Billingham Hadley Small Camera Bag (Black Canvas/Tan Leather)

Let's face it, this is a very expensive bag, and while I do like the bag very much, it is questionable whether it really is worth the high price.As someone who has been through the route of buying countless bags, rucksacks, waistbelts and clip-on arrangements to hold my modest camera gear, and been frustrated with them all, I finally took the plunge and went for the highly rated Billingham.If you are considering this bag, you probably already know about it, and have looked at reviews here, elsewhere and videos of it, so I wont dwell on the product aspects and more on the stuff that may not be so obvious.Its quite small! Well, it is called the Hadley Small, somehow the video reviews I saw of it made it seem larger. The inner padded pouch is far too thick for a bag of this size, and wastes space. Sure we want padding but it is near 1cm thick, and as the bag material itself is pretty sturdy, a thinner padded material would be far more suitable for the size of the bag. The upshot of this is the remaining actual carry space inside is no more than a wide slot. Although its a flexible and accommodating space, it just strikes me that the attention to detail on the construction could be matched with that of the design.The Sage Green is pleasant, but somewhat darker than in the images of it. The strap is ok, but for this price they really could have included a padded shoulder strap rather than wanting a hefty £30 extra for it.The FibreNyte material is great, looks and feels pretty much like a natural material. It has flexibility without being floppy.It is a mini Tardis though, as you will see in video reviews, it seems to swallow up far more than one would think it could, and without bulging out and looking mishapen. The wife and I use a single bag for our walking and photo wanders, and in our Billingham we have:In the main compartment: Sony RX10 (if you dont know it think smallish SLR or larger bridge camera), Sony RX10 in a Lowepro case, 1 litre bottle of water, wife's purse and phone.In the two outer pockets: One houses a Lee filters system, bit of a squeeze but just fits. The other has sundries: spare batteries, memory cards, cable release, lens cloth, reading glasses, headache pills, penknife, emergency Mars Bar.So thats quite a lot of stuff in a small bag. When you empty the contents and look at the empty bag and pile of stuff, its quite puzzling how it all fitted inside.What isnt so obvious is that between the inner liner pouch and the bag itself you can slot in flatter items, such as lens cloth, a thin map, folded paper (A4 size is too large to fit without folding).An upside is that it doesn't scream out camera bag, and sits well on the body, it doesn't cantilever outwards like most camera bags.I really like this bag. Is it worth the money? No. Its £100 more than the equivalent Lowepro, and while its a lovely bag, the price differential is just too great really. But I am keeping it, and maybe that says more than anything else!And one small disconcerting aspect, all the reviews of it have shown it coming in a Billingham box, yet mine was just inside a plastic bag. Does make me wonder if this was one someone had returned to Amazon.

Many years ago I had a Hadley bag, when they first came out, so when I got an M9 and three lenses I just had to get the Hadley Small.Nothing has changed, superb quality, top notch materials, loads of protection for the equipment and it will last a life time, i can easlly get the M9 and three lenses in it, with plenty of room for spare batteries, lens caps and cards ect.You may well think that nearly £160 for a small camera bag excessive, but once you have owned one you'll never doubt the quality, the leather is beautiful, and the tan canvas is without doubt the best finnish.Love it to bits!

Expensive, well made and probably the most practical bag for compact system cameras/bridge cameras.Billingham is synonymous with quality and usability and the Hadley Small is a perfect example. I use it to hold my Panasonic G5 c/w standard zoom, a Sigma 19mm, a Sigma 60mm, a small Metz flash and several other small accessories.The Hadley Small doesn't seem that small inside - in fact it's a bit of a TARDIS and it's quite surprising how much kit will fit in. That said, I think I might have opted for the Hadley Pro or Large if I had intended to use it for my dSLR gear.The bag just looks great and oozes quality. Best of all it doesn't scream "hey, I'm a camera bag".This is a bag I will keep and use for many, many years - long after I (and the wife) have forgotten how much I paid for it!

Billingham Hadley Small.I've owned the Billingham Hadley Pro for a number of years and its been a great bag to carry my Nikon D300s and lenses around, best bag I've ever owned to be honest, but for the last year or so I've more often been using my Fuji XPro1 camera with 3 lenses and while the Hadley Pro is a great bag I just felt it was too big for my kit, extra size and weight that didn't fit with my kit. I looked around at a few different bags and considered a number of them but I kept coming back to Billingham and the Hadley Small, I looked at this bag before but it was too small for my DSLR kit hence the Hadley Pro, this time though perfect bag for my CSC kit and I know Billinghams quality and pedigree. Yes its an expensive bag but the materials and craftsmanship tell you its premium quality product.As expected the Hadley Small is the same excellent quality as the Pro just on a smaller scale so fits my needs perfectly, the size of the bag is surprising when you open the box initially, but its like a tardis inside. The bag offers great all around protection for my XPro1 and 3 lenses plus some accessories. The size of the bag might limit some with a DSLR kit unless travelling very light, for me the bag is the perfect size to hold all my CSC kit (if I get an additional lens I have the scope to be able to do that). I've currently got the 18mm, 35mm and the 23mm (23mm mounted on the camera) and just enough space in the bag for the 16-55mm if I decide to get it at a later date. The lenses I have now are more than enough to cover my needs and allow me to really enjoy my photography again without being overloaded with gear. The reason I got a CSC in the first place is so I'd take my camera with me more often and not break my back carrying too much gear with me.I will keep my Hadley Pro for my DSLR kit for when I use it but the Hadley Small is the perfect bag for my Fuji X kit and I'm glad I went with Billingham again (even re-used my shoulder pad for the strap which can be switched between the two bags).If your in the market for a good quality bag for a small DSLR or CSC kit then you can't go far wrong with this bag and it'll likely outlast you.

Great compact bag. Very well made. I use it to carry a Fuji XT-1 with 10-24mm lens attached + 56mm lens + 35mm lens + lens hoods + EF-X20 flash + spare batteries and memory cards and bits and pieces. Everything fits comfortably but there is no room for anything else of significance. It suits me very well and is perfect for travel and days out. It's also comfortable to carry.The irony is I tried to cancel my order because I didn't think it would be big enough for my needs but thank goodness it was too late for my cancellation to be accepted.