I'm a bag freak when it comes to camera bags. I'm like the stereotypical female with shoes when it comes to camera bags. Over the last few years I've done pretty well with switching over to nothing but Think Tank stuff and I've totally happy with that.
But.
I've been trying to shoot more film the last few years and I've been trying to dust off the Hasselblad and shoot more with it. But something kept nagging at me about carrying around the Hasselblad in a contemporary camera bag. It's silly, I know, and totally materialistic, but it's like the Hasselblad was trying to tell me that it wanted something else. Something special. And it deserves special.
At first I thought about getting a Domke bag, which all serious camera enthusiasts consider the Rolls Royce of camera bags, but I wanted something else. I wanted something that not only could be a camera bag, but could also be a day-to-day satchel bag that I could put all my stuff in when I go back and forth to work. The Domke's are nice and all, but they didn't satisfy my want for something that could double as both, but still have the charm and elegance that my Hasselblad wanted.
Then, one chilly fall day, Sara and I were at King Richard's Faire (which you all should go to at least once to experience it's awesomness). While we were walking around looking at awesome leather outfits and elf costumes and jousting matches, we stumbled across a leathersmith who made leather satchel bags and leather journal covers.
I was instantly smitten with the bags and dragged out as much time as I could looking at each one and touching them. Sara was doing the same with the leather purses they were selling.
Instantly, I knew that one of these bags was the bag that the Hasselblad wanted to be carried around in. I could almost here it speaking to me: "Yes! You've found it! Where has this been all my life!"
So Sara bought a leather purse and I bought a leather satchel bag. I was a little nervous at first because I didn't know if I would be able to find a camera insert that would fit the bag.
When we got back from the faire I went to Amazon and found the Tenba Removable Photo Insert and ordered it with my fingers crossed. When it arrived, it fit absolutely perfectly. It was a perfect fit. It was like it was made to compliment this bag. It was a match made in heaven.
The bag itself is a beautiful dark leather with multiple pockets inside. The lining is a deep green boat lining. When I'm not using it for the Hasselblad, it fits all kinds of stuff and has a few smaller zippered compartments and an outside compartment that buckles close. That bag itself closes with two straps that buckle down. I've had it for about six months now, and with daily use the leather is starting to get nice and soft.
The only negative thing I have to say about the bag is really about the seller. When I bought the bag the seller (Earthbound Leather Journals & Bags out of Mass) said the bags have a guarantee that if any repairs need to be done to the bag, have them done locally and then scan and send the receipt to the seller and they will reimburse what was spent. A few weeks after owning the bag, one of the seams came undone on one of the internal pockets, and I took it to my local cobbler who repaired it for the low cost of 10 bucks. I emailed Earthbound anyway just to see if they would reply, and they never did. They ignored the emails I sent to them, and I recently saw that their website was no longer in existence. I'm guessing Earthbound doesn't really make the bags themselves, but they order them, perhaps from overseas, and simply sell them. So while I won't recommend Earthbound to anyone, I will say that if you can find a local bag maker that makes leather bags, to definitely treat yourself to one.
But I'm totally in love with it. My Hasselblad is totally in love with it. It makes the perfect rustic, vintage-style bag to carry around my Hasselblad kit (body, lens, light meter, film and a polaroid back) and It looks incredibly classy.
I feel like my Hasselblad and I have come to the same conclusion - we are both in love.
P.S. - Sara loves her leather purse as well.
Edit: It turns out goat leather bags are allllll over places like eBay and Alibaba and Amazon, for a much, much lower cost than what we paid.
I love the bag, but I wouldn’t recommend the seller I purchased these from - compared to where you can get them online, he was 5x the price. Now I know.
And knowing is half the battle.