Hands on review of the Wandrd Rogue 3L Sling
Like a lot of photographer's out there, I love new bags. I don't know why, I just do. I have had bags from all the major players in the photography bag space, such as Peak Design, Nomatic x Peter McKinnon, and Wandrd. With my upcoming travels booked, and my move towards a more compact setup for everyday use (because let's face it, lugging around a full backpack everyday is not a vibe), I was caught by the look of the 3L Rogue Sling from Wandrd.
I couldn't find too many reviews on this bag, so I was a bit nervous to pull the trigger just in case my camera setup wouldn't fit. I love the look of the 6L too but still wanted to opt for a smaller footprint. I looked at the measurements on the Wandrd site and, technically my camera should fit, however I did see some people say that it is quite tight and really meant for smaller fixed lens cameras like the Fuji X100VI.
I chose the Wasatch Green colour as all my camera bags have been black and thought it was time to change it up a bit. It arrived within a week and from the moment I opened the box I could tell that this was a high quality bag. But, the question remained - will my camera setup fit?
My goal was to be able to carry around my Sony A7CII (review here) with my Samyang 24mm f1.8 (review here) attached to it + a SmallRig Baseplate...it was tight, very tight. After trying to find out which way it fits best I found that if I pull the two sides of the zipper close together while zipping it up I was able to close the bag (with a bit of resistance). I know that over time this resistance would start to annoy me when I'm out and about, so I started to see if I could progressively stretch it over a few days.
For the first few days, I absolutely packed it full of socks. Like, heaps of socks. To the point where it was pretty tough to close. I left it like that for a few days, with each day adding an extra sock or two if I could fit them. Then, I tried to close it with my camera in there and definitely noticed a difference in how easy it was to close. But there was still one bit that was a sticking point when closing it over my camera. I thought, if the socks worked, then maybe if I part way close the zipper over my camera, and get it to that sticking point and leave it there for a day while the zip is receiving pressure, then maybe it will make that minor adjustment needed for it to be opened and closed easily.
I am very happy to report that it worked!
Here is a photo of how my camera fits inside of it, while also having enough space in the back zipper pocket for my wallet, phone, etc. Also, here is how it compares in size to the Nomatic x McKinnon 9L sling:
I brought this bag along with me for its first big test run on my recent 10 day trip to Bali - I didn't want to carry around a big backpack in the heat so thought that this would be the best option (also, basically everyone has a crossbody bag over there to store the crazy amount of cash notes you find yourself accumulating, so it was a win win). On the second day, I decided to see if it would work with my much larger lens, the Tamron 28-75mm f2.8, which I didn't think would fit...but somehow it did. This became my everyday setup:
Main compartment - Sony A7CII + Smallrig baseplate + Tamron 28-75mm f2.8
Back compartment: iPhone 14 Pro Max + money
Some photos my dad took without us knowing 😂
This bag worked incredibly well, from long walks in the sun, jumping in and out of Taxi's, moving from hotel to hotel - it made everything such a breeze as I never felt it got in the way. It was quick to unzip and pull my camera out when I needed to take a shot, and it gave me peace of mind being able to store it away when not needed.
There were two unexpected benefits of using this bag that I reflected on and noticed during this trip:
By having my camera setup in the bag most of the time, it was protected from the humidity and temperature differences from going between outside and then indoors to an air-conditioned room. This meant that my lens didn't build up any condensation or fog which was a nice thing to not have to worry about.
Some days we were away from our accommodation all day, and during that time there were a couple of places that didn't allow cameras to be out (one was a beach club and one was a day spa). Had I have only had my camera on a neck strap, I'm unsure if they would have let me in.
Overall, I have nearly zero complaints with this back. The only thing is it would have been nice to have that little bit more space with the zipper so I didn’t need to manually stretch it, but that’s a small price to pay for such a handy little bag.
I really look forward to bringing this on future trips and on days out where I don’t need all my camera gear. Who knows, might need to get the Wandrd PRVKE one day 🤔