Best products from r/Leica

My EDC bag is a Tenba DNA 13. This is basically a copy of the Every Day Messenger Bag by Peak Design but I actually think they pulled the bag off better. It is more comfortable and less bulky and has all the same (non-peak proprietary) features. Oh, it is also half the price. I love how versatile this bag is! It can be a purist camera bag but it can also carry other stuff quite competently. The main pocket for me is a rotating assortment of cameras, lenses and film but my 3DS, Microfibres, spare memory cards, spare roll of Tri-X, moleskine, pen, pencil, sharpy, rain cover, pen light, micro USB cable and Opinel knife never leave the bag.

During Renaissance Festival I carry a leather Koolerton bag with a better padded insert also by Koolerton. I carry this instead of my Tenba because I work at the festival on the weekends and employees have to be in full costume. This lets me still carry a camera bag without looking out of character. Mine is distressed enough that it doesn't look out of place. Like my Tenba, this bag is also a copy of another famous camera bag, the Ona Brixton. Also like the Tenba, massively cheaper than the Ona.

On the rare occasion where I ride my bike somewhere with my camera (usually I just carry a film point and shoot when I ride) I stick the Koolerton insert into my Chrome bag.

I use a small Brady Ariel Trout bag in herringbone tweed for my laptop and a small camera, a cheap faded OD green Indian surplus small satchel for when I'm just going out with a camera and I have a large khaki Billingham I picked up at a flea market for 15 bucks that I used back when I had a full DSLR kit. In the past, I've also had a Frost River satchel that was great, but I sold it to a friend when I got a new laptop that was too big for it.

EDIT: This is the cheap indian small satchel I was talking about. You have to make your own interior, but it is ridiculously rugged for the price if you get a good one- it's better to pick one up at an army surplus store than ordering online, the quality control isn't perfect. It is utterly anonymous looking, and is a great size for a rangefinder, 2 or 3 small lenses, filters, an extra battery, a small tablet or moleskine notebook, and a cable release. I've had mine for years. It is sunbleached and patched, but still super solid. I've taken it on multiple trips, and it has never let me down.

General 'snapshot' street photography is a matter of chance, with a small amount of composition. Very little work and thought goes into the output. What's notable about HCB is that he frequently framed a shot based on artistic composition; and waited for something to happen. Other times he had time to compose a shot he took the time to find the geometry. Even when just out snapping, he looked for scenes where geometry was striking. If you're curious about the way he does this, he talks about it in an old movie.

Asking someone else how to make your work stand out is inherently uncreative, for the record.

One of the most important things I ever learned about photography was that buying gear isn't really useful. Having a working camera and some working lenses is necessary; but if you have something 'semi-professional' or above, there's little to no advantage in upgrading. You have an M8 (or possibly an M6 by now?) and a lens. As long as both are in functional condition; that's all you need in terms of equipment.

Instead, buy books. Here's some suggestions that you might want to consider:

• Koudelka - Gypsies
  
  
• Relationship - Zachary Drucker & Rhys Ernst
  
  
• The Decisive Moment - Henri Cartier-Bresson
  
  
• The Magnum Contact Sheets - Multiple Artists
  
  
• Vivian Maier - Vivian Maier, John Maloof
  
  
• An English Eye - James Ravilious
  
  
• Labyrinth - Moriyama Daido
  
  
• The Americans - Robert Frank
  
  You can also look at libraries for these, and keep an eye on thrift stores and used bookshops. I think you're in London, right? There's a huge gallery on Oxford street, and in Mayfair there's a Leica store where exhibitions are held a few times a year.
  
  The key point is to look at photos; individual photos, contact sheets and whole curated books and exhibitions. Think about how the artists made something like documentary and snapshot photography into an art. Look for ideas you can use, and look for things that haven't been done that you could use to be unique. Look at studio photography. Look at erotic photography. Look at cinema and still life and landscapes and architecture and paintings and drawings and every other image created with artistic intent, that represents a moment of reality. And go from there.

Check out Lowpro, they make a drone bag (dorky I know) but it’s my favorite. Fits my gear and laptop great


https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06XGMZL8W/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_GgoSCbWMF5RTK

Straps I've bought trying to find THE ONE:

• Love this one on my leica- has a tiny bit of leather (I think it's real...)
  
  
• LOVE THIS for my Nikon D5 and will never replace it. It's nearly perfect. Overkill for my Leica, tiny bit of leather
  
  
• This was fine
  
  
• This was fine but felt a bit too lightweight
  
  
• This was also fine but a loop of paracord on your hand all day is kind of annoying
  
  
• This was suitable for a small point and shoot
  
  
• This was way too much- probably for any camera without a 300mm lense
  
  
• This was fine for light weight p&s's
  
  The ones that have leather are using corrected-grain stuff that is not structural, so even if it might degrade over time, it won't hurt the function. Unless you're trying to be vegan, I wouldn't worry about it.

It's this soft cotton strap I found on Amazon. Been using it for a year or so, held up fine. And for $10, can't complain. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07DKG6KQT/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1