Neck strap alternatives

[Grinder]

Anyone out there have any actual experience with some of the newer alternatives to neck straps? I'd love to find something a bit more comfortable when hiking but many of the things I see advertised look more like gimmicks than practical alternatives. Anyone have any experience with these?

Anyone tried these guys ?
http://www.carryspeed.com/

Seems to be pretty similar to the Black Rapid but alot cheaper, the speed mounting plate looks a bit better thought out as well as it's off center and still allows mounting to a tripod.

Opinions appreciated

[neuroanatomist]

Seems to be pretty similar to the Black Rapid but alot cheaper, the speed mounting plate looks a bit better thought out as well as it's off center and still allows mounting to a tripod.

Opinions appreciated

A lot cheaper?  Carryspeed CS-Pro is $45, BlackRapid RS-4 is $54.  Percentage wise, 17% less...but...$9.

The plate looks nice...but bulky.  My toploading bags are a tight enough fit, the part that sticks out would mean the camera would not fit in the bags.

[Grinder]

Seems to be pretty similar to the Black Rapid but alot cheaper, the speed mounting plate looks a bit better thought out as well as it's off center and still allows mounting to a tripod.

Opinions appreciated

A lot cheaper?  Carryspeed CS-Pro is $45, BlackRapid RS-4 is $54.  Percentage wise, 17% less...but...$9.

The plate looks nice...but bulky.  My toploading bags are a tight enough fit, the part that sticks out would mean the camera would not fit in the bags.

I was looking at the CS-1 MK III Sling Strap @$ 34.99, it also has an off center strap attachment, though much simpler than the pro, which is a very different animal.

BlackRapid RS-7's  in Australia from a local supplier are going for $85.00 and don't include the handy under arm strap...

The joey's are going for $34.00 !!!

So yes the carry speeds are half the price...

[mreco99]

That reminds me, the only thong i dont like about the shoulder straps and the fastener at the bottom, is getting the camera back in the backpacks. The metal at the bottom can rub on the camera body, so alway had to remove the sun sniper before putting the camera away.
Sold teh sun sniper for £20, waiting for teh BR RS7 to turn up, at least the strap in the BR should be more foldable for storage than the Sniper.

[bycostello]

I've used the black rapids very comfy and holds the camera in a better position than the regular straps...

[mreco99]

OK, so the black rapid RS7 turned up... in a nice box.
Compared to the sun sniper 'The One'....
Its FasteneR3 feels stronger as it is one peice of metal instead of the snipers metal link.
Its shoulder strap is nicer because it moulds round your shoulder, where as the sniper is thicker and more rigid, also the RS7 fits in the bag easier.

Dont see much use in the sliding clips on the strap really

Was surprised there was no suspension as the sniper has.

Now if i could only use this in conjunction with the http://www.peakdesignltd.com/.....
As much as like the idea of a 'holster' design, i want the assurance of a strap incase i let go of the camera.

[MazV-L]

Take a look at the Split Strap at the Photojojo store...

http://photojojo.com/store/awesomeness/split-strap/

They also have another version of the tripod-mount fastener called the Strapbuddy:
http://photojojo.com/store/awesomeness/camera-strap-buddy/

BEWARE THE STRAP BUDDY! I bought one of those and the first time I used it nearly lost my 5D &grip & 24-105L lens due to it failing!
However my BlackRapid strap has never let me down and I love it!

[neuroanatomist]

Dont see much use in the sliding clips on the strap really

The clip is there to restrict where the camera slides along the strap.  A taller person might want to move the clip 'down' so the camera hangs lower.  I do sometimes move it depending on what's hanging - with a standard zoom and if I'm walking around without kids in tow, I set it higher so the camera hangs at the side of my hip.  But with a white zoom or with kids along, I prefer it lower so the camera hangs at the small of my back - a little further to reach, but better balance for the big zoom, and less in the way if I need to grab one of my daughters.

[Redreflex]

Dont see much use in the sliding clips on the strap really

The clip is there to restrict where the camera slides along the strap.  A taller person might want to move the clip 'down' so the camera hangs lower.  I do sometimes move it depending on what's hanging - with a standard zoom and if I'm walking around without kids in tow, I set it higher so the camera hangs at the side of my hip.  But with a white zoom or with kids along, I prefer it lower so the camera hangs at the small of my back - a little further to reach, but better balance for the big zoom, and less in the way if I need to grab one of my daughters.

And if you need to lean forward to do something that isn't related to using your camera, you can slide the clip most proximal to your chest down to the hip position alongside the distal clip - now you've got your camera locked in position between the 2 clips. The body is not going to slide (maybe still swing a little depending on what you're doing) along the length of the strap unexpectedly since the hip position would no longer be the most dependent position from which the camera would naturally want to hang.

[wickidwombat]

I have both the black rapid RS-5 and the cheap ebay quick rapid knock offs and you know what I like the ebay ones better. Why?

here you go
BR - $80 Ebay one $15

the BR one is very smooth and slippery and this constantly causes it to flop about when you bend over to get something from your bag so contantly have the phone pouch part flopped over to your back or down around you belt, the little plastic bumpers dont really do anything to stop this. The BR sport one without the pouches would probably be better in this regard and behave more like the ebay one (ie just stay there)

the ebay carabina is quite good I have used one with a !d hanging off the end for a year on a mine site and never even had a hint of it looking like it might break when i finally took the mounting plate off i had to use a pipe wrench to loosen it there was no way it was coming off by hand let alone accidentally. However I prefer the BR mounts and have evolved mine even further when i got the flip down BR loops (FastenR-T1) and cut up the bottom of my really right stuff l brackets with a dremel to make them fit so now i can simply unclip the camera and pow straight onto the tripod landscape or portrait. and the little BR loop (FastenR-T1) (flips into the really right suff lbracket recess

I got the ebay double strap too and it is very good i think it was about $20 I still use the BR one or the ebay ones dont mind but if you are worried about strength of the cheap ones dont.

the biggest factor IMO is the mount to the camera so you dont have to unscrew anything ever and thats why i finally got my L brackets set up in a way i am happy with them. I was assured by really right stuff that i was mad and voiding my warranty by cutting into them but I had to try it out and it was well worth the effort i.

If anyone is interested in seeing the chopped L-brackets I can post some pictures

My next goal is to get some sort of belt clip working with my L bracket so i can secure it to my belt so the cameras dont swing around. Everything out there has their own crappy proprietry locking systems so you can use any RR novoflex manfrotto giotto arca swiss mounts and this drives me nuts. I think i'm just going to make my own belt clip that I can just lock ANY arca swiss plate into.

Finding camera support systems that do EXACTLY what you want is really hard and all these companies want to drive their own proprietry system rather than go with something that anything can work with. I dont get it  because I think making a product that anyone can use their existing equipment investments with had a much broader market potential than trying plug an exclussive proprietry system that people have to then fork over another several hundred bucks for that still doesnt do what they want and wont work with any of their gear.

[neuroanatomist]

However I prefer the BR mounts and have evolved mine even further when i got the flip down BR loops (FastenR-T1) and cut up the bottom of my really right stuff l brackets with a dremel to make them fit so now i can simply unclip the camera and pow straight onto the tripod landscape or portrait. and the little BR loop (FastenR-T1) (flips into the really right suff lbracket recess

Yikes.  Glad that's working for you!  My solution was to use the FastenR-3 connected to a Kirk QRC-1 (1" AS-type clamp; RRS's B2-FAB would have worked, too, but I didn't like the nubs on the bottom of it).  Voila - a true QR solution for BR with AS plates/L-brackets.  It's actually a bit faster (for me) than unscrewing the carabiner.  The trade off is the setup is a bit bulkier.

[wickidwombat]

However I prefer the BR mounts and have evolved mine even further when i got the flip down BR loops (FastenR-T1) and cut up the bottom of my really right stuff l brackets with a dremel to make them fit so now i can simply unclip the camera and pow straight onto the tripod landscape or portrait. and the little BR loop (FastenR-T1) (flips into the really right suff lbracket recess

Yikes.  Glad that's working for you!  My solution was to use the FastenR-3 connected to a Kirk QRC-1 (1" AS-type clamp; RRS's B2-FAB would have worked, too, but I didn't like the nubs on the bottom of it).  Voila - a true QR solution for BR with AS plates/L-brackets.  It's actually a bit faster (for me) than unscrewing the carabiner.  The trade off is the setup is a bit bulkier.

yeah this was their recomended solution buy another clamp that the BR loop mounts to, however its adding another potential failure point into the system way i see it mine has a lower chance of failure as you can bump those clamp screws and they can loosen and work their way loose and hanging upside down? it just didnt look right so i went the chop shop route sure its not for everyone but a drill press and a dremel and a couple of hours later and it works nicely.

[neuroanatomist]

I'd love to see some pics, if you wouldn't mind.

Not worried about the screws loosening - I've got Loctite at the FastenR-3/1"-clamp joint, and the knob on the clamp is either under the lens with a camera plate, or on the side away from my body with a lens plate.  But one nice thing about the FasterR-T1 (I had 4 of the with Manfrotto RC2 plates, but sold them when I went Arca-Swiss) was that it was flatter and thus more comfortable for a portrait grip.

[wickidwombat]

Yeah I'll get some pics, I've done 2 so far, one for the 5D mk 2 and 1 for the 1D mk3 both work really well, I've been testing them on mine and have to chop up another one for my wife I just wanted to make sure it worked well before i got stuck into another $160 worth of l bracket.
I have some loctite which i was thinking of using to secure the FastenR-T1 to the camera body if needed but it looks like its all holding firm so i havent put it in yet, I am on the lookout for some 1mm thick rubber washers that I can put between the T1 and the chopped L bracket which will compress and help firm up the connection. might be overkill but I really dont want it to fall off.

So Potential failure points summarised are (working from the camera back)

Tripod mount in camera base failing (highly unlikely) since you arent screwing things in and out the threads will see very little use

FastenR-T1 pulling out of screw thread (Unlikely) however after purchasing severla of these quality control on the total length of screw thread looks a little bit lax so i have the one with more screw thread on the 1D and the one with less thread on the 5D mk2 I'll get some comparison pics to show this (probably shoot it all tomorrow night). Overall build of the T1s look solid

FastenR-T1 loop failing and shearing from the T1 screw (Dont think very likely as it looks and feel pretty robust

next onto the carabina. the BR Carabina is well made and smooth the screw gate could come loose and work its way out but pretty unlikely the Ebay one has a much stiffer screw and its even less likely to come loose un intentionally.

Metal fatigue in the carabina loop (not likely with the low loads of the camera) on either the genuine BR or the ebay one

Metal fatigue of the swivel connection from the carabina to the loop on the strap (This is probably the part i can see having the highest likely hood of failure, the BR genuine and ebay one look prety much identical I would love BR to give me a free one so i could to a destructive strain guage test of both in an engineering lab to see at what levels they do actually fail AND the mode of failure. (there is a youtube video of some dude promoting the ebay one hanging off of it so it looks strong but that is hardly scientific).

The BR and EBay straps themselves look about the same far as nylon straps go they would have the same low tollerance to cuts weaking them or burns.

[wickidwombat]

OK, so the black rapid RS7 turned up... in a nice box.
Compared to the sun sniper 'The One'....
Its FasteneR3 feels stronger as it is one peice of metal instead of the snipers metal link.
Its shoulder strap is nicer because it moulds round your shoulder, where as the sniper is thicker and more rigid, also the RS7 fits in the bag easier.

Dont see much use in the sliding clips on the strap really

Was surprised there was no suspension as the sniper has.

Now if i could only use this in conjunction with the http://www.peakdesignltd.com/.....
As much as like the idea of a 'holster' design, i want the assurance of a strap incase i let go of the camera.

more proprietry clips and stuff that will only work with their gear (YAY!)

yeah they look like they nearly go that right but not being able to use the rapid strap with it is a deal breaker for me. I am in the process of looking at another combo of really right stuff pieces and cheap ebay bits to make something that will work