I'm traveling to Italy on the 2nd and I'm looking for what people seem to like best, I like the tripod mount straps better than the traditional mounted ones. I was eyeing the SunSniper products but there were enough reviews on Amazon with horror stories about cameras busting off the swivel that I'm a bit turned off by them now. It's going to be a D800 with a Nikon 24-70 2.8 attached the majority of the time so it wont be light and it will be very valuable. Please let me know what you think I should look to buy or what not to buy.
I have a sunsniper on my 5D Mark III. I've never had it come undone. I even use the compact version. It's plenty strong and could easily support any lens in my bag.
I suppose you could try blackrapid too, not sure if they are theft proof though.
facedodge wrote:
not sure if they are theft proof though.
I understand what you are saying but little is thief proof... Your best bet is to get the "Cut-proof" strap Then stay out of areas that are prone to such activities... Ask the locals, hotel employees, police, other tourist / camera owners if any areas should be avoided... Remember to take out insurance on your gear and no-matter what your safety is the most important... Gear can be replaced.
I got to see it in my local store. I chose it over the sniper pro since it seemed plenty hefty and very comfortable. I figure the recommendation for smaller cameras is to fill a demographic rather than strength requirements. It could probably hold a few hundred pounds easy.
The Sniper Pro has a larger shoulder pad and is likely more comfortable for larger lenses. I preferred the smaller, more discrete one.
The only thing you have to be careful of, and this is when you are attaching the strap to the camera, is that the washer/gasket can be adjusted for some reason and will make the usable part of the threads shorter. So pay attention to make sure the gasket/washer combo is all the way back before you screw in the bolt.... This probably accounts for the people on amazon. I would consider this user error. Once the camera is attached properly, it's not going anywhere.
Duly noted odrattler. The strap has a thin steel cable that prevents cuts from pocket knives (which I'm told happens quite a lot in certain high tourist areas overseas)
I'd recommend PacSafe straps and maybe one of their shoulder bags. They have embedded steel cable & a mesh in the bags. Which makes them basically knife proof.
I use the camera straps PacSafe 100 & the bag strap PacSafe 200. They have secure snap locks that allows you to remove them from the camera which is handy when you're not needing a strap like for tripod work.
Btw to complete the package, I use steel split rings on the camera to attach the strap. That's better than using the 2" long regular nylon section where the strap connects to the camera.
And like was said above watch where you are and avoid trouble areas. You'll stand out as a tourist anyway, but better not to advertise your equipment too much. So I avoid walking around with the Std Black camera bags. As an example, I use a more colorful tan Crumpler 7 million dollar bag in places like Rio. PacSafe looks to have added more bags at their site. So they may have something that will work as a "less noticeable" camera bag for you too.
