A Valuable Lesson & Tragedy Avoided

mwilson263 · Oct 20, 2017

Thought I'd share this...

A few months ago I finally got tired of the neck strap that came with my 6D and bought a sling strap. I love it, and it's very comfortable, but when I bought it I read a couple reviews about the screw working loose from the camera screw mount, with the warning to always use a backup tether. I bought a tether with the strap, but didn't put it on right away; and didn't have any trouble with the strap unscrewing from the camera mount.

A couple weeks ago my wife & I did the Kelby WW Photowalk. As I was getting my gear put together I came across the tether - still in it's package. For some reason I went ahead and attached it to the camera & sling. At on point on the photowalk I felt my camera at my leg instead of my hip as normal. I reached down, and realized the camera had come loose from the sling and was hanging from the tether. I reattached it, and no harm done; but the thought that the camera and 100mm macro lens could've hit the pavement & been lost was a sobering one.

I'll never go without a tether again, and will make it a habit to occasionally check the mount to make sure it's tight.

benhasajeep · Oct 21, 2017

It's a good thing you put the tether on!

Destin · Oct 21, 2017

I check the mount every single time I pick up my camera. I don’t use a tether, and I’ve never dropped a camera in 5 years of using black rapids.

I crank the mount on pretty dang tight, and on devices where I know I’ll never need to remove the mount (battery grips, etc) I use loctite on the threads.

SCraig · Oct 21, 2017

Been using Black Rapid for years as well. No tether on mine either, just the rubber washer between the ring and the battery grip. Had mine get loose one time in all the hundreds of times I've used it and I suspect I just didn't get it tight initially that one time. They are very, very reliable.

480sparky · Oct 21, 2017

My BRs go tetherless as well. Never a problem even with a 200 - 500 and TC on a gripped body.

Overread · Oct 21, 2017

I use a Black Rapid and what I do is have a quick release plate which I've glued into the screwthread mount on the Black Rapid. I then trust in the quick release plate to hold to the base of the camera which is more reliable than the screwthread.*

That said I nearly always tend to have my hand on the camera as well; the strap takes the weight and the hand just helps hold it in place so that its not bumping around annoyingly. That said I tend to use it with a 70-200mmf2.8 or a 120-300mm f2.8 so those are heavier/bigger lenses to have hanging around.

*should note that I use arca swiss mounts, so the mount is bolted to the camera and with the plate design' can't unscrew itself; the quick release plate then clips onto the mount on the camera.