So on my first day in Japan I went looking for the Kyoto station Bic Camera.
Gone?
A helpful hotel staff member drew me a map, but it looked like they used their initiative and pointed me to the closest thing, the Kyoto Yoda-bashi (same, but different).
Shopping list;
Shoulder pads (various).
Possible second hand lenses or camera bodies.
Small bag for day trips, because muggins packed and unpacked an effectively weightless Crumpler, but failed to actually decide on it.
Failed with all those because I found something else.
The Domke F7?
No, but for two reasons.
The first is, it has not been an affordable option in a world already full of bags.
Secondly, it was always thought to be too big for M43 gear, which deserves an ironic laugh heard from the stalls as we consider the bags I have been buying lately (Domke F804, 511 Tactical Ready Bag, Neewer monster back pack etc). The reality is, I still have the same issue with my 40-150 f2.8 (with a screw in metal hood attached and mounted on camera) and the 300 f4 as a daily carry.
I would love to have a day bag that can take sports sized gear and again, video gear has that “boxy” problem.
The two big inserts are D6, EOS 1, EM1x sized cameras, the middle one will take big lenses like the 300, something I have struggled with. The fading is a lot less obvious in reality than the photos make it look. My other black bags look much the same, only the bit under the flap giving this one away.
The things that sold me on it were also two fold.
Ooooh I thought, it’s available in a dark, classy grey finish, which turned out to be black with light fading…..
….revealed when you lift the flap.
Actually having a chance to look at it, the relatively shallow depth, but added height make it a contender for the role the F804 has not fit perfectly (the deeper than an F802, but taller than an F2), ideal for taking an EM1x with 40-150 f2.8 attached or the 300 on its own.
Secondly, it was ex-display stock, a little light faded* so I got it for just over half price or to put it another way, about what my last F2 cost me in Australia at a discount (and my original F2 cost in the 1980’s).
The F2 bag would have cost me something like $350au in Japan, the F7 closer to $480au, but I got it for $250au. Considering the first ten years in the life of a Domke bag is wearing in, the next ten is comfortable use and the last ten concerned with wearing out, I think a little fading is irrelevant for the saving and I actually like the newness removed.
The Domke belt that came with it, a $40au saving alone.
This is just another in along line of Domke bags, but I know a bargain when I see one.
Anyway, as Meg said, Japan, Domke, something to remember the trip, all good.
*In Tasmania, UV is lethal, so fading can be a bad sign (and comes on quickly), but northern hemisphere fading worries me less. I may have lost a year of working oife from the bag, but that year will never be needed by me in my working life.