Do Not Unravel When You Travel - A Fujitale

You may not own a Fujifilm camera or five, and you may not have a Fujinon lens or five and a Fujifilm flash or two, but this column still has a message for you. And if you DO own the foregoing, you need to sit up and take notice right now.

Camera manufacturers sometimes engage bag making companies to make branded carry-alls, rucksacks, or promotional duffel bags. Most of them are just an excuse to get the brand name out there on show, and can be seen as a cynical exercise in geek training. The marketing department probably sit around in a karaoke bar on the Ginza at 3:00AM making bets on whether they can get their fan-boys to buy underwear with the camera name emblazoned on it...

But occasionally they do a good thing - Fujifilm has with this bag. It is referred to as a travel bag - as opposed to a fashion bag. It has enough useful features to lift it from the money-trap class and put it into the working line. Let's start out with the premise that it IS for a traveller....

The basic size is small enough when you see it not to excite the airlines into a frenzy. It will go into an overhead locker. It is amateur - looking enough to warn them that you will make a hideous shindy if they try to slug you for excess baggage. You can also overbear them if you look totally professional and bitter, but anything in between is inviting trouble.

Inside the first flap are dedicated pockets for memory cards, batteries, a mobile phone, pencils, and business cards.

Inside the second zippered flap is a multi-configurable compartment with velcro partitions. Nothing new about that until you look along the side of the bag...

And there is a zipper running underneath the whole thing. After you unhook and unzip this the bag widens dramatically and you can fit in several bodies, multiple lenses, a flash and triggering accessories. The really interesting thing is the cynicism shown by Fujifilm, who have no confidence in the abilities of either the owners or the baggage handlers. They have included padded cubes with velcro fasteners that can be put under bodies and lenses that are going to be subjected to extra love from the handlers. You just configure the thing as you need.

Of course there is a shoulder strap to take the weight, and of course the size of the open carry compartment will tempt Fujifilm owners to carry far more equipment than they will ever need. That is human nature. Since the case sits on padded rubber feet as well, you can set it down on wet asphalt when you run out of energy without doing the gear any injury.

Note there is a tablet space there inside as well.

You will not injure your wallet either - this whole shooting match goes for under $ 60. Come on down to Camera Electronic and fill it up with new lenses.

So How Stylish Do Ya Hafta Be In Brooklyn Anyway?

If you're carrying some good camera gear - a small DSLR or mirror-less system camera, a tablet, and some good glass - well - you hafta be stylish. No good carrying it in a paper bag. Ya won't get no respect.

Ona have been revolutionising the fancy camera bag market for some time now with designs that take advantage of top quality leather and fabrics and that don't end up looking like a shotgun cartridge case for Lord Farquhar's second ghilly. Not that we are knocking Lord F or his choice in canvas bags...it is just that you can do a lot more with fanccier materials.

Look at the Brooklyn bag for instance. Leather, not canvas. Made like an old-school old school bag but with modern divisions and proportions to take camera gear. The dividers can be repositioned and the interior lining is perfectly kind to any camera or lens finish. There is a bucket pouch for a tablet at the back.

The handle is extremely sturdy and will support any weight you might reasonably put into the case. If you insist on filling it with ingots of gold that is your affair. At least the side straps will carry the weight, regardless of whether your shoulder will hold out between the Mint and the bank.

The bag is available in black or chestnut leather and has superb leatherwork - note the double finish stitch on the edging of the personal effects pocket. This is a bag that commands respect - when you carry it people move to the side reverently and if they do not move fast enough you can swat them with it. A bag for the photographic autocrat.

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.