Where is compagnon headed?

Yes - the title says it all. Where is compagnon's journey taking us, Vitalis & Valentin? Since the first weeks and months after our foundation last year, we have received an incredible amount of feedback from you out there. There are two kinds of people (to think in pigeonholes) - people who already have a compagnon bag, or people who want a compagnon bag.... ;-) We get tips and hints from both camps about what we can still change and what is already very good. We try to take many of the tips to heart and implement them. However, there were two requests that came up particularly frequently - namely the wish for two completely new models. To take the suspense out of it right away - yes, both requests will be implemented.

1. compagnon "the little messenger" The development of mirrorless cameras has not completely passed us by. When we started with the first sketches and considerations a few years ago, there was no such thing. There were DSLR cameras on the one hand and standard compact cameras on the other. Of course, there were also various niche models and bridge cameras in between, but none of them have established themselves as strongly as the mirrorless cameras available on the market today. If you look at the development of the major manufacturers, especially Olympus with the OM-D E-M1, M5 & M10 or the long-awaited FUJI XT-1... We don't want to list all the models on the market now, there are enough other sites - but the fact is that this development can no longer be stopped. The cameras are getting smaller and so are the lenses and all the equipment. Probably the most frequent question we are asked is whether we could make our compagnon "the messenger" smaller. After all, many photographers like to travel with their compact mirrorless camera and only two or three lenses. At some point, it became clear that the normal compagnon "the messenger" was a bit too big. That's why we now have a small version of our standard photo bag available in a few weeks. We expect this to be available from around the beginning to middle of August. Of course, this is the summer slump and therefore the best time to launch a new product. But we don't want to delay the market launch for any strategic reasons. You've waited long enough! 2. compagnon "it will be a women's bag - but we don't have a name yet - maybe you have a good idea?" Does the photo shoulder bag also fit girls - of course. Almost a third of our Facebook fans are women. We have never done an exact analysis of how many bags are actually ordered by women. Based on our gut feeling, however, it's a good 20%. We are married ourselves and know that girls sometimes have a slightly more individual taste, especially when it comes to bags. (no offense! ;-) ) But we have also fulfilled this wish. The drawing and idea have been in place since the end of last year.... Now it's ready. We can't/won't show any photos yet, but we're already very happy. By the way: What should fit into a photo bag for women? Do you want a lot of space or a smaller, more discreet bag? Here too, our schedule envisages a launch sometime in August or September at the latest. So keep checking our homepage from time to time. 3. there will be new materials Leather is not everyone's cup of tea. Do we want to please everyone? Definitely not. But are there alternative materials to leather that still meet the compagnon style and high quality standards? After a long search and research, we can answer this question with a resounding YES . The idea/plan, roughly outlined, is that we will be offering our compagnon "the messenger", "the little messenger", "the weekender" and probably also the ladies' bag in a new material for us in the fall. The camera bags will then be sewn from a strong waxed canvas, better known as "waxed canvas". This material is also very robust and acquires a beautiful patina over time. We want to do without leather completely for this "edition". A nice side effect is that we can offer the bags at a slightly lower price due to the cheaper material. We hope nobody has anything against that ;-) 4. the weekender will soon be available as a Stilpiraten edition... This is an addendum to the original blog post... :-) Some of you may have noticed that we have a very close connection to the Stilpiraten - Steffen Böttcher(www.stilpirat.de). Steffen believed in our compagnon story from the very beginning - without knowing us personally. For that alone he has our full respect. At the end of February / beginning of March, he and Valentin were in Ghana together and had a great time there. Steffen is our friend and a great photographer and storyteller to boot. That's why we're breaking new ground with him. Together with Steffen, we are launching the "weekender Stilpiraten - Edition". At least that's the working title ;-) How it differs from the "normal" weekender and what will be included in the package - there will be an extra post about that soon...

The photos were taken a few days ago during Valentin's family vacation in Sant Feliu de Guixols and actually have nothing to do with the blog post... ;-) He and his brother walked a few nice meters during their morning walk, sometime between half past five and half past six, and had the messenger and the weekender with them...