The Hadley Pro is probably the most understated and sophisticated camera bag on the market. Made in England, it is stylish, comfortable, quiet, and dead simple to use. I have had this bag for over six years and it is still the perfect camera bag despite all the new crowdfunded bags on the market today. The best part about the bag is the main compartment closure that uses two straps each with a single matching grommet on the closure. This allows the bag to be opened quickly, and silently with a single hand! So if you are trying to change lenses, insert a new battery or just trying to retrieve anything out of the bag, all you need to do is swing it around, unlatch the straps with a quick pull on each, and you are in!
Not Just for Cameras
I also used to use this as my every day carry bag as well for school, as I was able to slip my MacBook Air into the space between the camera insert and the liner of the bag and I could fit a thermos of tea in the reconfigurable insert. The pockets on the outside are perfect for pens and pencils and the rest of the space in the main compartment can be used to hold a calculator, notebooks, cords, etc.
As it was intended
But now back to it as a camera bag, It has a single main compartment with a camera insert that can be snapped in. There are also two snap pockets and a zipper pocket on the back that runs the length of the bag.
This is a deceptively large bag and can easily hold all your gear for a days worth of shooting, and if you are ok with a heavy shoulder bag, you can get multiple DSLRs in it with a spare lens for each. As you can see from the above picture I am now currently using this bag to hold my Leica cameras as they have become my main shooters. It easily fits all my gear and then some and I always have to remember to pack it light because a shoulder bag never distributes the weight as well as a backpack.
The front pockets are good for little things such as batteries and memory cards but I also find them to be best for items you want out of the way while you are shooting. This is because you want to have basically unfettered access to that main compartment and equipment like chargers and cables unfortunately just get in the way.
Conclusion
So far you have heard all the wonderful things about the bag with some caveats thrown in here and there. To me there are only two big downsides to the bag. The first being that it can get heavy, even though it is small it is deceptively large so you tend to pack it with more than you really need. In essence this is really just a warning, and one that will save your neck and shoulders, literally. The second downside is the price, at $230 it does not come cheap but it is amazingly well made and will last you a long time.
So should you get the bag? It is all about preference, I really like the accessibility, the style, and the durability but it’s not for everyone. Someone that needs to carry lots of gear or a tripod should probably look elsewhere. There are tons of bags on the market thanks to crowdfunded sites like KickStarter so your perfect bag might just be around the corner, or even better why not make it yourself?
