A Review of Oberwerth Bags

Dr. Stefan Immes, CEO of net SE, parent company of Meyer Optik Gorlitz and Oberwerth bags, attended our recent annual meeting in Washington DC. At the trade show, he had several examples of his Oberwerth bags for sale. Oberwerth is a newcomer to the high end camera bag market, unlike some of the more familiar names such as Billingham and Fogg for Leica users. Oberwerth bags are hand made in Germany of the highest quality materials. The company’s slogan, “Because “good” isn’t good enough”, says a lot about their mission and the objective of making some of the very best quality camera bags on the market. The bags feature vegetable tanned cowhide, which is naturally tanned and dyed. The cowhide has an oiled finish and shows off the beautiful qualities of the leather  itself and has a self-healing quality to it. You can restore the finish by wiping with a damp cloth or treating with a high quality leather dressing to preserve its patina. High quality Cordura fabric is used in the rest of the bag construction, which is very durable and resistant to wear, waterproof and oil and dirt resistant. High quality zips are used to ensure smooth function of the zipper closures. Incorporated into the adjustable carry-strap is a cut resistant steel cable to deter theft. All the stitching is laser straight and even, as would be expected of a German-made product.

I chose the Freiburg model, which I felt was well suited to the Leica M and several lenses as a light carry bag for a day’s shooting. The dimensions are 27 x 20.5 x 11 cm externally and 24 x 18 x 9 cm internally. All of the Oberwerth bags feature a removable insert with Velcro movable dividers. The insert is made up of a gray velour material with air filled bladders instead of the usual foam padding. The insert is beautifully edgebound and finished as nicely as the rest of the bag. The insert features a cover flap with Velcro tabs for extra secure closure when needed while transporting your gear. The insert flap also features two leather pockets for memory card storage and another small pocket on the outside end for odds and ends storage. The bag itself has a single full-width pocket on the front, a full width zippered pocket on the back and a smaller open pocket and a zippered one on the inside back wall of the bag. The main flap is secured with unique, German-made quick release fasteners which can easily be opened with one hand. The entire bag is designed to have the minimum weight possible, yet still be strong and durable enough to withstand rigorous use in the field.

In use, I found the Freiburg to be ideally suited as a day bag for an M Leica or two, plus some lenses. The dividers can be set up quickly to accommodate multiple configurations to suit your preferences. I can carry the M9-P and Monochrom with lenses mounted and another couple of M lenses mounted with the # 14 838 Leica M Lens Coupling Ring using the two moveable dividers provided. Camera and lenses are easy to access, yet very secure in the bag in use. I never felt the need to use the Velcro tabs on the insert flap to secure my gear in the bag, but it is nice insurance to have them there if you need them. Likewise, the steel cable reinforced strap. The back zippered pocket is a nice option for keeping important papers safe. I was not so enthusiastic at first about the air-filled bladders in the insert and dividers, but in practice they do keep your gear sufficiently isolated from the typical knocks a bag gets in daily use. This is not the bag for an SLR user or the gear obsessed who must bring every piece of gear they own with them. There are larger bags in the Oberwerth range for that use, or a myriad of other choices on the market. If you are looking for a nicely tailored/proportioned bag for a typical light carry with an Mer camera or two, then the Oberwerth Freiburg deserves your consideration.

Visit the Oberwerth website, www.oberwerth.com, to find out more about their complete line of bags and dealers.

LENS SLEEVE SIDEBAR
Neat Things for your Leica

Pictured with the Oberwerth bag in my review are the neoprene lens sleeves I use along with the Leica # 14 838 back-to-back lens coupling ring to carry and protect my lenses in the bag. The lens sleeves I use are a nice Leica red which increases their visibility in the bag. These sleeves are in fact “beer koozies” intended for taller, slim beverage cans such as Red Bull energy drinks or the like. I discovered how useful the normal beer koozies were to protect my Nikon SLR lenses in my camera bag. Unfortunately, the larger diameter sleeves are just a bit too big for typical Leica M lenses, and the lenses “swim” inside them. I found these “slim” models by doing a little searching on Amazon and eBay. Refine your search to “slim can koozies”. The slim models are approx. 5” x 3.25” collapsed, and fit the typical smaller diameter M lens (E39 to E46 filter size) quite well. The neoprene sleeve can be easily trimmed with a scissor if you want to tailor the sleeve to an individual lens, but I find the stock size works quite well for a 35/50 or 35/90 lens combination.  They can be had for a less than $5 each, and I prefer them to the draw string pouches on the market or even the fitted Leica leather zip cases. You can even get four or more lenses in a single “slot” in your bag, as the sleeves prevent the lenses from knocking into each other.