Liang Dong, is a Chinese photographer. He specialises in portrait photography and is interested in outdoor photography, city photography, wedding photography, commercial product photography and so on. His job requires him to move from city to city and carry equipment for long periods of time. So choosing a reliable "partner" for himself and his cameras is imperative. As a result, he became a Billingham Bags customer.

Due to the demands of his work, he usually chooses large Billingham bags. He was interested by the Mini Eventer so we sent him one to review. This is the first time he has used a Billingham bag this small, so let's hear what he has to say about it.

The following content was written by Liang Dong. It has been translated from the original Chinese. 

Not long ago, Billingham Bags introduced a smaller version of the classic Eventer bag - the Mini Eventer. As a lover of portable camera bags and a lover of beautiful things, I was understandably intrigued by this bag.

Like my last Hadley One, I received a navy blue Mini Eventer. All Billingham bags are made by Billingham UK factory and shipped across the ocean from England. When I got the bag, my feeling was: this is the best looking small Billingham bag so far.  

Just like the Eventer, the Mini Eventer has a large area of leather reinforcement and trim at the bottom. This gives it a luxurious feel that sets it apart from other Billingham bags. This is also the most significant feature of this series of bags.

In terms of size, I thought it was about the same size as the Hadley Pro, but when I got it, it turned out to be even smaller than I thought. It's the right size for me and looks great. I don't think it's clunky when I use it. It follows the messenger bag’s design very well.

My daily camera is Hasselblad CFVII+500CM+ 907X, and sometimes I use Nikon and Sony mirrorless cameras for shooting. As a portable bag with high mobility, the Mini Eventer can well meet the needs of my daily shooting and can be fitted with one camera, two lens or one camera, one lens, and one flash. Like Sony's A7R4 plus 2470GM plus 85GM.

The navy blue exterior is paired with a chocolate Removable padded insert, which is the same colour as the leather. There are specially designed space for laptops, iPads, books, etc.

Of course, in addition to basic functions, the most important thing is its additional features. This bag has many improvements over the Eventer, this is similar to the new Hadley series.

Billingham: The original 'Eventer' is a larger bag than the Mini Eventer. The 'Eventer' has now been replaced by the 'Eventer MKII' which has the same capacity as its predecessor and features the improvements Liang Dong speak of - such as leather underneath the top handle and a luggage trolley retainer strap.

First, it comes with a shoulder pad. This is something you don't get with other bags (so it's more expensive, which makes sense). And it adds leather to the inside of the handle for a better grip.

The zippered opening of the bag is leather-like and weatherproof, unifying the design language of the whole camera bag. The extra zipper design is safer than the Hadley's straight opening. Even without zipping the chain, the camera is harder to fall out of. The downside is that when you take the camera out, it's a bit of a hassle because there's an extra layer of protection.

Billingham: The zips can be tucked behind the front and back wall of the insert to be moved out the way should the user want quicker access. This is what we call the “TukTop” feature.

Luggage trolley retainer strap added to the back of the bag for added convenience while travelling.

The back pocket zipper is also weatherproof. This is where electronics and batteries can be placed.

Bag body is made of canvas, quite light.

Overall, the Mini Eventer is an ideal daily camera bag. It also has a good look and great performance.

Here are some photos of Liang Dong and Mini Eventer at work with the bag:

Liang Dong can be found on social media here:

Weibo: @杨东长城摄影师
Douyin, Toutiao, Kuaishou, Tubug, 500px: @长城摄影师杨东

Also you can read our interview with him here.

Click below to find more about the bag featured in this article: