where there’s smoke there’s forum fire
spraynpray said:
Here is my solution to the problem of wanting to keep my Slik tripods' QD puck in place. I turned the original centre out of the puck to take BR's Manfrotto QD plate mounting ring. Looks like hell maybe, but works well:
OK, my question here is how secure the ring is in the plate on the camera bottom. I use the Manfrotto RC-2 Plates but would not trust the bolt tightening handle to carry the weight of the camera. Is that a substantial piece you show in your photo?
When you use it on the Manfrotto it is easy and very safe. It is the specially extended Black Rapid FastenR-T1 which is made to pass through the Manfotto plate. On my QD 'puck' I had to remove the old stud and turn away the old cast in boss to allow it to work. The Genuine Black Rapid fittings are excellent from an engineers perspective - unlike the chinese copies that are around. When you examine the Black rapid parts you will see that they are very well made, properley cut threads not torn, and have a nice radius at the transistion from the thread to the head so there are not stress-raisers present (it is stress raisers that cause snapping mainly).
I would use it even if I had a heavy D4 but the D90 with grip and 70-300VR isn't light. I do however have the sling quite short and I have a precautionery hand under the lens base when I walk ;-)
@spraynpray.... thanks, I may investigate this Black Rapid FastenR-T1. My strap is almost always looped around my wrist, so I can carry the camera in my right hand with my fingers around the right side, the camera hanging from my finger tips. And, in the event of a stumble or fall, I quickly try to roll to the right, cuddling the camera into my stomach. After all, we heal, cameras do not. Or so I heard my daddy say about furniture. (He was in the business)
I have a NIKON AH-4 hand strap, but find it is inconvenient to get my hand out of.
As a rule of thumb, I either black out the words NIKON and camera model on the strap or use a different strap. I really prefer to not have folks know what I am shooting with and have told a few folks already the D4 is "an old NIKON" . This avoids anyone who may have an ulterior motive for their curiosity. My cameras are blacked out as well with gaffer's tape.
The last place for a strap is around my neck, unless I am cary a camera into my house. Then I turn the lens towards me, put the strap over my head and this keeps the lens pointed downward and less likely to bang on door frames, etc.
@lamarfrancois - see my post 3 above yours.
Are you feeling lucky?
spraynpray said:
@lamarfrancois - see my post 3 above yours.Are you feeling lucky?
lucky he saved £30?
Also, Wii strap for use as a wrist strap and it doubles as a backup solution when hooked onto a caribena on the £20 Quick Strap I use - I'd use the same backup solution if I had the rip off BR version, anything can fail, no matter how much money you spend.
dotslash said:
lucky he saved £30?
That £30 will seem trivial when the cheap Chinese screw snaps off at one of the many stress raisers carelessly created during rushed manufacture and his 5 grand camera and 3 grand lens land on the floor.
dotslash said:
I'd use the same backup solution if I had the rip off BR version, anything can fail, no matter how much money you spend.
Doesn't sound like you are an engineer and so don't know how much more likely the cheap copy version is to fail than the slightly more expensive version.
It is all about risk avoidance my friend but if you think you are right, it's your camera. I am only trying to assist people who don't know what they are looking at beyond the price tag.
Good luck.
hmm, well until I see scientific stress tests between the various versions (i've read about and seen multiple failures of both BR and copycat versions), all I'll say is good luck with your single point of failure, which fundamentally, is attached to a point on the camera not designed for what these straps are using it for.
Seeing as it sounds like you are an engineer, maybe you could rig up a stress test and prove us all wrong.
spraynpray said:
That £30 will seem trivial when the cheap Chinese screw snaps off at one of the many stress raisers carelessly created during rushed manufacture and his 5 grand camera and 3 grand lens land on the floor.Doesn't sound like you are an engineer and so don't know how much more likely the cheap copy version is to fail than the slightly more expensive version.
It is all about risk avoidance my friend but if you think you are right, it's your camera. I am only trying to assist people who don't know what they are looking at beyond the price tag.
Good luck.
The strap itself is reasonably well made with a sturdy metal plate screwed into the camera's tripod socket clamped onto the straw. The screw itself is held to the plate via a metal tab .The clamp would still hold the camera if the metal tab were to fail but there would be more more stress loadings through the tripod mount - which if anything is the real point of weakness as said above.
Point taken about cheap stuff - with PC power supplies you'd be absolutely right. But why do Nikon charge £400 for a battery grip? (MB-D12) Or £300 for a battery charger? (MH-26) People will pay through the nose for camera accessories , compared to the costs of manufacturing them.
lamarfrancois said:
Point taken about cheap stuff - with PC power supplies you'd be absolutely right. But why do Nikon charge £400 for a battery grip? (MB-D12) Or £300 for a battery charger? (MH-26) People will pay through the nose for camera accessories , compared to the costs of manufacturing them.
Agree with you here lamar, for some things, i can see that spending the money is worthwhile, but you raise a perfect example with Nikon own brand battery grips there. If only the third party manufacturers in the battery grip arena were as reliable (AFAIK) as the manufacturers in the strap market.
Also, if you buy a Quick Strap, you help the British economy. If you buy BR, you help the American economy. So I guess the buyer can support whichever country they think needs their money most! ;)
dotslash said:
hmm, well until I see scientific stress tests between the various versions (i've read about and seen multiple failures of both BR and copycat versions), all I'll say is good luck with your single point of failure, which fundamentally, is attached to a point on the camera not designed for what these straps are using it for.Seeing as it sounds like you are an engineer, maybe you could rig up a stress test and prove us all wrong.
I'm a retired engineer now, what I did was to give you a heads up based on many years of experience of product failures in many applications. If that isn't good enough, then like I said - good luck - it is your camera after all. Good luck trying to get your chinese seller to give a toss after taking your money too.
Your comment about the tripod mount design? They are way tougher than you realise - check out the way sports photographers carry heavy lens/camera combinations on them all day every day. Do you see them falling off? I wonder how many have el cheapo screws holding them together...
Such is the effect of stress raisers, you could get an inferior metal to out perform a superior metal if it is made correctly.
dotslash said:
Agree with you here lamar, for some things, i can see that spending the money is worthwhile, but you raise a perfect example with Nikon own brand battery grips there. If only the third party manufacturers in the battery grip arena were as reliable (AFAIK) as the manufacturers in the strap market.Also, if you buy a Quick Strap, you help the British economy. If you buy BR, you help the American economy. So I guess the buyer can support whichever country they think needs their money most! ;)
Agreed about cost of battery grips, but not about any one country's economy - the best quality gets my money wherever that comes from. If the BR fastenR-T1 hadn't been good enough, I would have made my own.
'nuff said.
spraynpray said:
...many years of experience of product failures in many applications...
We appreciate the wisdom, hence my nifty backup system.
spraynpray said:
Good luck trying to get your chinese seller to give a toss after taking your money too.
FYI, the Quick Strap can be bought direct from a British guy who gives great customer service and prices. Just a quick google and a look on couple of forums will tell you this.
spraynpray said:
Your comment about the tripod mount design? They are way tougher than you realise - check out the way sports photographers carry heavy lens/camera combinations on them all day every day. Do you see them falling off? I wonder how many have el cheapo screws holding them together...
Indeed, I hope they are way tougher than i realise, but don't you carry/hold/support heavy lens/camera setups from the lens (300mm to 600mm lenses)? If not then the lens could snap from it's mount with the camera? They don't use the tripod mount on the camera. Hence, that is a moo (yes I said moo :D) point?
Indeed, I hope they are way tougher than i realise, but don't you carry/hold/support heavy lens/camera setups from the lens (300mm to 600mm lenses)? If not then the lens could snap from it's mount with the camera? They don't use the tripod mount on the camera. Hence, that is a moo (yes I said moo :D) point?
My comment was about the quality of the screw.
Even the Quick Strap uses a screw in the tripod mount, and it manages to put more strain on the screw due to the mounting plate but it looks good too. I considered that set-up but didn't get as far as examining it as my Slik QD PUK was a problem.
My comment about chinese screws was addressed to Lamarfrancois as I got the impression he may be using a fleabay special.
On my D700, I am still using a long, wide and super-soft deer leather strap I originally made about 25 years ago for my 35mm film Canon camera. I will have to make another one for my D800 when (if) it arrives.
Just got my Black Rapid in the mail yesterday. Will check this out in Atlanta.....
Hey, love the Black Rapid.... and will be getting the Manfrotto RC-2 with the Black Rapid screw, so I can easily switch to tripod mode. Thanks to all for the ideas....
Got my Luma Cinch strap.
So far it's been really nice!! I like the fact that it attaches at 2 different points because when wearing it as a sling, it doesn't swing around.
It's very easy to shorten and lengthen while you're using it.
It's a bit pricey, but it's extremely functional. I,m very happy with it.
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