Sharona -- I hear you! Weight is tough to manage. You have to make your best call on how to deal with hauling the gear around. It's the old "pick your poison" scenario.
I have certain "rules" regarding straps -- no metal parts, and no screw-in or removable devices. Secure straps only.
In the distant past, I've had F-1 and other bodies marred by straps with metal attachments and swivels.
On my Manfrotto 3051 tripods, I've had several straps come loose at various times, for various reasons, and the hoisted tripod go crashing to the ground. No big deal, other than the disturbances. It had been a camera -- well, you've been reading the rare failures of these camera straps. They are rare until they happen to you.
Anything that is removeable will work itself loose at some point, unless you make it permanently unmovable.
I've never had a strap come loose on a camera (Canon and Op Tech) or camera bag (Lowepro).
Gunzorro - what do you think about that Op Tech harness linked above? I am not familiar with Op tech so don't know about their quality but I like the customization of that harness.
Sorry -- I missed the link for Op Tech harness. Could you post again? Thanks.
If it is their Dual Harness -- I can't image that being easy to use! I use one on their regular neck strap, then one over my shoulder, for those rare occasions I shoot two bodies. The Dual seems too awkward and difficult to "chimp" shots or review/delete images in down moments.
It isn't anything super-special, but for $7 delivered it adds a degree of safety. On the camera side, I looped it through the strap slot on the L-bracket. If you don't have one, the standard strap loop on the side would be fine (though might require a slightly longer strap, but eyeballing it I don't think so. I'd be happy to assemble it like that (no L-bracket and hooked to the camera strap loop on the camera).
The only other thing I'll repeat is that the safety strap shouldn't be attached to the carbiner/swivel but on the square strap bracket as that is highly unlikely to break/fail.
Went ahead and set it up w/ no Arca, and frankly, I like it less. This is due mainly to two things: the strap is going to be a bit in the way of access to the doors and I'm not a fan of the way it rubs on the body.
Thanks so much! I'm sort of a visual person and was having a heard time "getting" it. So this doesn't change the way you can zip the camera up the strap to shoot, then, I take it?
Obviously there is a market for it, or it wouldn't be sold. Maybe it will work for you. Not my style, getting into a harness with cameras at the sides. But that doesn't mean much to anyone be me.
I know you are in a tough spot, being small framed and wanting large gear. I wish there was an easy solution besides going to smaller/lighter gear. I have an old neck injury from body surfing, and the Op Tech Pro has been the best I've found to relieve pressure on my lower neck vertebra.
Hs anyone used the Op Tech Sling adaptors? They allow you to convert your regular strap into a sling? I wonder how the quality/reliability stands up to the Black Rapid?
Have you looked into the Luma Loop? It uses the camera's standard strap lug and I haven't had any problems using it on my Leica M9 or 5DII with the 70-200.
Update: The Luma Loop is no longer being sold because a competitor was granted a patent for a sliding connection (which as been around since the 1800's). Too bad, it was,to me, a far superior product and now it's been blown out of existence by a broken patent system.
Sharona wrote:
Hs anyone used the Op Tech Sling adaptors? They allow you to convert your regular strap into a sling? I wonder how the quality/reliability stands up to the Black Rapid?
I haven't used one, but I distrust the concept entirely...
Sharona wrote:
Thanks so much! I'm sort of a visual person and was having a heard time "getting" it. So this doesn't change the way you can zip the camera up the strap to shoot, then, I take it?
No - still works as it should. I'd be tempted to put a little gaffer tape where it rubs the body a bit, but other than that it was fine.
Throughout this thread so far has been a lot of discussion about the merit's (or lack thereof) for connecting to the Tripod socket. A suggested alternative was to use the BosStrap product which attaches to "one" of the camera's strap eyelets. Ok - so I just pulled out my camera (Nikon D300s), and looking closely at the strap eyelet, got to wondering if even that was, by itself, a safe choice. With a 70-200mm lens on this camera that's a fair amount of weight, and considering how it may swing / twist back-and-forth while hanging from my shoulder - well, it wasn't a big stretch to imagine that this eyelet may loosen and/or potentially detach from the camera. That's probably one of the reasons why the traditional neck strap attaches at two eyelets. Has anyone ever heard of (or experienced) the eyelet being damaged?
I should add to my earlier post that the BRS-7 with the taped D-ring and the CC safety strap has been w/o any problems at all. I've used it to carry my D700 with an 80-400 VR on it, as well as my F5 with a 180/2.8 Ai MF. Never worried about, but I made damn sure that the connection was firm
pcuddihy wrote:
Throughout this thread so far has been a lot of discussion about the merit's (or lack thereof) for connecting to the Tripod socket. A suggested alternative was to use the BosStrap product which attaches to "one" of the camera's strap eyelets. Ok - so I just pulled out my camera (Nikon D300s), and looking closely at the strap eyelet, got to wondering if even that was, by itself, a safe choice. With a 70-200mm lens on this camera that's a fair amount of weight, and considering how it may swing / twist back-and-forth while hanging from my shoulder - well, it wasn't a big stretch to imagine that this eyelet may loosen and/or potentially detach from the camera. That's probably one of the reasons why the traditional neck strap attaches at two eyelets. Has anyone ever heard of (or experienced) the eyelet being damaged?...Show more →
Exactly!
I've seen some photos of strap lugs ripped out of the body, or cracked around the top housing. Now I understand what happened!
