Camera strap

JonathanRyan said:
Any of these will be good for breaking your camera.

Tripod sockets are design to take take compressive load. Lugs are for attaching straps.
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But not if you attach your Qstrap like I do. :)

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HoppyUK said:
And?
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Oh yeah - sorry.

Camera was D3 or D3S (probably D3 but it wouldn't matter). Strap was BR-2 (think that's the number - from the initial batch with the useless cellphone pouch). Clasp was the original Fasten-R WITH the plastic tube mod as supplied by BR.

Incidents:

1. I was sitting down on a bench. I stood up and the camera remained on the bench - the clip had unclipped. There was a _lot_ of talk about incidents like this on the DWF at the time and usually it was when the camera became temporarily supported. A lot of people suffered impact damage this way.

2. Same thing but the camera was in mid air at the time. I caught it and assumed I hadn't fastened it properly but later reports from other people made me think this wasn't the case.

3. AGAINST MANUFACTURER INSTRUCTIONS I used an unmodified Manfrotto QR plate instead of the awful Fasten-R. Let's just say, there's a reason they don't recommend it - the clip isn't welded.

4. I used the Fasten-R in the tripod mount of a 70-200 for a while. This was endorsed by BR at the time as a good thing to do. This slowly drags the helicoil out of the socket. Fortunately I spotted it before sudden unplanned disassembly occurred. IIRC it's about £38 for a new one. It's also the day I learnt what a helicoil is. If I was doing this again I'd run a safety strap round the lens holding the plate to the bottom of it. If I was smart I'd patent that.

There were also reports of the swivel coming apart at the joint but this didn't happen to me personally.

I honestly don't know why BR didn't use a climbing rated locking carabiner day 1 and manufacture an L bracket to allow you to attach to multiple points on the camera (tripod and lug) and then fix very securely to that. Cost and the variety of cameras I guess.

Anyway, these straps aren't for me. Even though they have evolved somewhat I think the smallish risk inherent in suspending a camera against the camera maker's recommendations multiplied by the cost of a new camera if something goes wrong is too much for me.

In fairness maybe I should point out that the most impact damage I have ever caused to a camera was while using an Op-Tech pro strap. But that was entirely my fault.
 
Jonathan, it sounds like the problems you had were related to the BR carabiner and the lens bracket rather than the camera tripod mount. Am I reading that right?

I personally don't trust the carabiner type clips, instead I use a couple of Op-Tech uni-loop connectors on either a BR FastenR-3 or a Camdaptor plate (while using the camdator plate one of the pro-loop connectors is actually on the right hand shoulder strap lug.

I still contend that you would likely not have any issue on the camera tripod screw thread (it being a proper threaded hole). The helicoil reinforced hole in the alloy mount on the lens tripod mount could well be a different story though as you have experienced.

For what it's worth, I have suffered a bit of jeans rivet damage to the corner of my camera too. I stick a bit gaffer tape over the corner of the camera now to protect it. That said, I've also smashed a lens hood in the past when I leaned forward when using a neck strap.
 
HoppyUK said:
My guess is Op Tech have differentiated from BR for fear of being sued. BR have somehow managed to get a patent, even though the same basic method has been used DIY by photographers for decades :thinking: They have put at least one US rival brand out of business and blocked others. The Chinese cloners don't care though!
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Op Tech use a common system of connectors for all their straps, so once you have the connectors (which use the standard camera connection points) on the camera you can quickly change between a neck strap, shoulder strap or double harness.

I doubt they decided not to make their shoulder strap connector different because of litigation concerns!

Of course, they do offer different sets of connectors (for different camera mount styles) - the fact that they don't offer one which uses the tripod socket may be due to patents held by BR.
 
ChrisJ_SLH said:
Jonathan, it sounds like the problems you had were related to the BR carabiner and the lens bracket rather than the camera tripod mount. Am I reading that right?
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Pretty much. Those are the bits that failed dramatically.

However, I still believe that hanging a heavy camera from a single point is flawed. It will allow it to swing more and that's bad in lots of ways. E.g. the flash socket if you use a flash and the possibility of impact or abrasion damage. That's more wear and tear failure and it's sometimes harder to point the finger of blame at the strap.

Also, if you habitually carry a heavy lens like a 70-200 on a camera over your shoulder then sooner or later you will need the bayonet on the camera replaced. They flex minutely and you don't really notice it drifting out of focus until you have it fixed. It's not particularly expensive (30 quid or so) but it's a week without a camera. My belief is that a single attachment point will make this sooner rather than later. Moment of inertia and all that.
 
JonathanRyan said:
Pretty much. Those are the bits that failed dramatically.

However, I still believe that hanging a heavy camera from a single point is flawed. It will allow it to swing more and that's bad in lots of ways. E.g. the flash socket if you use a flash and the possibility of impact or abrasion damage. That's more wear and tear failure and it's sometimes harder to point the finger of blame at the strap.

Also, if you habitually carry a heavy lens like a 70-200 on a camera over your shoulder then sooner or later you will need the bayonet on the camera replaced. They flex minutely and you don't really notice it drifting out of focus until you have it fixed. It's not particularly expensive (30 quid or so) but it's a week without a camera. My belief is that a single attachment point will make this sooner rather than later. Moment of inertia and all that.
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In some ways i adgree with you.

But if your a pro carrying heavy cameras arould all day,all straps have their weaknees,i at some point most will fail,belive me i have try them all.

Before i go out,i always check my straps,and when i an useing my camera just check every now and again everything ok.

Saw the other thread,i must admit i dont like the way the sunsipner works.

:)
 
JonathanRyan said:
Pretty much. Those are the bits that failed dramatically.

However, I still believe that hanging a heavy camera from a single point is flawed. It will allow it to swing more and that's bad in lots of ways. E.g. the flash socket if you use a flash and the possibility of impact or abrasion damage. That's more wear and tear failure and it's sometimes harder to point the finger of blame at the strap.

Also, if you habitually carry a heavy lens like a 70-200 on a camera over your shoulder then sooner or later you will need the bayonet on the camera replaced. They flex minutely and you don't really notice it drifting out of focus until you have it fixed. It's not particularly expensive (30 quid or so) but it's a week without a camera. My belief is that a single attachment point will make this sooner rather than later. Moment of inertia and all that.
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Interesting, thanks Jonathan.

But TBH I'm not put off using a Black Rapid. I think a lot of the discomfort about attaching the camera upside-down like this is phychological (maybe not in your case ;)) and you just have to be sensible. I'm also fairly certain that if there was a fundamental issue we would have heard all about it and BR would go swifty out of business. All the problems I've heard about all involve something coming undone/unhooked rather than breaking - mainly surrounding that M'frotto QR tripod plate.

My camera swings about far less with the BR, though it's not attached directly to the tripod bush, but to an L-bracket point closer to the hand grip. The camera nestles at a nice angle against the hip.

My 70-200 f4 attaches to a DIY metal loop bolted to the tripod collar, again positioned so the angle of the dangle is just right. I did have a scare with that though, as the (cheapo) collar was trying to unscrew itself :eek: Fixed that sharpish!
 
HoppyUK said:
Interesting, thanks Jonathan.

But TBH I'm not put off using a Black Rapid. I think a lot of the discomfort about attaching the camera upside-down like this is phychological (maybe not in your case ;)) and you just have to be sensible. I'm also fairly certain that if there was a fundamental issue we would have heard all about it and BR would go swifty out of business. All the problems I've heard about all involve something coming undone/unhooked rather than breaking - mainly surrounding that M'frotto QR tripod plate.

My camera swings about far less with the BR, though it's not attached directly to the tripod bush, but to an L-bracket point closer to the hand grip. The camera nestles at a nice angle against the hip.

My 70-200 f4 attaches to a DIY metal loop bolted to the tripod collar, again positioned so the angle of the dangle is just right. I did have a scare with that though, as the (cheapo) collar was trying to unscrew itself :eek: Fixed that sharpish!
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I think your right,the big thing is with me is how comforble the B/R are,the other day carrying around an D700 & 24-70mm F2.8,my shoulder felt ok,but my Billingham bag just carrying 85mm lens and a few bits & bobs was killing me.

:)
 
simonblue said:
I think your right,the big thing is with me is how comforble the B/R are,the other day carrying around an D700 & 24-70mm F2.8,my shoulder felt ok,but my Billingham bag just carrying 85mm lens and a few bits & bobs was killing me.

:)
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Well that's it in one really :thumbs:

For me, a lot of the time it's the difference between taking a camera and not TBH. You hardly know you're carrying it, but it's always there in just the right position, or you can slide it around the back or front when squeezing between people, that kind of thing. Just really easy :)
 
I too have been looking at alternative straps to the manufacture provided one. I rarely wear the strap round my neck or shoulder as it is anyway and found that the default way of attaching the strap was rather annoying when I try to coil round my hand. The strap tends to go across the viewfinder.

So I had a little play around and came up with this

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(Please excuse the awful phone pic)

So far it's been OK, obviously it's not as secure as manufacture instructions but like I said I almost always hold my camera anyway.

Since it's to the side this wouldn't get in the way whilst mounted on tripod either.
 
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