RSS Feeds
fix
Make Your Own R-Strap For Camera-Slinging Convenience
Posted by Kevin Purdy at 3:00 AM on October 10, 2008
The R-Strap, a sling for DSLR cameras that hooks into the tripod socket, makes it easy to keep a camera slung low during idle moments, then quickly bring it up for shooting without scraping your neck or twisting the strap. The Photojojo site points out two DIY R-Strap how-tos that require just a few dollars of gear and not too much hardware work to get the same effect. Best of all, you can use nearly any strap you like, so if you've always felt comfortable with your laptop tote or guitar strap, you can get the same effect while shooting. Check out the original R-Strap in a video demonstration below.
Comments (AU Comments · US Comments)
There are currently no AU comments for this post.
Loneregister
Posted 4:49 AM 10/10/08
Good idea. Bad implementation.
You'll note that the attachment to the tripod mount is on the ring attached to the screw. As you walk, run, move, invariably the camera will twist.
And when it twists, the potential to unscrew the tripod mount is there - and thus - you have expensive camera on the ground broken...
Loneregister
Deprong Mori
Posted 6:15 AM 10/10/08
The likelihood of the tripod mount screw detaching completely from the camera is very low; you have to twist it several time around. Besides that, it looks like the clip has a swivel collar anyhow.
Two problems: the first is that you can't mount the camera on a tripod quick release with the strap installed. With a conventional neck strap, you can leave it in place and have the quick release functionality.
The second problem is that this relies on a tripod mount plate that has this ring on the tripod mount screw. The better tripod mount plates actually do not. (I'm thinking about the Arca-Swiss plates from Really Right Stuff).
Deprong Mori
four12
Posted 6:31 AM 10/10/08
Paraphrasing Al Gore in the 2000 election; "Lock washer".
four12
nicholasbrian
Posted 6:48 AM 10/10/08
So many fake shutter noises.
nicholasbrian
abhik
Posted 6:41 AM 10/10/08
There's also the Y-Strap [figitalrevolution.com] which looks like a similar idea.
I made my own with some cheap webbing from a fabric store and a couple of key rings. Used a lighter to melt and glue the webbing into a loop and used the key rings to connect it to the camera. Works pretty well -- "wearing" the camera like a messenger bag across the chest feels more stable than having it bouncing in front of me and I can slide the key rings over the strap quickly to take a pic. The camera does move around a bit next to my hip but I'm considering using a carabiner to hook the key ring to my belt loop.
abhik
adventurat
Posted 7:58 AM 10/10/08
Clever idea, lame video. Did nobody at the company think it might be a good idea for the person wearing the strap to wear clothing in a different colour from the strap? And yes, way too many fake shutter noises. Bah.
adventurat
dchall8
Posted 10:32 AM 10/10/08
@adventurat: I was thinking the same thing. It would have been only slightly less effective had they used a black model wearing black gloves in a black room with the lights dimmed.
dchall8
scooterist
Posted 11:27 AM 10/10/08
Addendum: I see the credit given to Photojojo for the DIY version. Apologies.
scooterist
scooterist
Posted 11:25 AM 10/10/08
A couple of comments. This is a great idea especially for photographers that shoot sporting events and need to have more than one camera immediatley available for use.
Maybe you need to look at the higher resolution Quicktime movie on the R-Strap website instead of a crappy quality YouTube video if you want to see it a little more clearly. ([www.blackrapid.com])
Lastly, it's kind of odd it pops up on Lifehacker on the same day that it comes out in a Photojojo email message, but with no credit given to Photojojo.
PS the clip on the tripod mount is self-swivelling and so will not come loose - and if you do not have one you can buy one when you buy the strap.
scooterist
Deprong Mori
Posted 2:12 PM 10/10/08
Most sports photographers don't want a second SLR body hanging off their necks.
In the film days, one might have a pair of SLR bodies: one with a 300/2.8 telephoto, the other with the 600/4 honker. You might have a third SLR body with a wide-angle lens (just in case the action happened in your face) and you'd be changing film rolls anyhow after 36 exposures.
Today, you're probably still using similar lenses and similarly-weighted SLR bodies.
What you really want are 2-3 SLR bodies with 3-4 lenses on quick-release mounts paired to some carbon-fiber monopods.
Deprong Mori