Moment Fanny Sling (2019 Version) Review

Photo of me wearing the Moment Fanny Sling infront and on my back.

(And thoughts on the 2020 version)

I just wanted to share my thoughts on the Moment Fanny Sling that I’ve been using about eight months now. Do note that this is the 2019 version and not the revised 2020 one, but I will talk about the differences later on.

The Things I Liked

It looks nice. Really nice. I got the terra-cotta colorway since I wanted a sling that looks casual that I could use daily and doesn’t make me look too techie. The leather band in the front is actually a compression strap so you can keep the stuff in the main compartment from moving around, and also gives the sling a unique look. The bag’s main material is a canvas with a water-resistant liner.

Dedicated and padded compartment for your Momwnt lenses

It has dedicated pockets for my Moment lenses. This was intended to be a sling for Moment’s mobile lens line and having dedicated pockets for them makes this a great mobile photography / minimal blogging setup.

Straps at the bottom of the sling to hold a mini tripod. I can carry my Manfrotto Mini Tripod here instead of inside the main compartment. The buckles are easy enough to operate.

A lot of organization and pockets. I’ll just present it to you in bullet-points 😄: - You have a fiber-lined pocket in-front that is perfect for your glasses, but I keep my keys and other hard or sharp items here. - You have a stretchy pocket at the back that can fit a passport or boarding pass. I don’t recommend putting anything hard here as you will feel that on your back. - At the top you have two zippers. The one near the front houses a dedicated pocket for Moment lenses or similar sized items. It can fit up to four lenses. The dividers are removable so you can use this for other items too. - The other pocket opens into the main compartment. You will find four organization slots here, two with the same microfiber lining and the other two are mesh. There is also a dedicated phone slot with a cutaway so you can keep a lens attached to the phone while you store it there. I think it’s a great feature

The sling has a key hook with a small microfiber cloth attached to clean your lenses. The strap is stretchable which is convenient.

The sling is large enough to fit in a pocket camera. I can fit all my daily carry items in it with room to spare. The leather compression straps allow you to keep the items form rolling around inside as I mentioned previously.

The Things I Didn’t Like

The straps. The straps are a little thin especially considering what you would be carrying. I’ve had a few instances that I loaded it with a lot of things and you will feel the weight on your shoulder. I wished that they had used the same seatbelt material you find on other slings like the Timbuk2 Mission Sling, it’s wide and it’s soft.

The velcro straps that lock your adjustments are simple but does not provide a very secure hold.

The velcro slide adjusters do not provide a secure hold on the strap and that necessitates the need to adjust them when putting them on. They seem to stay in place once you have it on though.

The slide adjuster scrapes the leather whenever you try to adjust it. You will hear it and you might even feel it, and it’s not a great experience. Thankfully I rarely need to make adjustments as the items I carry in it are pretty much the same, and when I do need to adjust them I do so mindfully. The bottom straps don’t necessarily create a secure hold on the tripod. I wished they used some rubberized material on the bottom of the sling so that it would prevent the tripod from sliding off. I’ve had it almost fall off once, good thing I was wearing the sling in front of me.

The front pocket can catch water as the opening is facing upwards. Although this makes it easier to access, I think it would have been better if zipper opening was underneath instead.

The mesh pockets are too shallow and wide for me. For my use I usually organize items vertically rather than horizontally. The space is large enough to accommodate it and allows it to curve and therefore be a little more comfortable.

In Everyday Use

I use this sling a lot, and it is part of my sling rotation with Boundary Supply’s Aux Sling and Arclite Sling. It has more than enough space for items I use every day (with the exception of my iPad); and is comfortable enough provided that you don’t carry a lot of heavy items. Loading it up with will make the straps dig into your shoulder and while it’s not really uncomfortable, you will notice it.

Photo of the sling on a table with my glasses and notebook.

The canvas, leather and spandex material are great and feels good to touch and I love the terra-cotta color.

The dedicated lens compartments are great, but it can obstruct your access to the bottom of the main compartment, especially when you fill this bag out. They are fine and fold away easily when empty.

As a mobile photography/filmmaking bag, it actually shines. All the features make your equipment easily accessible. The placement of the lens compartment makes sense despite the downside of obstructing access to the bottom portion of the main compartment; you have quick access to your lenses, but only if you’re the type to use 2-3 your lenses to shoot.

My Thoughts on the 2020 version

They made some pretty substantial changes to the design:

  • They moved the lens compartment to where the glasses compartment used to be. I think this is a good design choice as you now have unobstructed access to the main compartment. It has dedicated compartments for two lenses and fits Moment’s two largest lenses easily, but the remaining space seems large enough to accommodate two more lenses at either side of the padded slots, but you may need to loosen the compression straps or else it might be hard to take those in and out.
  • The leather strap now keeps the rain out better as the zipper to the lens compartment is now accessed from under the strap.
  • The ends of the compression straps are now made of the same material as the straps and the slides are updated as well, which make it easier to use but based on what I’ve seen in the review videos, also loosens easily.
  • The straps are still the same so it will still cut against your shoulder when you’re carrying heavy loads, but the Velcro is now replaced with plastic slide adjusters which is so much better and easier to adjust. 👍🏼
  • The internal organization is now made completely out of that microfiber material and are of the same size. From the pictures it is wide enough to fit a credit card.
  • The glasses slot is now located in the main compartment opposite the phone slot.

The 2020 version is a refinement. Moving the lens compartments to the bottom part and having ample room for just two lenses will make you more intentional on what you have to have ready when you go out. If you have more lenses or lens accessories you can just place them in the main compartment, which now you have better access to. The strap revisions are great and contribute to overall ease of use.

So would I consider buying the updated version though? There are compelling design updates that improves on the previous version, like moving the lens compartment and resulting ease to get into the main compartment as well as the improvement on the strap adjustment slides. For those of you who have accessory phone lenses and considering a good everyday sling, I would highly recommend the Fanny Sling. But if you have the previous version; personally, I don’t see the need (yet) as it does essentially the same.

If you would like to learn more about the slings I mentioned here, you can take a look at them by clicking on the image links below (affiliate links*).

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