CalvinFold
Well-known member
I was a little surprised this topic didn't exist already, and I hope this is the correct forum to put it in (I'm not quite prepared to do an official "review" in the review section). Moderators can move thread as necessary, of course.
If you haven't tried or seen the BlackRapid Sport strap, you really owe it to yourself to give it a try for any camera from a Super Zoom up through a DSLR (especially if you have a long telephoto zoom). For the record, I have zero affiliation with them.
I decided to give one a try after alot of research online. Expensive, yes, but while my Tamrac Boomerang was nice, it still was never perfect and I always used it cross-body. I strongly dislike "straight down off the shoulder" carrying of my cameras: I consider it asking to drop the camera eventually.
And "behind the neck" straps? Ow...my neck doesn't appreciate that kind of abuse, even from something as small as my Canon SX60.
So looking for system specifically designed for cross-body use (i.e. long enough strap), BlackRapid kept leaping to the top of search results as well as reviews. I also flirted with the idea of a Cotton Carrier.
So I've had a chance to use the BlackRapid sport on a three mile walk with the SX60, and my girlfriend tried it with her D700 + 70-300mm Nikkor (which is about 4 lbs. of camera). And our comments are the same:
--it's easy to forget you're even carrying a camera (yes, even her heavy rig)
--it's so natural to just reach your hand down, grab the camera, bring it up, and shoot
There's no shoulder strap sliding around (thanks to the Brad underarm strap), tugging, or getting in the way. Additionally, I purchased the Bryce pouch, so I have all my spare batteries, camera cards, remote shutter release, cleaning cloth, and lip balm all handy (no more shirt and pants pockets full of stuff to forget and accidentally end-up in the laundry...or forget to bring with me).
Oh, and she wears a backpack (to carry a spare 70-200mm lens, snacks, and clothes) and I carry my tripod on a shoulder strap across the other shoulder; with the BlackRapid Sport on the bottom, still works like a charm.
If you hate shoulder straps, you really should give this one a try.
If you haven't tried or seen the BlackRapid Sport strap, you really owe it to yourself to give it a try for any camera from a Super Zoom up through a DSLR (especially if you have a long telephoto zoom). For the record, I have zero affiliation with them.
I decided to give one a try after alot of research online. Expensive, yes, but while my Tamrac Boomerang was nice, it still was never perfect and I always used it cross-body. I strongly dislike "straight down off the shoulder" carrying of my cameras: I consider it asking to drop the camera eventually.
And "behind the neck" straps? Ow...my neck doesn't appreciate that kind of abuse, even from something as small as my Canon SX60.
So looking for system specifically designed for cross-body use (i.e. long enough strap), BlackRapid kept leaping to the top of search results as well as reviews. I also flirted with the idea of a Cotton Carrier.
So I've had a chance to use the BlackRapid sport on a three mile walk with the SX60, and my girlfriend tried it with her D700 + 70-300mm Nikkor (which is about 4 lbs. of camera). And our comments are the same:
--it's easy to forget you're even carrying a camera (yes, even her heavy rig)
--it's so natural to just reach your hand down, grab the camera, bring it up, and shoot
There's no shoulder strap sliding around (thanks to the Brad underarm strap), tugging, or getting in the way. Additionally, I purchased the Bryce pouch, so I have all my spare batteries, camera cards, remote shutter release, cleaning cloth, and lip balm all handy (no more shirt and pants pockets full of stuff to forget and accidentally end-up in the laundry...or forget to bring with me).
Oh, and she wears a backpack (to carry a spare 70-200mm lens, snacks, and clothes) and I carry my tripod on a shoulder strap across the other shoulder; with the BlackRapid Sport on the bottom, still works like a charm.
If you hate shoulder straps, you really should give this one a try.
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