Passport Sling camera bag from Lowepro – a review

I saw this bag in Best Buy store around Christmas, and fall in love at the first sight. A month later, I finally bought it. After a week of using it, I am ready to write down some thoughts about it. Let me introduce you to the Passport Sling camera bag from Lowepro, the ideal bag not only for a photographer.

The way the bag is designed is what draw me to it the first time. It matches me and my dressing style. It has a very contemporary look, and doesn’t shout there is a camera inside. It looks like any other sling bag. This is a type of bag I need when I go for a professional meeting or annual New York trip, where I spend hour wondering around big cities and really do not want to draw unnecessary attention to myself (or my possession). It is also the right size to keep camera, couple of lenses, wallet, tissues, maybe a letter-size notepad. The two smaller side pockets are perfect for wallet, cell phone, maybe a spare card or a filter- to have them handy. And a large side pocket – I use it for my water bottle, but I am sure there is a number of other possibilities. Another, bigger lens, maybe? It is perfect for larger, more bulky objects. And did I mention that you can expand the main compartment for additional space?

I do not have a feeling yet how durable the fabric is, I had it for too short. But it looks really solid. I bought the bag in “mica” color, which looked more beige on photos, and it turned out to brown with a bit of green tint, but the color is neutral. You can also get it blue or black.

I do have a few complains, though. The side pockets are a bit too shallow, and although I keep my wallet and cell phone there, I am a bit uneasy about them falling out. But that is easy to fix, and just put those items inside the bag. The other one is a bit more serious. The camera pouch is not a “pro grade”. What I mean by that is that I can stick there any of my cameras- Nikon D40x or Nikon D300, but only with a short lens- like 35 mm. D300 with 18-200 mm zoom will just not fit in along the pouch, although I was able to put it in on its back. Not perfect, as I had to lift camera by the lens.

Overall, I am very happy with my purchase. I was using it whole week as my everyday bag, and it was very functional. This weekend, I used it as a photowalk bag, and it worked great, too. I would recommended it to anybody looking for a camera bag to be a bit more than just that.

UPDATE August 20, 2012- I had an accident with sweet and sticky food over the weekend, and was wondering how to clean my Passport Sling camera bag to get rid of it. I decided it should survive washing machine just fine, along with my jeans. And it did, as it did went just fine through a dryer! Very durable and easy to clean, if necessary.

You can learn more about the bag from LowePro YouTube video. You can also buy it on Amazon.

Disclaimer- there are some affiliate links in the post, but I received nothing from Lowepro for writing this review. I simply love the product, and wanted to share.

lowepro-Passport Sling - Belgiumdigital forum - Digitale fotografie says:

February 21, 2011 at 4:10 pm

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Eric says:

May 13, 2011 at 12:44 pm

I agree the camera box is a bit small, however I’d like to share how I use the Passport Sling. First I have used bags, backpacks, and belts from many companies and all have limitations depending on what and where you are working. I pack the bag this way: I put my backup camera(D5000) with a variety of lenses hood on or reversed in the box, in the small box compartment I store a 50mm prime, lens cloth/pen etc. In the rest of the bag I unzip the storage area and put my Sigma 10-20mm in it’s own padded bag, my SB900 Flash also in it’s pouch, both on their sides, on top of that I can fit a gripped D90 with a variety of lenses, in 1 of the 2 pouches inside the bag I carry a tripod mount plate as well as a speedlight base attached to a tripod plate(I use it on my monopod for off camera flash) in the other I carry my phone. I have a small notebook&pen in the outer slash pocket,water bottle in it’s spot, nothing in the one that rides against my hip. When I get to the location I remove the D90 and it goes around my neck, the flash goes on the camera or I remove the lens in the smaller box compartment and put it there for quick access, lens goes in outer bag. I carry the bag unzipped BOX forward so I have easy access to the other camera usually with the 10-20 or 17-50mm attached. I can remove and replace it without looking and it stays safely inside the box. If I have to move quickly or run I simply zip it up. Hope this helps as some people have complained about the limited space, if used wisely this bag is very useful but only if you are using medium size cameras. A larger “Pro” model would replace every bag I own! Are you listening Lowe Pro??

Izabela says:

May 13, 2011 at 1:26 pm

Thanks for sharing your experience, Eric! Great comment.

Compact packing – thanks to iPad says:

June 26, 2011 at 7:09 pm

[…] to fit my inconspicuous Passport Sling Camera Bag, which I bought for my previous trip, to DC, and revised on blog. It is perfect not only for an urban photowalks by myself, but also works pretty good for hiking. I […]

Photographer resources says:

June 13, 2012 at 1:26 pm

[…] Product reviews: Lowepro Passport Sling camera bag […]

Wolf says:

July 3, 2012 at 10:15 am

I love this Lowepro Passport Sling, and yet it doesn’t look like any other boring camera bag that attracts attentention. It suits my needs perfectly for day trips. Protects my Fine Pix X100 nicely with plenty of room for my stuff like water bottle, 7″ Galaxy tab, wallet, spray jacket, a book, tickets etc etc. Oh yeh I even found a nifty place to store my Jobi GorillaPod Hybrid, and thats inside within the expandable section when its all zipped up, its out of the way leaving me more room in the main section….PERFECT.

Dressing up with camera- Kelly Moore B-Hobo bag review » Korwel Photography says:

June 29, 2014 at 6:08 pm

[…] I thought I am an exception. I am very happy with my Passport Sling cemara bag from Lowepro (see review of this bag here). I have it almost two years now, and hardly ever leave home without it. It is great around the […]