this, as well as diamond awls and saddler's needles. If you set out to reconstruct a fine camera case of the period expect to end up with tired fingers and several punctures in the fingers...

Most of the cases have specific spaces for equipment. And frequently this means that the camera bodies were meant to be slotted in with no straps attached ( Why?) and with body caps on. You can still do this with digital cameras but remember every time you take off a lens you risk sensor dirt.

Are they bound to be practical? Probably not. Were they ever so? Again, probably not - assembling your Leica or Contax every time you opened the case and then disassembling it would have been a major time waster. But perhaps the people who had these cases - the elite of Europe and America - had a great deal of time to waste. And the case, however heavy, could have been carried by lackeys - along with the steamer trunks and fitted leather suitcases that were carried in he Packard.

Pip pip.

New Bag For New Adventures - Promaster

Spring is coming and when it does you'll want to head out for new adventures. Some of these will need new photographic equipment - and a place to put it. Here's a good suggestion from Promaster.

It's called the Adventure 25. Made of rugged khaki canvas with metallic zipper, buckles, and pop fasteners. The shoulder strap is webbing and there's a leather-covered handle. On the bottom are two rubber crash pads to hit the ground with.

Inside there are three compartments ready-made that look to be able to hold the standard small DSLR and a couple of lenses or indeed any of the mirror-less systems. There's an external battery and card pouch and a documents slit in the back.

The lace-up sides are expandable to take water bottles, mobile phones, or Sten clips - it all depends on how adventurous you expect to be. You can also carry rolls of gold coins and Clindamycin if need be.

I suspect this bag is made in the same factory that supplies Wei Feng - the design features remind me of my own Wei Feng and that's no bad thing as it is one of the best camera haulers I've ever owned.

PS: There are other Promaster /Wei Feng bags here as well.

Bag And Drag With Promaster - At A Bargain Price

Good news for all you enthusiasts who will be taking your portable studio flashes, light stands, tripods, softboxes, smoke machines, and electrical cords out to a show. Or a commercial shoot. Or a wedding. Or, heaven forfend, a family party...

Now you need not carry all your goods into the venue in four old Coles cardboard cartons. Or on your back in a hessian bag. Now you can look good and travel well - Promaster studio bags and boxes are on sale.

We've got a little mountain of them in the front bargain corner of the shop floor and we've decided to run them out at 50% off their marked prices. Some are wheeled, some are not. they all will make a difference if you have to haul a disparate lot of gear into a venue.

Not: The larger amount of gear you need to carry, the greater chance the building you will visit will have 43 floors and the shoot will be on the 42nd floor - and the elevator will be out...

The Pantechnicon

I love that word. " Pantechnicon ". Far more technical and elegant than " Moving Van ".

Same thing, really, large box on wheels into which Wayne and Gordie threw your family's possessions preparatory to smashing and losing them on a trip interstate. The part that always puzzled me was how they managed to fracture tea-towels but failed to destroy the family piano. I so wanted to lose that piano, but it followed me like Inspector Javert. I played it like Inspector Clouseau...

These thoughts are brought to you by one of the Think Tank range of camera cases - the Airport International LE Classic. It is a tank ( ! ) of a product with 1/2" thick dense foam sidewalls and reinforcing at all the vital points. Wheels, of course, and an effective baggage handles on five of the six surfaces.

You'll need 'em - this bag is designed to take the heaviest of the DSLR outfits for professional use. You might try to fool the airlines people that it is feather-light cabin baggage but don't break into a sweat trying to lift it as you walk past the desk. Above all don't stagger sideways.

It doesn't matter. Think Tank bags are designed to resist the slings and arrows of outrageous baggage handlers. Throw it in the hold - your cameras well still work when they come out the other end. That's why you buy Think Tank.

Note one sinister feature of this bag - it has a pocket in the back with a steel wire harness folded up inside. There is a padlock on the harness. It is there so that you can lash and lock the bag to an immovable object to prevent theft. Good to see, but it suggests that you are going to haul this pantechnicon to places that are full of people who want to rob you. Is this such a good idea? Wouldn't it be better to avoid family picnics altogether?

Bag In A Bag With ONA

Here's an idea that has been kicking around for the past few years by various bag makers - you might find it extremely useful.

Bag in a bag - or an organiser that you put into another container is a concept that Crumpler do very well - though their Haven pouches tend to look like manic loaves of bread and taken up a lot of suitcase space.

This specially-made ONA Roma organiser is designed without a lot of flaps and zips - these use up a lot of useful area - and the main flap is cleverly held shut with powerful miniature magnets.

The leather straps at the end make for easy lifting and shifting without having to fight your way around a strap. Maximum storage with minimum fuss.

Also fair bit of style but then who looks inside your camera bag?

Big Deal! - It's A Blog Bag! Think Tank Second Brains!

Blogging for a living is meant to be hard work, but that is just to keep you away from doing it. It's actually easy as, if you just remember to tell a story.

Same thing blogging for fun. You can say what you like and the only people who complain are the officers from the national security agency that arrive at the door with a warrant. In my case they arrive regularly and we have coffee. Hey, Earle!

Taking the blog away from the main computer is easy as well* - many of us have laptops that can be connected to the net for free with dongles or for money in hotels. The same can be done with the smaller cousins of the computer - the tablets. And the even smaller smart phones. Mind you there is a point at which the screen gets too small to see and the fake keyboard too small to type on - at that point you are better off holing up in the bar and writing postcards.

If you are out on the road, writing, Think Tank have a very good series of bags to tote the machinery. The one you see in the picture is intended for iPad and iPad Mini tablets and have dedicated pockets for iPhones and an iSandwich. It has a shoulder strap and enough space within to take the adapters and chargers of both an iPad and a compact camera.

It is the blogger's entire armamentarium in one place. All you need is wifi, Wordpress or Blogger, and you can assault the senses of the entire planet.

* Also known as taking it on the lam...or the Lamb, if you are given to longer literary essays...