The camera bag that refused to die

When I was doing theatrical photography, back in the late eighties, I bought a Billingham 550 to carry the multiple bodies and long lenses, I used for this work. Back then It cost about the same as a similar bag from competitors. Finished my theatrical photography, I bought smaller bags for reduced needs. A backpack that went into the attic after a month and a smaller Billingham was fine for M43. an old Camera care bag was fished out of the attic for a while. No camera bag ever seems to be the perfect fit for our needs.

But I always seem to come back to the roomy 550 after a while as it is about the most practical bag I have found. It has just come back into service again as the smaller Billingham was proving too cramped for my shift lenses that I am using heavily right now. I bought some new inserts to protect the lenses, better, but I always seem to come back to this bag.

I was amazed and shocked to see Billingham want £700 for this bag now. The same price trajectory as my wife's favourite brand: Prada

Let's hear about your camera bag odysseys

and the gag is??? 😉

Yes please, and early morning keyboard error!

And I was expecting it to be the Wallace Heaton gag from the ‘30s!

No you cannot edit a title.

But at least the post got some reaction!

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Thanks

I had one of these which I bought on eBay for around £50 about 20 years ago. I never wore it out but even though I probably have enough stuff to fill it, I couldn’t lift it any more - so gave it to a friend and I hope she’ll get another 20 years use out of it before she passes it to a friend. I’m shocked at the current price, though I suppose, given the quality of materials and construction, it’s not all that surprising. Currently, I have the Hadley Pro 2020, the 72 and the larger of the two backpacks, though again, I think the backpack will have to go as it’s now too heavy. If they have a fault, it’s that the very high level of protection they provide makes them bulky for what they will hold.

Now that would be a poke in the eye!