Most camera bag advice is written by people selling nylon. This one isn't.
We make leather bags in Guangzhou — camera backpacks, duffels, briefcases — and we also know exactly what leather is bad at. So here's the honest version: what leather does well for a camera, where it loses, and which details actually decide whether a bag survives five years of use.
Better than most people expect, but not for the reason they think.
The shell is the least important part. A camera survives a drop because of what's between it and the ground — the padding, the dividers, the base. A 2mm leather panel absorbs impact well, and unlike thin nylon it doesn't transmit a sharp edge through to the body. But a leather bag with no padded base will still kill a lens on a hard floor, and a well-padded nylon bag will survive the same drop without a mark.
What leather adds is rigidity. It holds its shape, so the bag doesn't collapse onto your gear when you set it down, and the padding inside stays where it was designed to be. That matters more than most reviews mention.
What leather doesn't add is waterproofing. Waxed leather resists rain. It is not waterproof. If you shoot in weather for a living, you want a shell or a dry bag inside, and no amount of marketing changes that.