Peak Design’s new 5L Everyday Sling is a small and stylish camera bag

For the past few weeks, I've been looking for the perfect camera bag, one that would hold my mirrorless camera with a lens attached, plus two extra lenses, and most importantly, my iPad, without being too big, bulky, awkward, or ugly. The closest thing I've so far found to that ideal has been Peak Design's Everyday Sling, which fits everything I need and isn't horrible to look at. But it's still larger than I'd like to carry around for just basic photo excursions.

Today, Peak is giving me another option in the form of the 5L Everyday Sling. The $99.95 5L Sling has half the capacity of the Everyday Sling, and is roughly two-thirds the overall size. It has room for a camera, two extra lenses, and a small tablet.

Photo: Peak Design

Like other Peak Design bags, the Sling comes with two flexible dividers that can be rearranged and folded to fit your needs. The company says the 5L is just the right size to hold a DJI Mavic or Spark drone and its controller, and you can adjust the dividers to fit the drone securely.

Unfortunately, the 5L Sling is just a tad too small for my needs, mainly because my iPad is in a case and doesn't fit in the smaller tablet slot. I was able to fit my Fujifilm X-Pro2 with one lens attached, plus two small zoom or prime lenses on the sides of it. The tablet slot in the rear is rated to hold up to an 11-inch tablet, and I was able to fit a 9.7-inch iPad without a case in there, though it's a snug fit. If you have an iPad Pro with a case or a Smart Keyboard attached to it (or both, as is the case for me), you're not going to be able to fit it in the 5L Sling.

Photo: Peak Design

The 5L Sling can be worn over the shoulder or around the waist, and it's comfortable to wear in either configuration. The small capacity means you can't overload it even if you want to, but it also means that you can't really fit a water bottle, snack, or anything else alongside your camera gear.

The top compartment is easy to open and access your equipment while wearing the bag, and the nylon exterior is waterproofed. There's a front pouch to hold accessories, but the smaller Sling lacks the adjustable straps for carrying a tripod that the larger bag offers.

Photo: Peak Design

For my needs, I'll be sticking with the full-size Everyday Sling (unless Peak decides to release a 6L model?), but if you're looking for an ultra-compact camera bag that's easy to use and looks good, the 5L Everyday Sling is hard to beat.

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Source: Peak Design's new 5L Everyday Sling is a small and stylish camera bag