Disclaimer: Anyone not interested in camera accessories is probably going to find the following post particularly mind numbing. For all those who want to revolutionise the way they carry their camera- read on!
Today in the post I received something I have been eyeing off for ages: The Black Rapid RS-4 Strap. Ever since I got my DSLR in April last year, I have been perplexed on how to carry it comfortably when out and about for a day's shooting. I have tried the "around the neck" method (which is fine for awhile but after a few hours my neck really starts to ache plus it screams"TOURIST!!"), the "across the body" method (my preferred way of carrying but it is kind of unwieldy and isn't great for those shots when I need my camera quickly), the "hand-held" method (this works okay but I am always fearful someone is going to grab it out of my hand as I am wandering along) and the "shoulder strap" method (this doesn't feel overly secure and the strap has an uncanny knack of slipping off my shoulder at regular intervals). Enter the wonderfully simple "why didn't I think of it and earn a million bucks" Black Rapid R-strap by Ron Henry and his kickar*e crew of innovators.
Basically, this bad boy connects to the tripod socket on either the camera body or lens and, once attached, allows the camera to hang upside down with the lens pointing outwards (not as scary as it sounds) by your side or in the small of your back. The strap is worn diagonally across the body and when you are ready to shoot, the camera simply glides up the strap and into shooting position in one smooth, fluid motion. It is simple, frees up both hands, distributes the weight of the camera/lens evenly across your back rather than weighing heavily on your neck or shoulders and keeps the camera discretely tucked away until you are ready to take a shot. While I only have the 50mm and 85mm lenses, the R-Strap comfortably takes the weight of the 70-200mm (and larger) glass.
Of course, as is the case with most innovations, it does have its teething problems. Some complain that the hook/fastener-R doesn't work well when shooting vertically and when using a vertical grip. You can check out feedback here. By far the greatest influence in me springing for the R-strap, however, was the feedback from two of the world's leading travel photographers (and whose blogs are an absolute must-read if you are into travel photography or even if you aren't they are still a fantastic read and their images are incredible): David duChemin of the PixelatedImage and Matt Brandon of the Digital Trekker. Both are sponsored by BlackRapid but their reviews of the R-strap are pretty impartial and neither are shy about talking about the R-Strap's shortcomings. Both have pimped their R-strap to work better for their style of shooting (this is, of course, not recommended by BlackRapid!). You can read about Matt Brandon's, umm, incident involving his new Canon 5D Mark II and the R-strap here (caution: a stiff shot of whiskey for all photographers may be required before reading ;))
The RS-4 contains a small front pocket where you can keep additional memory cards, business cards or cash for that mid-shoot coffee break. Unfortunately there are no stockists in the UK yet (although there is one in Labrador, Australia, for you Aussie blog readers) so you need to purchase from one of the US dealers or from BlackRapid themselves. It was $48 (US) plus shipping to the UK and took about a week to arrive. I haven't yet received a letter from HM Revenue and Customs but assume I will get stung for duty in the next couple of days. Personally I don't think the strap is ridiculously expensive especially compared to every other piece of camera equipment I need to purchase (strobes, tripod etc) and it is a small price to pay for comfort and maneuverability.
I am going to take the Nikon and the R-strap out tomorrow for a test run- will let you know how the R-strap performs.