The ONA That Lost to Its Smaller Brothers

Around 2014 I went through something of an ONA period.

At the time, their bags were difficult not to like. Waxed canvas, leather, brass fittings and none of the usual black nylon that made so many camera bags look as though they contained either photographic equipment or emergency medical supplies.

This one is the ONA Prince Street, in Smoke waxed canvas.

I bought it because, on paper, it was probably the sensible one. Large enough for a camera and several lenses, properly padded, beautifully made and still compact enough not to look like a traditional professional camera bag.

There was only one problem.

I also had an ONA Bowery and Brixton and I used those much more.

They simply suited the way I worked better. So despite buying the Prince Street with every intention of using it, I probably carried it three times.

And then it joined that peculiar category of photographic equipment that most photographers eventually acquire: things that are very good, that we genuinely like, and that for some reason we never use.

It is still in remarkably good condition. The Smoke waxed canvas has acquired a little of the characteristic variation and patina of the material, but the leather, brass fittings and interior show very little actual wear. The padded dividers are still there and even the interior tells you that this was never a bag subjected to years of professional abuse.

Perhaps that is why I still like it.

ONA arrived at an interesting moment in photography. Camera bags were becoming something other than equipment containers. They could be objects in their own right, made from materials that aged rather than simply wore out. A camera bag could look perfectly at home with a Leica rather than announcing from fifty metres away that somebody was carrying several thousand euros of photographic equipment.

I bought several.

The others went to work.

This one somehow escaped.

THE OBJECT

Object: ONA Prince Street camera bag
Maker: ONA
Model: The Prince Street
Colour: Smoke
Date: c. 2014
Material: Waxed canvas, full-grain leather and brass hardware
Dimensions: approx. 30 × 23 × 10 cm measured
Interior: Padded camera compartment with removable dividers
Condition: Excellent, with very little actual use and light natural ageing to the waxed canvas
Provenance: Purchased around 2014 and used perhaps three times. One of several ONA bags I owned at the time, although my smaller ONA bags saw considerably more use.

STATUS: Available
This object is currently for sale at Euro 150 plus shipping ask me for more photo