27th August 2022 – Written by Nick Rowe @ Technuovo.com
Let me set the scene, I flew from sunny England to a slightly sunnier Portugal, and I needed to get all my tech from home to the pool. That’s where the Manfrotto Street Slim comes in. By chance, they sent it over to me a week or two before I flew over, meaning I was able to use the bag in real terms, for my trip to Portugal and here are my thoughts.
If you’re reading this, you probably already know who and what Manfrotto do, they do camera gear and they do it well. So the Street Slim is a camera bag, one of many, about 100 bags they have on offer and I’d say the Street Slim is probably one of their intermediate photographer bags as its aesthetic is more mainstream than traditional, practical focused camera bags, yet it will still hold your gear. There is a whole range of ‘Street’ products, backpacks, carry cases and pouches, all with the same look and feel but varying sizes and options to suit your needs.
The slim version has alot to offer and even though this is the ‘slim’ model, it offered more than enough for me and my needs.
If we work around the bag, there are various pockets, zips and holders for everything you could need. Starting at the very top, there is a zipped section for your day-to-day items (about half the height of the bag total), as well as a cushioned pouch at the back, big enough for my 14” laptop and my iPad Pro. I haven’t got a larger laptop to hand but I don’t think you’d get a 15” laptop in unless it was ultra thin. If you’ve got a small drone, you might be able to squeeze that in within its hard carry case in this top section, or you had it to the lower section but we’ll move onto that. That laptop pouch I mentioned can be removed, so you can remove it with your laptop in it to walk into a meeting or use it sometimes without the rest of the bag.
To the front of the bag and the bottom half of it, that’s your camera gear area and looks how you’d expect it to. It’s cushioned, and it’s sectioned with soft partitions which are removable so you can remove or move them to suit your gear. Size-wise, it’s capable of housing your camera body with a lens attached, then at least two additional lenses and then maybe some accessories in that section too, or you can put those in the above part, your charger, batteries, flash maybe. Access from the front is the default but this section is fully removable and reversible, so if you didn’t want to access your gear from the front, you can take the section out and flip it, so the access is then from the rear and the front becomes a small pouch. This removable section is securely fixed into places in a number of areas via velcro.
On either side of the bag, two open carry sections with elasticated straps, so ideal for smaller tripods, gorilla pods or a water bottle if you wanted. The pouch is elasticated which helps keep your item somewhat secure, but above that, the second piece of elastic so you can really strap down a tripod and it won’t move at all.
Elsewhere on the bag, there are handy little elastic strings and pouches, allowing you to attach items to it as well. For example, one strap is capable of holding something like a Gorillapod, while the other strap has a stretchy pouch, able of holding your smartphone securely. Got a small suitcase with you? This does include the strap on the back so you can slide your suitcase handle through.
Visually, the bag comes in a subtle dark ‘army’ green, solid, not camo, with some subtle branding on the front. Elsewhere it’s black. The bag is made from a water-resistant material and should keep your gear safe for a period of time in light rain. I think it looks fantastic and you wouldn’t know this was a camera bag at first glance.
There is a cushion where the bag meets your back, plus slightly cushioned adjustable straps. As for comfort, it was comfortable when I had a few bits in it but if you fill this to the brim, it can feel heavy and I needed more cushion from the straps and ideally support across my chest too. This is a pick-up-and-go kind of camera bag or lifestyle commuter bag, if you’re a serious photographer, you’ll probably need more space but also thicker cushions and alot more support to help with the weight.
At the time of writing this, the bag is on sale for £87 from several popular online stores. I think that’s a fair price, considering the quality and flexibility this bag offers. For more info, head over to the official Manfrotto website.
