strap suggestions

[TheBiles]

That's the kind of information I want to see. Not rumors and speculation with zero concrete evidence.

Void of common sense and ones personal opinion?
That's how this debate started out, especially with me. No personal attacks or questioning ones intelligence. I simply voiced my thoughts and concerns with the method of attaching the strap. My opinion is based on MY wisdom obtained over 56 years of seeing things break and fail. Why is such a stretch for someone to think that maybe something would not do the best job at doing something that it wasn’t designed to do in the first place?

Who is questioning intelligence? All I'm saying is that sling straps have a fantastic reputation being used as intended, and so far, I have yet to see anyone produce any actual evidence of a camera's tripod mount failing. Everything has only been speculation or "I know a guy" stories. Until I actually see real evidence of tripod mounts failing on multi-thousand dollar cameras, I am going to assume that it is nothing more than paranoia and will continue to enjoy my sling strap.

 

[Josh66]

That's the kind of information I want to see. Not rumors and speculation with zero concrete evidence.

Void of common sense and ones personal opinion?
That's how this debate started out, especially with me. No personal attacks or questioning ones intelligence. I simply voiced my thoughts and concerns with the method of attaching the strap. My opinion is based on MY wisdom obtained over 56 years of seeing things break and fail. Why is such a stretch for someone to think that maybe something would not do the best job at doing something that it wasn’t designed to do in the first place?

Who is questioning intelligence? All I'm saying is that sling straps have a fantastic reputation being used as intended, and so far, I have yet to see anyone produce any actual evidence of a camera's tripod mount failing. Everything has only been speculation or "I know a guy" stories. Until I actually see real evidence of tripod mounts failing on multi-thousand dollar cameras, I am going to assume that it is nothing more than paranoia and will continue to enjoy my sling strap.

This doesn't count, right? Because he only watched it happen right in front of him. He wasn't the actual guy holding the camera.

Saw a guy in the mall... Camera came off his strap, bounced down a flight of steps, his look was priceless..... It was a strap that attached to the tripod mount of his camera. The camera was a fairly big DSLR with a prime lens. Not sure if the fault was due to strap or user not attaching it properly to the base of the camera.... In any case, I'm going to stick with attaching the strap to the built in strap holders my DSLR body.... Even if it's the ugly straps provided by the manufacturer.

I'm sure this doesn't count either, since we don't actually know these guys:
http://search.yahoo.com/r/_ylt=A0oG...2/**http://www.bosstrap.com/wheretoattach.pdf
edit
I found this: http://www.bosstrap.com/wheretoattach-camerastraplugortripodsocket.aspx
It is the same text as that PDF, but in a web page - in case you don't want to download a PDF to read it...

 

[TheBiles]

Saw a guy in the mall... Camera came off his strap, bounced down a flight of steps, his look was priceless..... It was a strap that attached to the tripod mount of his camera. The camera was a fairly big DSLR with a prime lens. Not sure if the fault was due to strap or user not attaching it properly to the base of the camera.... In any case, I'm going to stick with attaching the strap to the built in strap holders my DSLR body.... Even if it's the ugly straps provided by the manufacturer.

Bam. Stopped reading right there. As far as he knows, the guy with the camera didn't even have it screwed in properly. Rumors and speculation.

I'm sure this doesn't count either, since we don't actually know these guys:
http://search.yahoo.com/r/_ylt=A0oGdOfild9PSmUAJxAPxQt.;_ylu=X3oDMTByaDc2aWY5BHNlYwNzcgRwb3MDNwRjb2xvA3NrMQR2dGlkAw--/SIG=11ti39l4c/EXP=1340081762/**http%3a//www.bosstrap.com/wheretoattach.pdf

The responses from the customer service reps are typical customer service responses: "Don't use your camera in ways we don't explicitly state." Shocker. I'm not saying that the notion of a tripod mount failing is completely impossible, but until I see a camera with its tripod mount stripped out due to being carried from a sling strap, I'm going to consider it nothing more than paranoia. A high-end DSLR equipped even with a fairly large 70-200 lens doesn't even weigh 6 pounds, which is almost nothing when you're talking about ripping a screw from its base.

 

[Josh66]

Well, I didn't search very hard, but I couldn't find any examples of the tripod socket ripping out of the camera either...

I did find a Sony video camera where the tripod socket broke and the camera fell, but that was a video camera (bigger and heavier than an SLR), and Sony - so I'm not going to count it.
(The small plate with the threaded socket in it broke and sheared off 3 of the 4 screws that hold it on.)
Tripod receptacle ripped out--can I fix? at DVinfo.net

And that was on a tripod when it broke...

 

[2WheelPhoto]

Well, I didn't search very hard, but I couldn't find any examples of the tripod socket ripping out of the camera either...

I did find a Sony video camera where the tripod socket broke and the camera fell, but that was a video camera (bigger and heavier than an SLR), and Sony - so I'm not going to count it.
(The small plate with the threaded socket in it broke and sheared off 3 of the 4 screws that hold it on.)
Tripod receptacle ripped out--can I fix? at DVinfo.net

And that was on a tripod when it broke...

i doubt that silly phenomenon exists. I'm sure if I chain my camera to a pole and hook the BR to my ball hitch on my Tundra I can make something break

 

[Buckster]

Well, I didn't search very hard, but I couldn't find any examples of the tripod socket ripping out of the camera either...

I did find a Sony video camera where the tripod socket broke and the camera fell, but that was a video camera (bigger and heavier than an SLR), and Sony - so I'm not going to count it.
(The small plate with the threaded socket in it broke and sheared off 3 of the 4 screws that hold it on.)
Tripod receptacle ripped out--can I fix? at DVinfo.net

And that was on a tripod when it broke...

i doubt that silly phenomenon exists. I'm sure if I chain my camera to a pole and hook the BR to my ball hitch on my Tundra I can make something break

In the interest of science, would you please do that, video it and post here?

Much appreciated!

 

[HughGuessWho]

OMG. Never let the facts get in the way of a good story.

 

[Netskimmer]

LOL - I thought you were trying to say how superior and stable sling straps are ... and now they bounce around too much to attach it to the strap ring on the camera?

What posts are you guys reading?

I never made one single comment even remotely connected to how stable or secure a sling strap is. I also never said that a neckstrap connecter was more likely to break than I tripod connector. All I said was that I'm not sold on the idea that a tripod connector wasn't safe and that I didn't see why someone who was concerned about a tripod connector wouldn't also be concerned about a neckstrap connector. I didn't say one would fail before the other I just meant that the neckstrap connector didn't look as sturdy and IF someone were concerned about the tripod connector that it would make sense that they would be at least as concerned about the neckstrap connector. Next thing I know I'm being challenged to PROVE that a neck strap connector WILL FAIL. For all I know the danmed things are 10 times more sturdy, they just don't look it and I havent seen any information from anyone that says one is more likely to fail that the other.

 

[HughGuessWho]

LOL - I thought you were trying to say how superior and stable sling straps are ... and now they bounce around too much to attach it to the strap ring on the camera?

What posts are you guys reading?

I never made one single comment even remotely connected to how stable or secure a sling strap is. I also never said that a neckstrap connecter was more likely to break than I tripod connector. All I said was that I'm not sold on the idea that a tripod connector wasn't safe and that I didn't see why someone who was concerned about a tripod connector wouldn't also be concerned about a neckstrap connector. I didn't say one would fail before the other I just meant that the neckstrap connector didn't look as sturdy and IF someone were concerned about the tripod connector that it would make sense that they would be at least as concerned about the neckstrap connector. Next thing I know I'm being challenged to PROVE that a neck strap connector WILL FAIL. For all I know the danmed things are 10 times more sturdy, they just don't look it and I havent seen any information from anyone that says one is more likely to fail that the other.

Cant speak for the others, but I wasnt referring to any of your comments.
Just the comments that I must be "paranoid" simply because I can come to a conclusion on my own, regardless of what anyone or any "review" says. I actually do have the ability to think on my own and come to my own conclusions, not what internet rumor mill says.

 

[Josh66]

OK, sorry - I apologize. You didn't say that, but other people certainly implied it.
You did imply that you didn't think the strap attachment points would be able to take the abuse that sling straps put on the camera though.
"I look at a neck strap connector and they just look small to me and I don't think they were intended to be swung, bounced and twisted either. (at least not as much as a sling strap would cause)"

Every time there is a "strap thread", all I see is Black Rapid this and Black Rapid that. Everyone goes on and on about how awesome they are, and how only a fool would use anything else...


The Black Rapid fanboys are almost as bad as the Mac fanboys sometimes... I don't care what strap you use, but when somebody says that I am stupid for using the strap I use (that has not happened in this thread, but it has happened) don't be surprised if I get a little defensive.



The weak point of the BR straps, IMO, is the hardware that attaches it to the camera. It is a known fact that they can break. At least with a traditional neck strap with two points of attachment, if one of them were to break (unlikely as that is, I'm sure it can happen) you would have a chance of grabbing the strap before the camera hit the ground.

I admit that it is unlikely that the tripod socket would come out of the camera. But I also think that it is more likely than the strap loop coming off of the camera.

I would be more worried about the hardware on the strap breaking than the hardware on the camera breaking. The Black Rapid straps have been proven to have issues with that. Traditional neck straps typically don't attach in the same way, and so do not have the same issue.

The attachment point to the camera is the weakest link, and on a neck strap, that point is typically a 1/2" wide band of nylon. On a black Rapid strap, the weakest point is either the ring that it clips onto, or the clip itself.

 

[OrionsByte]

How much bouncing around does the camera really do on your hip? I mean what the heck are you people doing while it's hanging there?

I don't trust my strap yet, so I almost always have a hand on or near my camera anyways - it's nice just to have the weight off my neck. So far though I haven't really felt too much concern for shocks and sudden jolts and their effect on where the strap is threaded in to the tripod socket because the neoprene strap absorbs a lot of the shock. I'm more concerned with the camera physically banging in to something while it's hanging there than I am of it somehow pulling loose of the socket.

 

[2WheelPhoto]

as long as my black rapid and bat grip holds up to me accidentaly using the grip as a mount point instead of the 70-200mm tripod mount point I'm really golden

I don't care what brand strap or bat grip it is really.... mine ain't broke after all the abuse, and who cares, state farm is there if it does but it won't

 

[Josh66]

From what I understand, the Nikon 70-200 has a 1/4-20 socket in the lens ... not just on the collar...? Is that correct? As in, it's not in some part that can be physically removed from the lens?

I know that on my (Canon) 70-200, there is no way in HELL I would ever attach a strap to the tripod collar. It is just simply too easy to remove.

I know the bigger lenses have their own dedicated sling loops, but that's different...

 

[cgipson1]

Black Rapid here.. D800, and a selection of lenses. If the lens has a tripod mount.. I screw the BR there! If not.. I screw in the camera base or the grip base.. depends on which one I am using. I hike 10-12 miles at a time in rough country.. sometime with a pack also, and the BR keeps the camera safe and easily accessible. I do usually keep a hand on the body.. as I don't like it flopping! I have also worn the BR for 12 hour events.. with a backpack full of gear. Very comfortable!

As pointed out... there are a lot of good straps out there... just find one you like and go for it. They all have some pro's and cons....

 

[TheBiles]

From what I understand, the Nikon 70-200 has a 1/4-20 socket in the lens ... not just on the collar...? Is that correct? As in, it's not in some part that can be physically removed from the lens?

I know that on my (Canon) 70-200, there is no way in HELL I would ever attach a strap to the tripod collar. It is just simply too easy to remove.

I know the bigger lenses have their own dedicated sling loops, but that's different...

Are you saying the tripod collar is too easy to remove? You know Canon collars don't come off unless the lens is detached from the camera, right? Even if it did comes loose some how, your camera wouldn't be going anywhere. I have no issue with connecting to the collar on my 70-200. It just provides better balance.