It’s not very often that a camera bag blows you away the second you take it out of the packaging. Not because it’s entirely different from what other bags on the market offer, but for the sheer quality of material and craftsmanship seen in it. The Oberwerth Little William isn’t just a bag that’s beautiful to look at, it will make you want to use it repeatedly so you can feel like an aesthete every day. And in an era when manufacturers cut corners to save costs, Oberwerth really went all out in making this bag one of a kind. So we had a mission: we wanted to see if the Little William is the best camera bag for street photographers.
A quick disclaimer: we got to keep the Oberwerth Little William. At the same time, the Phoblographer has reviewed THE MOST camera bags of any photography publication. And we don’t mind being completely honest about what we like and what we don’t like.
The Big Picture: Oberwerth Little William Camera Bag Review Conclusions
I enjoyed using this camera bag for days. At shoots, on the street, and even just walking around town trying to look like a cool cat. Most of my weekdays are spent lugging around a laptop bag with barely a slot for a compact camera in there. Stylish? Far from it. There are about 1500 other people with the same company-issued bag which is neither unique looking, nor particularly eye-catching. But this, the Oberwerth Little William camera bag, attracted a lot of attention in the right circles. Photographers couldn’t stop fawning over how supple the leather looked. Every time I opened the bag up to take my camera out, the post-office red interior turned heads.
- Full-grain leather exterior
- Contrasting bright red interior
- Impeccably good finishing
- Spacious without being massively bulky
- Can’t fit a standard laptop
- Costs quite a bit, but this is one of those one-time buys you make to pamper yourself
- Old-school button type latch prevents thieves from nicking stuff from inside the bag when you’re on the move
- I wish it came in brown leather too
Camera bags these days have become overwhelmingly synthetic in terms of the materials used to manufacture them. The Oberwerth Little William Camera Bag is a much-needed step away from all that. Hopefully, more manufacturers will pick on the fact that there still are some of us, possibly a lot of us, who still enjoy traditionally crafted bags to safely carry around our cameras.
Experience
Granddad had a hard leather camera case that he carefully took around for many decades. It too had a velvety interior and that lasted him many travels and photo expeditions. When I first took the Oberwerth Little William out of its box, this is what it reminded me of. There was no “ah-just-another-camera-bag” feeling at all. It was almost love at first sight. Well, first touch to be honest. The leather on this bag is something I cannot completely describe in words. That tactile response on the soft yet durable leather is something that needs to be experienced to truly understand the tsunami of emotions I experienced in the first few seconds when I held the Little William in my hands. This was even before I had opened it up properly.
A bright post office red greeted me when I managed to clumsily unhook the button clasps that kept the Oberwerth bag closed. This isn’t your run-of-the-mill bright red, but neither is it a garish shade. Somehow, it manages to be bright without being repulsive. But it is the perfect contrast to the deep black exteriors of the bag and also the inevitably black colored cameras and lenses you’ll be keeping inside the bag. I realized this is quite a welcome change when I consider that almost all my other camera bags (over a dozen easily by now) have dark interiors. It’s easy on the eyes and the contrast between the exterior leather and that bright red lining is the kind of detail that makes you smile as much on the tenth use as on the first.
There’s no shortage of storage here. There are slim pouches on the outside that can easily accommodate most small notebooks, scribbling pads, baseball game tickets and folded cheat sheets. On the inside, two thinly padded slits allow you to store larger papers or iPads or tablets (up to 13 inch sized screens) that aren’t encased by bulky covers. Oberwerth didn’t just design this to be a good looking bag; they’ve covered all bases when it comes to storage requirements too.
Looks alone aren’t enough and most certainly don’t make for a great camera bag if the ergonomics and comfort aren’t up to the mark. Oberwerth manages to score well in these categories too, complementing the Little William with a strong length-adjustabe strap that’s padded with a slim yet sufficiently comfortable shoulder pad.
Out on the streets in Dubai, the bag attracted attention at times, but not of an unwelcome kind. Locals took a double take on seeing a bag with a design not commonly seen outdoors these days here. Photographers on photowalks grinned when they saw classic cameras come out of its interior. And seniors smiled when they saw something that reminded them of the aesthetics of objects from their youth. Style factor aside, the Little William was a very practical bag to walk around with. It could take my Nikon Z8 with a 24-120mm lens and L-bracket attached to it, as well as my Blackrapid shoulder strap, two sets of Maven magnetic filters, my 6th generation iPad, and also my Nikon 35mm f1.4 Z lens.
Yes, we put a Z8 in there.
The bag never felt like it was weighing down my shoulders and at no point was it looking bulky either. Whether I was just ambling along trying to find visual frames, or briskly jogging back to the car to beat the parking meter, the bag did not slide off my shoulders. This is really a great bag for street photographers because it can take quite a good bit of street gear without slowing you down. And once you get used to the unlatching mechanism of the bag, you wish your other cameras had this kind of extra bit of protection too.
Cost aside, there are only a couple of points that might deter someone from purchasing the Oberwerth Little William bag. Firstly, you can’t fit a standard-sized laptop inside without it pressing against the edges sharply. Secondly, the leather isn’t waxed and while that isn’t a problem in terms of looks, it can and did gather a lot of dust when rested against tables or leaned against walls. This requires careful wet cleaning to completely remove any traces of dust. I am not a leather conditioning expert, so I haven’t (yet) attempted any kind of polish or exterior waxing on it, and I don’t think I will. I just used a regular non-scented wet wipe to see how it would work. And I expect this to be something that I do when I use this bag more often.
Does it look like a traditional camera bag? Yes to the familiar eye, but no to modern society and I think that’s because of how the average camera bag has undergone so many changes in design in the last decade and a half. Backpacks are more the choice these days, and messenger-style camera bags seem to be mostly made of rugged material. And while it can take a mirrorless camera or DSLR with ease, it’s more aesthetically matched with classic-looking modern cameras like the Nikon Zf, Fujifilm X-Pro series, or Leica rangefinders.
The Oberwerth Little William is a bag you’ll want to take everywhere, not because it’s the most practical option, but because it makes the act of carrying your camera feel special. Photography is about seeing beauty in the world and your bag should reflect that same sensibility. For the first time in ages, my heart is drawn towards a camera bag that values quality over convenience, and in a world of fast fashion and endless consumerism, it’s nice to own something that will last you durably for generations. Oberwerth makes a great selection of camera bags in various materials and sizes, but I’m willing to bet their leather range is the best you’ll ever see in the market today.
Images of me with the Oberwerth Little William bag were kindly taken by Renith Sunil and Steffen Bamberg