Peak Design 7L sling bag review

Whenever you go on a stargazing trip, you'll need to pack some essential items such as a pair of the best binoculars for long-distance viewing or your best camera for astrophotography and your best camera lenses. You'll need something to pop this gear into and the Peak Design 7L sling bag might be the perfect solution.

If you're looking for a lightweight carrying solution for a few small items, the Peak Design 7L sling bag fits the bill perfectly. Photographers might want to protect their best camera for astrophotography by pairing it with a separate camera cube, as there's no padding. However, the Peak Design 7L sling bag's organization and comfortable design are a winning combination.

Peak Design 7L sling bag: Design

★★★★

• Deceptively spacious design
• Lots of pockets and storage for accessories
• Very comfortable and lightweight bag

The Peak Design 7L sling bag is surprisingly spacious for such a small bag, providing a comfortable and lightweight solution for lovers of the outdoors and photographers who don't want to carry much gear. Unlike the outdoor backpack, this bag has lots of internal storage to store your cards, batteries, power bank and other accessories.

The main compartment has three mesh pockets and an internal zip pocket that contains another, smaller pocket and four additional mesh pockets. On the front, there's a zip pocket with a key tether. On the back, there's a hidden phone drop pouch with a magnetic clasp — a feature I particularly enjoyed. There aren't any pockets on the strap, but I found it comfortable to wear and easy to carry. There are also cord hooks underneath the bag to hold a raincoat, walking poles or a small tripod; I thought it was perfect for my Joby GorillaPod.

Peak Design 7L sling bag: Performance

★★★★1⁄2

• Ability to fit a variety of gear combinations
• Lack of gear protection (without a camera cube)
• Good fit but reduced capacity with X-small camera cube

I used the bag both with and without the X-small camera cube, and I found pros and cons of both setups. Without the cube, there is much more room inside the bag, and I could fit a vast array of gear combinations, including a camera and two lenses, one big telephoto lens with accessories and a drone setup. The downside of not having the cube is that the bag doesn't offer any kind of padding for your gear, so if the bag is dropped, there's nothing to protect your equipment. Having the X-small camera cube inside adds more protection, but the cube reduces the capacity; I could only fit a full-frame camera with two small lenses inside it.

Users have said the X-small cube was an odd fit inside the sling bag, but I actually thought it was a very good fit. However, the bag itself doesn't have any loops for attaching the cube to the bag with the included C-clips.

Peak Design 7L sling bag: Functionality

★★★★

• Convenient hidden phone drop pouch
• Tricky zippers
• Potentially disastrous quick-release clasp

I would have liked a safety feature on the quick-release clasp on the strap. It can be activated very easily when you're adjusting the bag or picking it up. That means that, if the clasp is accidentally triggered while you're wearing the bag, it — and all of your expensive gear inside it — could end up crashing to the floor. With the lack of padding in the bag, I dread even imagining it.

I also found the zippers a bit fiddly to pull with one hand, even though they seemed strong and the toggles were easy to grab. The hidden drop phone pouch is great if you're using the bag when traveling, as it keeps your phone safe but is still easy to access.

Should you buy the Peak Design 7L sling bag?

If you're looking for a smaller bag that can fit enough gear but won't get too heavy, I'd recommend the Peak Design 7L. It's great for travel and for times when you want to take your camera out, just in case, but don't want to commit to a bigger backpack. It isn't the cheapest bag, but I think it offers good value and will last a long time.

If this product isn't for you

If you carry more gear regularly, you may want to consider additional options. Peak Design also sells a larger Outdoor Backpack, which is designed for a mixture of outdoor purposes. However, if you want a dedicated camera bag, you'll be better off with Peak Design's Everyday Backpack, which has internal storage and is targeted more toward photographers.

How we test

I tested the Peak Design sling bag with numerous combinations of gear to truly test its versatility, including a general photography setup, a wildlife photography setup and an aerial photography setup.

I wore it on longer walks and as a quick ‘grab-and-go’ option, and I assessed its ease of use and accessibility both with and without a camera cube inserted, noting how easy it was to put my gear in and take it out, plus the convenience of the internal compartments and pockets.