Evergreen Camera Bag Review: The Legacy Camera Sling

The hunt for the perfect camera bag feels never ending. I’m always searching for a bag that looks great, holds up while it’s jammed packed with gear, and fits the shooting situation.

Whether you need a camera bag that will keep your gear protected through a 12 hour flight or a bag light enough for hiking up a mountain, the search for the perfect bag can be a daunting one.

I recently got the chance to test out the new Legacy Camera Sling from Evergreen. It’s designed for day trips when you’re carrying minimal gear. I’m a big fan of their travel camera cases and film storage cases, so when they introduced a low profile leather camera bag, I was eager to try it out and see if it would be a good addition to my collection of camera bags.

Find the Evergreen Legacy Camera Sling on Amazon or at evergreencases.com.

An Overview of Evergreen’s Legacy Camera Sling

The Legacy Camera Sling is made of full-grain matte leather and waxed cotton canvas. It’s a beautifully aesthetic bag with clean lines and a minimalist design, and the natural leather is definitely a standout. I have the brown version (it also comes in black), and it looks so gorgeous in person.

The dimensions of the bag are 10.5” x 5” x 3.5”, so this is not a large camera bag. It can be worn as a crossbody or as a belt bag, and is the perfect size for an everyday camera bag. We’ll get more into how much gear it can hold later on, but the Legacy Sling is really designed for one or two 35mm cameras and all of your extras: film, light meter, an extra lens, etc.

The Legacy Sling is also made incredibly well. The leather, along with the waxed canvas back, is super durable and water resistant, and it has a nice, thick adjustable strap. The stitching feels really secure and well crafted. I even overstuffed the bag just to see how much I could fit in it, and the stitching did not pull at all.

The natural leather and craftsmanship make this bag on the pricier side, though. It retails for $120, but if you can get one over the holidays, Evergreen is running a sale on their website for $84. The quality matches the price tag, but if you’re looking for a more budget friendly option, this might not be a good fit.

How Much Can the Legacy Camera Sling Hold?

Let’s get into the details of the size of this bag. Packing a camera bag with minimal gear is a challenge for every film photographer I know. We are much more likely to overpack and try to bring ten extra cameras and as much film as possible on any given outing. The Legacy Sling is made with a more minimal, streamlined approach.

It has one main compartment sized at 10.5” x 5” x 3.5”, a zipper pocket in the front, and a zipper pocket in the back. It also has two little air tag pockets in the back.

So what cameras will fit? And can you fit film, a light meter, and other accessories?

What Fits Easily?

You can easily fit two 35mm cameras in this bag, along with plenty of film. If you like extra lenses, a 35mm camera with lens attached, an extra lens (maybe two), and a few rolls of film would fit comfortably.

My main 35mm is the Pentax 17 right now, and it is a very small camera with a fixed lens. So I was able fit it in the Legacy Sling with my Instax Square, Polaroid Go, or Kodak Ektar H35N without any issues and plenty of room for film.

A larger 35mm, like a Nikon F100, would fit with a small point and shoot camera or an extra lens. You would probably be able to fit your light meter as well.

I was also able to fit a low profile medium format camera in the Legacy Sling. I didn’t expect any medium format cameras to fit, but my Fuji GF670 fit with extra room for film. This mean other folding cameras, like the Polaroid SX-70 would be a good match with this bag.

The front and back zipper pockets are great for extra batteries, lens filters, and/or a little notebook.

The bag is designed to be small, but it doesn’t feel cramped. It’s a nice rectangle shape, so you can really make use of all of the room in the bag. It comfortably fits what it’s made to fit. Some small cameras bags feel small no matter what you put in them. It’s always a struggle to get things in and out, and you feel like the bag is always too small. The Legacy Sling doesn’t have that problem. I could easily get my cameras in and out and access all of my accessories. I only ran into issues when I purposely tried to overfill the bag with really large cameras.

What Didn’t Fit?

My larger Polaroid cameras did not fit well. The Polaroid I-2 fit, but there was no room for any packs of film. The Polaroid OneStep looked like it was going to fit, but it was a bit too wide for the bag to zip. The Polaroid cameras were just too large and boxy to work well with this bag.

I would guess the same for any boxy medium format cameras, like the Contax or Mamiya 645.

My Favorite Ways to Use This Bag

There are a couple different ways I love to use the Legacy Camera Sling based on whether I’m traveling or not.

When I’m at home, I love to use this bag for little day trips. I can pack it with a camera or two as well as plenty of film and my wallet and keys, and head out for the day. It’s so easy to carry, looks great, and is the perfect upgrade from just tossing a camera in my purse (which is what I always used to do!).

If I’m traveling, I’ll pair the Legacy Sling with a larger camera bag or rolling case. I’ll pack my larger camera bag with as much gear as possible, and then I’ll use the Legacy Sling for day outings. That way, I still have the security blanket of being able to switch out my gear, but I can enjoy my trip without being weighed down by a giant camera bag.

Final Thoughts

Evergreen’s Legacy Camera Sling is a great option for anyone looking for a smaller, well-crafted bag. The leather is beautiful, and it has been a great addition to my camera bag collection.

Although it may not accommodate my larger cameras, it has the perfect amount of space for essentials, with the added benefit of being lightweight and comfortable to carry. It really fills that need of an everyday camera bag.

Leave your questions about the Evergreen Legacy Camera Sling below in the comments, and you can pick one up for yourself on Amazon or at evergreencases.com.

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Kathleen Ellis

Kathleen Ellis (Kathleen Frank) is a fine art and travel film photographer and the founder of Shoot It With Film. Find her other articles here, such as 5 35mm Film Cameras for Beginners and 5 Best Point and Shoot Film Cameras.

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