Sent the wife out on Halloween with her 5d and 24-70 to take pictures of the grand kids. When she got home it was obvious that she needed some sort of harness to hold the camera supported by shoulder straps. I ordered a lowpro and discovered that I would also need the belt attachment plus etc, etc. What have you guys and girls found to be a good product to support the camera and various add-ons without killing the back.
Thx.
I am a big fan of the blackrapid style strap. I use one with my 7D/70-200 f2.8 all the time. But I only carry spare battery and memory in a pocket, so no other stuff like a flash, etc has to be dealt with. and this is for more shooting and less doing other things...
For being more mobile and not shooting as much, I also like my Tamrac Velocity 7X shoulder/sling/pack. I put a body with standard zoom, a wide, and a flash and accessories in it and it works well for me.
I use BlackRapid's dual sling strap for all my weddings. For rather slow days, I have a capture from Peak design. I have it usually on my belt and just clip on my camera when I don't use. I'm actually waiting for their new straps to come. It's still on kickstarter stage, but it seems like such a great idea. But of course BlackRapid's dual strap will still be my go-to-strap for weddings and events.
I use something a bit different when I carry my tripod and camera although I can carry just the camera with telephoto.
I use a sailing safety harness.
It has two straps that go over the shoulders and a belt type of loop around the chest. It fastens with two stainless D rings at the front. I use a carabiner to join both D rings and it loops onto a webbing strap that is on my tripod post. The weight is spread over the two shoulder straps and the whole thing can be taken off the carabiner very quickly.
If I don't want the tripod the plate on the tripod ring fits into the webbing loop and takes the weight. Sorry I don't have a picture of the rig but it does spread the weight over the shoulders and works well for me.
This is not the one I use but will give you some idea of the sort of thing I am talking about. http://www.chetcomarine.com/removablesailingharnessma1900.aspx
There is also the "Cotton Carrier" on the market but I have only seen the product on their web site and I have some questions about the type of attachment they use. Really if mothers can carry their youngsters in those front carrying harnesses there has to be a way to cobble something up for a camera with the straps over both shoulders.
