Pednvounder & the Logan Rock

 iPhone 14 Pro

Introduction

I have a friend who collects watches; every time he buys a new watch his partner gets a new handbag. Most of my photographer friends on the other hand, tend to get themselves a new bag at the same time as a new camera!

Sadly there is no perfect bag, it all depends what you are doing, and what camera(s) you are using. Recently I sold off quite a few bags, but I still have way too many. These fall into a number of categories:

With the Q2 Reporter

Leica M11 with 50 Summilux Asph

1. Worn Out Bags - I have a few of these, mostly Billingham bags bought in the 80s and 90s and used everyday until they were too leaky and decrepit.

2. No Good Bags - these are ones that you bought because they looked lovely, but are so impractical that they never got used (like the beautiful leather bag which has magnet closures so powerful they'll stop a Rolex Milgauss in 15 seconds).

3. The Occasional Bag - these are ones that are just useful for unusual one-off situations - they are usually very large, with room for an SL2 and the 90-280, but if you carry them for more than 10 minutes it will take your shoulder several months to recover.

4. The Apparently Perfect Bag - these are few and far between, usually made by Fogg, and they gradually turn into 1 above (until you send them back and have them refurbished)!

3 M bodies with lenses

Leica M11 with 50 Summilux Asph

Q2, M11 with Visoflex II attached (notebook, phone )

This is particularly relevant in that many (some much larger) bags won't take an M11 with the Visoflex attached.

The Big little bag!

Leica M11 with 50 Summilux As[h

SL2 with 2 APO Summicron lenses

Or SL2 with 24-90

A touch of the Tardis

iphone 14 pro

2 M bodies with lenses attached +2 lenses, wallet, notebook, pen and phone, iPods pro.

The Everyday Bag!

Lieca M11 with 50 Summilux Asph

I was excited when I tried out these different options, I usually seem to have problems in that a small bag doesn't take quite enough, and a bigger bag is, well, too big! Of course the trouble is that one is always excited with a new bag and there is a tendency to give it the benefit of the doubt.

I've been using the Havana bag for nearly 3 months, every day, as my main bag, generally with 2 M bodies, 2 extra lenses, my red notebook, wallet, AirPods Pro, spare batteries, pen etc. This is more than I can get in any of my other small bags.

Handsome!

Leica M11 with 50 Summilux Asph

The front pockets are surprisingly roomy, although I feel that an opportunity has been missed to have a pen pocket on the outside of one of them. You can slip an AirTag down the middle between the two pockets, which is useful.

Materials

The bags are constructed with waxed cotton made by Halley Stevensons, a company that have been producing this kind of material in Dundee (Scotland) since 1864 (https://halleystevensons.co.uk/about/).

This is much softer than the traditional rubberised canvas used by Billingham and Fogg. It actually feels a lot nicer too, but I was a little sceptical to start with, however it's held up really well, no sign of wear on the rubbing points, and a couple of deluges have only made the outside wet.

The inside has Velcro down both sides, and the dividers are sturdy foam covered with the same waxed cotton as the outside. In fact, the whole lining of the bag is made from the same material - it looks great, and feels great as well.

Clint

iPhone 14 Pro

Fixings and Closure

The bag has sturdy leather straps which are fixed using studs to push through holes in the leather. This takes time to soften up, but when it does it's easy to close (you can tuck your finger behind the stud to make it even easier). There are 3 holes depending on how full the bag is, but I've found the middle one is good for all the situations I've come across.

The lid of the bag has a good overlap at the side to stop the rain getting in. I've been out in a considerable rainstorm, and although the outside of the bag got wet, the contents remained dry.  There is also very little metal around to bash against valuable lenses or LCDs!

Conclusion

The small Havana by Rock n Roll is an excellent every day bag, small enough to carry everywhere, but big enough to carry a decent outfit for a day's shooting. It's extremely reasonably priced, especially considering it's excellent materials and artisan manufacture.

Many thanks to Evris for sending me this bag to try out, it's been my constant companion for a few months now. If you're interested then head over to his website for more information.

Sunset over the A303

Leica M11 with Wide Angle Tri-Elmar