My initial impression and review of Wandrd Roam Sling camera bag

If you didn’t already know, I’m a bit of a Wandrd fan. They’ve been around in the camera bag and accessory making space since 2015. They debuted onto the scene with the original PRVKE backpack targeting wanderers, explorers and travellers. It was the bag that first caught my eye all those years ago. Being an avid traveller and photographer myself, I was probably their target market!

Since then they have come up with a big line of up camera bag and accessories to help photographers and travellers travel better. I previously reviewed the Wandrd DUO backpack if you want to check it out.

When Wandrd got in touch with their Roam Sling and Laptop case, as well as their newly re-designed PRVKE Lite I was super keen to try it out! Since getting the Wandrd Roam Sling, I’ve taken it on photo walks and general city roaming.

Disclaimer: I was fortunate to try out the Wandrd Roam Sling camera bag from the great team over at WANDRD however this isn’t a sponsored post and all opinions are my own. This is also not intended to be a comprehensive technical review. There are plenty of websites and youtube videos out there that have done that. This is simply my experience of using the bag in my day to day life. All product images taken in this blog post were shot by me.

This bag would have been the perfect bag to take out for a day of shooting on the streets that I would normally do with friends or fellow photographers from the Fuji X Aus group. This is my go to bag when going on a photo walk or on a short trip out, like meeting up with a few friends at a local Farmers Market.

And the market meeting was my first chance to give the bag a run for it’s money.

Specs of the bag

Lets get the official specs out of the way shall we. Official product specs can be found here.

The Roam Sling comes in 3L, 6L and 9L. I went for the middle ground and got the 6L sling bag. It turned out to be the perfect size for me.

• Made from 840D Jr. Ballistic Nylon with 5pm coating and 1680D Ballistic Nylon.
• Weather Resistant YKK Zippers.
• Dimensions: 7.5″H X 12″W X 6″D
• Volume: 6 L
• Weight: 0.68 KG (1.74 LBS)
• 5-Point Adjustment System

Who is the bag for?

It’s a hybrid camera / everyday bag that can fit your camera gear and some personal items.

It’s packed full of features in it’s attempt to make a “do it all” everyday sling. And I was pleasantly surprised at how much it managed to achieve. Depending on the physical size you go for, the bag can fit a lot or a little.

The bag is great as a day bag if you’re heading out to the city, a short day trip or to a photo shoot assignment. It’s also great if you’re a commuter and want something relatively small yet comfortable to walk around with or pop on your bag if you are cycling from spot to spot.

Personally the 6L was just the right size for me as I use the relatively small Fujifilm X series camera system.

The configuration I went with for my morning at the market was just one camera body and lens – the Fujifilm X-T4 and the 35mm f1.4 lens. The bag could have easily fit another lens or two if I really wanted to (depending on the size of the lens). I wanted to fit other every day items like my purse, phone, keys, sunnies, lens cloth and a coffee cup for the market.

The bag easily fit all that with some more room to spare.

The look and feel of the bag is sleek, solid and stylish. Following the trend and design style of it’s products it does tend to look more on the rugged end. If you’re looking for a more feminine camera bag, this bag isn’t really for you.

But if you’re looking for a more durable and rugged looking city-commuter or explorer-style bag, then this might fit the bill.

Build & Appearance

The Roam Sling looks like any other sling bag on the camera bag market. Like all the other Wandrd bags, the bag is made of extremely durable and material that is solid and weather resistant. The smooth and rubbery material is easy to clean and being a black coloured bag, it would be difficult to see any dirt or stains.

You will feel like your gear is very well protected with it’s sturdy and soft interior padding.

There are two straps and buckles on the front, well positioned to attach a tripod or umbrella. But there is also a hidden sleeve at the bottom of the bag with cinch-tie at the ends that you can use to carry a tripod, water bottle and squeeze in a light weight jacket.

There are loads of compartments for a small bag. A front pocket where you have a key clip and space for storage. A back zipped pocket for extra storage space or to insert your laptop (see below for more of an explanation).

Inside the main compartment of the bag there is also a pocket that contains individual slots to place your memory cards as well as smaller pockets for other items such as hard drives, phones, passport.

The cross body sling strap is sturdy and has a really comfortable padding.

The strap is also easily adjustable with the adjustable pulls. There are also 3 ways you can hand carry the bag, there is a top carry and also a carry strap the left and right hand side of the bag. Because of that, it’s very convenient for you to move the bag from your back to the strong to access your gear in the main compartment.

The back of the bag has a very comfortable air mesh padding that is curved and follows the wearer’s body shape.

Features & Benefits

It’s been a while since I’ve used a proper one-shoulder sling-style camera bag.

I never found them particularly comfortable and often will cause me shoulder or back pain. For the most part I’ve moved to backpacks for travelling for the added comfort. I have used simple canvas or cross shoulder non-camera bags when I’ve been out and about shooting for fun for a few hours, on photo walk say.

When I got the Roam Sling bag, I was eager to finally try out and use a proper sling-style camera bag. It didn’t disappoint! I think because of it’s compact size, it forced me to be nimble and light. Given it was a short photo outing where I only intended to use one camera and lens, it was really the perfect bag set up.

I was particularly impressed by the ergonomics of the bag. It just just very comfortable.

The back padding curved around your body. The shoulder straps are adjustable using the easy to use slide tabs. and the shoulder strap itself is detachable so that you can swap the strap around to use it on a different shoulder. The bag also seamlessly slid from your back to your front.

Making it very convenient to access the content of your bag right in front of you at your waist area.

To make your sling even more comfortable you also have an additional strap that you can clip into the clip on the shoulder strap to further stabilise your bag against your body.

The 6L bag included 2 removable dividers, so you can easier bring a camera like the Fujifilm X-T4 and a few lenses and still have some room to spare for your daily items.

A very unique feature of the sling (I haven’t see that in other sling bags so far) is that it Integrates a laptop carry into the bag.

The zippered pocket closest to the back of the bag can fit a 16 inch laptop case. The 11 inch laptop I had fitted pretty comfortably. So i would image a 16 inch laptop would be very snug.

Wandrd has even provided a strap to lock secure the laptop to the sling.

It’s such a cleaver feature that basically gives you the option of STILL using a sling if you need to bring a laptop. Rather than needing to use a backpack when you need to bring a laptop

The laptop case from Wandrd has the classic Wandrd bag material and look. Very well padded inside and very sturdy.

Wandrd has also included smart design elements into the bag that allows you to carry a water bottle AND a tripod.

You can use expand the sleeve on the bottom of the bag to fit a water bottle. You can then attach your tripod to the front of your bag with the 2 clips. Again this smart design allows you to maximise the use of the exterior of the bag.

While I didn’t try it myself, by adjusting the straps in different ways, in addition to using it like a sling bag, you can also use it like a messenger bag or a waist bag.

The key clip hidden in the front pocket of the bag is a nice feature to keep your house and car keys when you’re out and about.

It’s also a neat feature that the keys have it’s only little compartment in the front pocket. This ensures your keys don’t scratch anything else you choose to put in the front pocket. Admittedly you probably need to put something flat or skinny as it’s quite a snug fit.

When you open up the bag, the interior of the bag has a open compartment that allows you to fit in a few memory cards and other personal items such as your sunnies or your purse.

As it’s an open compartment I’m not sure how secure I feel putting memory cards in the inbuilt slots, but I think it’s snug enough for the cards not to fall out. The lid of the bag also has another zippered pocket where you can put little knick knacks like a Lenspen and Airpods.

The compartments within the compartment is really helpful to help you keep organised. I think this is something Wandrd is very good at designing into all their bags.

Value for money

The Sling Bags range from US$99 to US$150 depending on the size you choose. Given the features, quality and material, it comes at a fairly competitive price.

My Impressions & Conclusion

For such a small bag, I was impressed by how much stuff I could fit in there.

It’s the perfect size for a photo walk. Wandrd really packed a punch with all it’s features and benefits. I could tell they really tried to address what photographers might feel is lacking in the market. For example being able to bring a laptop with you. Or being able to bring both a water bottle AND a tripod.

It was also comfortable to use for the few hours I was walking around the market taking photos.

As I needed to put away and take out my camera multiple times during the few hours at the market, I found it pretty convenient to move the bag from my back to my front. The small size of the bag will kept it light and forced me to NOT over pack which I can have a tendency to do. At the same time, it fits a surprisingly large amount of items for such a small bag.

Wandrd has somehow made the bag functional and stylish to to fit in with both an adventurer lifestyle as well as a city commuter lifestyle. The weather resistant material of the bag will reassure you that your gear and daily items will be safe in rainy weather.

If you’re after something small, versatile, feature packed, secure and light weight then consider the Wandrd Roam Sling.

Thanks for stopping by today and happy shooting.

J.