There were literally dozens of affordable nice leather sling bags with plenty of room for my ILC, netbook, backup Canon digital camera and iPad in Chinese online shopping sites such as Jingdong Mall and Yihaodian. I was ready to retire my beloved Indiana Jones-esque satchel for a more elegant bag. Unfortunately, I was severely limited by my 200RMB gift card, which was only valid for specific products on the aforementioned Yihaodian website. When I decided on the digital camera bag for my Sony NEX-3NL camera, I was thus aiming for availability and price rather than brand or design.
When you're in China, you either buy only branded stuff or learn to recognize quality over brand name. I learned to trust Chinese brands unheard of in the West - some exceed the quality of branded products for a much lesser price. After considerable assistance from my Chinese co-workers, the only valid products I could purchase with my gift card were a generic roomy black laptop backpack or a small Golla camera bag. I opted for the Golla camera bag without knowing that Golla was a Finnish brand that distributed their products all over the world and are even available in Amazon.com.
The 156 RMB black Golla bag was shipped the next day along with a 29 RMB digital camera cleaning kit that I chucked in to make full use of the 200RMB amount. The Golla bag was nice and sturdy and I was especially happy with the inner lining, which felt stiffer than some of the cheaper digital camera bags I saw in retailers such as Decathlon. Although I was practically getting the bag for free, I felt the 156 RMB price tag was a bit too much especially after I found out it was much smaller than I thought it would be. My Sony NEX-3NL camera fits perfectly inside the bag but not much else. There's a small "pocket" in the back but couldn't even hold the Sony power plug, much less my iPod Touch. I could, however, fit the USB cable and battery inside the pocket if I tried hard enough. The material of the Golla Bag wasn't waterproof but the fabric is the type that really doesn't absorb water very well.
The Golla small digital camera bag was even smaller than my 6" Sony PRS-600 ereader.
My iPod Touch fit only halfway inside the rear pocket.
More than anything else, I was probably paying for the brand name (which I wasn't aware of until I visited their website) than for any useful feature. However, having watched tourists and photography enthusiasts grapple with huge DSLR bags or purchase expensive Crumpler and branded "digital" bags, the small Golla bag actually might be an advantage during my travels. Still, I wish it had room for at least my passport or ticket.
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