Clip for Black Rapid straps on Arca Swiss type brackets

[MarkBarbieri]

One of the drawbacks I've found to using a Black Rapid strap is when I'm using a tripod. I use a RRS L-Bracket to attach to my ball head, but the BR strap screws into the bottom of the bracket.

In their recent catalog, I noticed that RRS stuff now offers a clamp designed to make this easier. You screw the strap into the clamp then you attache the clamp to the bracket. It's much easier to pop the clamp on and off than it is to screw and unscrew the strap.

It occurred to me that any Arca Swiss type clamp with a 1/4" threaded hole would work for this, so I ordered a cheaper one from Amazon. I tried it out the other night and it worked well. I attached it so that the screw faced forwards (lens side) so that it wouldn't protrude from the back of the camera.

Because I have two BR straps (my wife also uses one), I ordered the RRS clamp as well. I'm curious to see if it is worth the extra cost. The cheap one was surprisingly well made.

Is this really a sane practice? I know some people are terrified of the BR straps because of the stress on the tripod mounts. I don't have any personal knowledge of any one having a problem with theirs (and I know a significant number of BR strap users), but I suppose it is possible. I've used one for years on a 5DM2 and a 7D and haven't seen any issues at all. When I went out a couple of nights ago, I walked several miles with mine attached to the new clamp, attached to an L-Bracket, attached to a portrait grip, attached to the camera. Everything worked just fine. Of course, I may have gotten lucky and my camera may burst into pieces the next time I use it. Try at your own risk, but for me, life is too short for less comfortable straps or clunkier solutions when using a tripod.

 

[wbeem]

Is this really a sane practice? I know some people are terrified of the BR straps because of the stress on the tripod mounts. I don't have any personal knowledge of any one having a problem with theirs (and I know a significant number of BR strap users), but I suppose it is possible. I've used one for years on a 5DM2 and a 7D and haven't seen any issues at all. When I went out a couple of nights ago, I walked several miles with mine attached to the new clamp, attached to an L-Bracket, attached to a portrait grip, attached to the camera. Everything worked just fine. Of course, I may have gotten lucky and my camera may burst into pieces the next time I use it. Try at your own risk, but for me, life is too short for less comfortable straps or clunkier solutions when using a tripod.

I also don't know anyone who had a problem, but I do know a Nikon Professional Services guy who told me that he's seen it happen many times (or at least seen the aftermath sent in for repair).

According to him, the designers never intended those threads to hold the weight of the camera upside-down like that.

Gotta be honest, I never considered it failing when I used my BlackRapid strap, but I did always feel slightly insecure about the way my camera wobbled around dangling on the end of that strap. I'd usually walk with my hand on it to keep it steady.

After his warning, and after noticing how many other photographers I trust stopped using the tripod mount for their strap connection, I switched to the UP-Strap.

Even with the clamp connection, you're still really using that threaded mount to hold it in place. For my part, I'm going to stick with straps that use the strap loops on top of the camera body.

 

[WDWFigment]

I also don't know anyone who had a problem, but I do know a Nikon Professional Services guy who told me that he's seen it happen many times (or at least seen the aftermath sent in for repair).

According to him, the designers never intended those threads to hold the weight of the camera upside-down like that.

Gotta be honest, I never considered it failing when I used my BlackRapid strap, but I did always feel slightly insecure about the way my camera wobbled around dangling on the end of that strap. I'd usually walk with my hand on it to keep it steady.

After his warning, and after noticing how many other photographers I trust stopped using the tripod mount for their strap connection, I switched to the UP-Strap.

Even with the clamp connection, you're still really using that threaded mount to hold it in place. For my part, I'm going to stick with straps that use the strap loops on top of the camera body.

Ugh. Really wish I didn't read this. I'll still use the BR because I like it that much, but now these failures will always be in the back of my mind when using the BR strap.

(I suppose a "thanks for the heads up" might also be in order.)

 

[photo_chick]

I've seen tripod mounts fail a couple of times. Not with Black Rapid straps in particular. One was a camera on a tripod. Tripod was bumped and the camera fell off because the metal nut in the camera came out of the camera body (it was a mostly plastic body) and I saw another camera fall to it's doom when the person was holding it by a square mounting plate upside down. That one the threads had been stripped on the mount.

So the mounts do fail. But would it happen with a BR strap? Especially when used on a newish camera owned by someone who really cares for and inspects their equipment regularly? I'm thinking probably not. I'm a Crumpler strap fan anyway so it's a non-issue for me.

 

[Gianna'sPapa]

I can't speak to the camera mount (I'm not about to take the camera apart to see), but on the Pentax battery grip, the screw mount is not just pressed into body but goes through the body, a metal plate and is attached with a closed top nut. Since I can't see a manufacturer spending the extra money to design two different attachment points, I'm making a large leap of faith that it is the same on camera body as it is on the battery grip. Its probably stronger in that the camera body is magnesium alloy vs the plastic of the grip. Has anyone approached BR and asked the question about the safety of the mount?

 

[RKlukas]

I would also add this. One of the other issues not brought up yet when using these type straps is loss of sharpness. If you take a heavier lens, and the camera is bouncing around your hip, etc, the stress on the front lens mount of the body,is extremely high. This will, over time,decenter the lens as a whole in relation to the image plane. Decentering is one of the primary causes of loss of sharpness in a camera system. This will sometimes manifest itself as one side is sharper than the other, or the top or bottom is sharp but not both.
This is more noticeable when shooting at about one to two stops down from wide open, most lenses sharpest aperture. At this aperture the depth of field may not cover it up. And if you shoot stopped way down you are either having to over sharpen, in many cases, due to diffraction, or just can't make a very large and sharp enlargement without a lot of salvage work.
We use straps but always have a hand supporting the camera and lens, when moving. Hope this helps.
Rod

 

[boBQuincy]

Looking at some Canon parts manuals it appears that some Canon SLRs have the tripod socket on a small plate, mounted to the chassis with tiny (2-3mm) screws. This should be sufficient for forces in the intended directions (as it was designed for) but forces pulling on the tripod socket are probably outside of the design parameters. As Rod noted this may distort the chassis and cause misalignment between the sensor and lens mount.

The BR strap looks like a great idea, maybe the camera manufacturers will redesign the tripod mount to fully support its use. Until then I will stick with the recommended strap mounting points.

 

[prowlerregal335m]

Mark,that's how I use my black rapid.I have a RRS l bracket on my 50D.I've used it with a 70-200 F4.I also have a wrist strap on it,when I walk around My hand is thru the strap taking some of the weight off my shoulder and keeping people from bumping into it.Hope this helps.