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Author
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stepheno
Pixalo Crew
Registered: July 2005
Posts: 7120
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Review Date: Mon July 31, 2006
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Would you recommend the product? Yes |
Price you paid?: £100.00
| Rating: 9
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Pros:
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Large, roomy, waterproof, hardwearing, plenty of pockets
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Cons:
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Zipper under the flap top
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I've had this bag for about a year now. I needed a bag to take at least a DSLR with fitted lens and another three lenses. This it does. Obviously you can interchange a lens with a flashgun etc. There ae multiple inner and outer pockets which will take my light meter, batteries, memory cards, pens, norebooks, remote and many other bits and pieces.
I bought the Billingham because I do prefer a shoulder bag although you can buy a shoulder harness. It is heavy when full but I am usually in a car and carry it for short journeys. I wouldn't recommend the 335 if hiking, rambling etc, a back pack would be more suitable. For around town and shots where you are not walking a lot then the 335 is excellent. It has a good, wide and well-padded shoulder strap.
It is a quality bag, well made (in England  ) and is great for pick up and go. It also excels where you can't put your bag down but you need access to it. If you're certain you need a back-pack then elsewhere but for a shoulder bag I would highly recommend the Billingham 335
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P-E
Growing roots
Registered: August 2005
Location: Sheffield, S.Yorkshire UK
Posts: 8429
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Review Date: Fri September 8, 2006
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Would you recommend the product? Yes |
Price you paid?: None indicated
| Rating: 8
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Pros:
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Quality built bag
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Cons:
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Uncomfortable on the shoulder with a full load.
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This was the first bag I bought and there is no denying this is a quality built bag.
Plenty of pockets and a deep main compartment fits plenty of gear in.
Having said that I no longer use the 335 as it quickly came apparent that this would be no good for hiking around of which I have found I do now more than anything.
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silkstone
Loves the place
Registered: January 2005
Location: Silkstone Common, Yorkshire, UK
Posts: 4092
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Review Date: Wed September 26, 2007
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Would you recommend the product? Yes |
Price you paid?: £165.00
| Rating: 6
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Pros:
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Quality, quality and more quality
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Cons:
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Comfort, practicality
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I so wanted to love this bag. It oozes quality and even smells like the interior of an Aston Martin, but ultimately it was forsaken for a Lowepro Stealth Reporter. However, if you want a bag to hold everything without needing to carry it far, the Billingham may be for you.
The supplied internal fittings ('Superflex') are rather odd shapes/sizes, and I found it difficult to pack as much in as I could with a similarly sized Lowepro. You end up with padding within padding which takes up space, but borrowing some Velcro separators from other bags helped here.
Then there are the straps. The two parts of the handle are held together by a leather 'wrap' with press studs, and the first stage in penetrating the interior involves undoing these. Stage two is to unfasten the straps holding the main flap, and then you can get to the zip. It's all fairly simple but somehow seems more long-winded and fiddly than the 'snap-fit' buckles we've become used to. Having said that, you can tuck the zipped edges away and just use the main flap if you want to get to anything in a hurry.
The front pockets are covered by another flap held down by more straps, but there is no zip and it would be possible for small items to fall out of these pockets if the bag was turned upside down. OK you shouldn't do this, but even so it doesn't seem terribly secure.
The canvas shoulder strap has a leather and neoprene pad for cushioning, but this isn't as comfortable as the more high-tech pads on other bags. If the 335 is full of kit, you probably wouldn't want to carry it very far on your shoulder.
So the recommendation comes with a few major qualifications. As symbol of British quality and workmanship the Billingham is a joy to behold, but for everyday use there may be more practical choices. A bit like an Aston Martin really. 
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