Is this THE perfect camera bag? | WOTANCRAFT PILOT 7L

Comments · 96

• JA

  @janwilson9485 · 2 years ago

  I have the 1st version of the 7ltr and 10ltr bag  - I love them! The basic bag is great but the modular attachments are really useful for organising my gear and making sure I only go out with the gear I want. The configuration of pockets, straps and the front through put 'pocket' are also useful for sticking a walking pole, rain jacket in if needed. They are lovely light, robust and flexible bags - the tight elastic does ease in use. I think you may have prefered the 1st versions of the bags. I thought I was fussy but am glad to find someone whos even worse!

  3

• MU

  @MulliganAl · 2 years ago (edited)

  I have the Wotancraft Pilot 2L, 3.5L and had the 7L Pilot bag in khaki (sold it). &nbsp;I loved many features on the 7L, but as you mention the side pockets are somewhat useless if they were intended to carry a water bottle so I used them for other items. &nbsp;I just stopped trying to use the side pockets for a water bottle, they&apos;re just way too tight (I could easily strap a water bottle to the bottom though), but the inside of the 7L is surprisingly spacious and well designed. &nbsp;I also like being able to attach the accessories pouches on the outside, and I like that it doesn&apos;t really look like a camera bag since we travel a lot and I don&apos;t want anything that screams &apos;camera bag&apos;. &nbsp;I can&apos;t understand why all bag manufacturers don&apos;t add a zippered pocket on the back, it&apos;s essential to me for my passport and wallet so I won&apos;t buy a bag without one.<br><br>I was looking at the Billingham Hadley Pro small (the larger Pro version is just too large), and it&apos;s a beautiful bag, but it doesn&apos;t offer many of the advantages of the 7L Wotancraft bag at over $100 more. &nbsp;I&apos;m thinking I may buy the 7L again in black this time for travel, it really is a nice bag and will fit my Sony a7rv w/24-70mm, my Leica m11p with a few lenses, and my iPad 11&quot; nicely. &nbsp;And it&apos;s really pretty comfortable for all day walking and hiking which is one of the most important factors for me. &nbsp; &nbsp;<br><br>Thanks for your review, it steered me away from the Billingham and back to the Wotancraft. &nbsp;It really was one of the nicest camera bags on the market &apos;of its size&apos; that I&apos;d ever owned, it has a few minor faults but most that you mention are not a huge deal for me, and minor flaws are the case with just about every camera bag I&apos;ve ever seen or used.

  4

• ST

  @stevebarnett5048 · 2 years ago

  I agree with everything you say about it as I also have the 7l. It’s a great design poorly implemented, everything is so tight, to the extent that I had a roll of film in one of the internal mesh pockets and I couldn’t get my fingers into the pocket deep enough to reach the cassette with anything else in the bag. The end pockets crush a bottle of water, and the main flap isn’t long enough if the bag is fully loaded. It’s kind of like they’ve economised on a premium price bag down to the last half-penny of material.

  2

• KE

  @kenhenley7599 · 2 years ago

  A perfect camera bag lives in the imagination.....just like a unicorn!

  9

• JU

  @jurekwiater · 1 year ago

  You are the best influencer. You are real and honest. Thank you

  1

• LI

  @lilyrubyify · 1 year ago

  Honestly I like it when a reviewer can be a bit more critical and nitpick. I personally am not a perfectionist, so a lot of these problems probably won&apos;t annoy me as much, but I&apos;d still like to know about them before I make my own decision. It&apos;s why we watch these videos in the first place! Good job is all I&apos;m saying. :)

  2

• AD

  @AdamHouston · 1 year ago

  I don’t have this bag, but I do have the 10l and 3.5l versions. The 10l is basically a scaled up version of the 7l bag. I agree with many of your critiques, but even so, they remain the two bags I use the most - they represent the best set of compromises for me. <br><br>I have a few attachments, including a little round zipped pouch attachment that I like for filters.<br><br>The 3.5l lacks a pocket for a water bottle so I sometimes attach a Yeti brand bottle holder that uses the same clips.<br><br>I need to be careful with the big bag as it is too easy to load up with more than I need.

  1

• BM

  @bmxbenke · 11 months ago

  Great review. I have used the 10 liter for a bit over the year as an everyday bag. It&apos;s great, but it has many of the shortcomings that you state here. The red strap thing I removed from day one, I don&apos;t know why they put it. The magnetic lock indeed seems backwards. On the 10 liters the front pocket is a bit bigger I guess because it&apos;s &nbsp;perfectly fine. The extra side flap gets stuck in the zipper all the time, this is just a clear design flaw, don&apos;t know how that passed any user test. <br><br>I think my favorite feature of the bag is the front open cover thing. You can fold your rain jacket in half and just slide it through and it sits perfectly. This is extremely useful, not sure why other bag makers don&apos;t use this. <br>The material and durability is also great, looks like new even after more than a year of heavy use.

  1

• IN

  @InheritingTE · 1 year ago

  I’ve just bought a variation on this, the pilot 7 for Brompton, intending to use it as a camera bag for cycling trips. The same problems recur. The bag is very stiff and does not flex to accommodate gear. I can squeeze in my fuji xs20 and 2 small lenses but the space is not 7 litres. The internal area is 18cm long, 6cm wide and 30 com high. It would appear the space is tighter in the Brompton bag as it incorporates a frame to support the bag on the front of the bike. 2 accessory bags are provided for maybe an extra lens and a compact camera. The bag does feel well made and is of good quality and may yet be a good investment for the long term but I am struggling with it at the moment.

  1

• ER

  @erickgow2859 · 10 months ago

  If you arexwatching this the actual review starts at <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cnOf_n2Py7k&amp;t=480">8:00</a> in

  2

• CO

  @colinfoyle1856 · 2 years ago

  I have the brown version of the 7 litre. I can see inside better than the black. That was the main reason for not going for black, apart from every other bag I own seems to be black. I took this on my trip to Japan in 2023. I didn&apos;t notice the strap adjuster digging into me at all. For me one of the most important things was it kept my camera equipment carry to a minimum, plus on the plane had room for my iPad and headphones. For a trip with one camera (OM Systems OM-5) and one lens (12-45mm PRO) the bag was ideal. Plus I don&apos;t feel it is an obvious camera bag. But the dividers are definitely odd. On that I agree with you completely. They collapse far too easily.

• BE

  @beachstart · 1 year ago

  Fidlock is a company from Hannover, Germany. They make very need magnetic products. I love their magnatic bottle holder for bikes. But they have a interessing mobile phone holder system and as seen they developed different kind of buckles, like the one on the Wotancraft Bag.<br>So Wontancraft is just using thier Product. If there is a another version opening to the other side, I don&apos;t know. I think the company is quite inventive. And I love their buckle of my bike helmet which I can close with one hand. <br>Thank you so much for your honest product test. I helps me a lot!

  1