Maybe you can teach an old dog new tricks. I hate camera straps, they seem to always be in the way and so more often than not, I end up ditching them. Instead, I end up carrying the camera by the body or by the tripod foot when using larger lenses. I should say, I used to hate straps, until I finally used a BlackRapid Sport and in this quick review we will discuss the advantages of this strap.
The reason I didn’t use straps was simple, I didn’t like them. I didn’t like them because they usually weren’t comfortable. When used straight around the neck, the strap tended to pull and give me a neck ache. Another reason for my disdain of straps was that If you placed the strap over your head and onto your opposite shoulder, it would be more comfortable but it was hard to bring the camera up to your eye to shoot.
The BlackRapid Sport model solved these problems for me. The strap is curved to fit over the shoulder and there is a small auxiliary strap that goes under the arm, keeping the strap stable preventing it from riding up towards the neck or sliding down off the arm. The strap is wide enough and padded enough to be comfortable and prevent the strap from cutting into you.
As for straps being cumbersome and hard to bring the camera up to your eye, the BlackRapid straps employs a mounting swivel that allows the gear to slide up the strap while the strap remains in the same position on your shoulder due to the underarm stabilizing strap. I found that the camera and lens quickly and easily slide up to my eye level with no problems and little resistance. The best way to grasp what I am talking about is to see it in action, check it out in this video from BlackRapid below:
Recently, I went on two hikes in search of bighorn rams butting heads and I used the BlackRapid Sport strap to carry a D4 with a 300/2.8 and a 1.4x Teleconverter. The hike was approximately two miles in and two miles out and I spent 4 hours with the rig which weighed in at just under 10 pounds on my shoulder. While I didn’t find any rams cooperating with head banging action, I did find a strap that I really like!
Honestly, with my bad shoulders, I would have struggled to comfortably carry the gear that distance or for that duration, with a regular strap, but the Sport made it a nonissue. I recognize the fact that some people may not be carrying gear quite that heavy, but I wanted to test it with some substantial weight to see how it performed. I have also carried a D4 with a 500mm f/4 lens with no problem and a friend of mine uses the BlackRapid Sport to haul his Canon 1Dx and a 600mm and he is pleased with it as well. If you are wondering how it works with smaller/lighter gear, I walked around a downtown area for hours with a D600 and a 24-120 f/4 len attached and hardly knew they were there.
The Sport strap is made of strong ballistic and cordura nylon with TPE foam padding. The 1/4”-20 FastenR that screws into the tripod mount is made of stainless steel.
I was worried that this bolt could fatigue when carrying larger/heavier gear and snap resulting in an unexpected and undesirable crash of equipment to the ground. I contacted the people at Black Rapid and they assured me that they do rigorous drop testing with several pounds of force, far greater than the weight that we would ever want to carry and they have never heard of a FastenR breaking. They claim that their straps are capable of carrying any professional body/lens combination. BlackRapid has made a very nice strap and they offer an extended 5 year warranty for free just for registering your purchase. The folks at BlackRapid make a collection of straps tailored to your particular needs and in the future we will be reviewing some of them as well.
I’ve learned that a camera strap can be a wonderful thing, but instead of settling for the original manufacturer’s, consider the BlackRapid Sport strap to make carrying your gear much easier and more comfortable. If you are looking for a Christmas gift or a birthday gift for yourself or a photographer that you know, consider a BlackRapid strap, it truly is something that you should give a try.
The BlackRapid Sport is available thru B&H Photo or Adorama for $73.95 (at the time of this post)
BlackRapid Sport Camera Strap
- Build Quality
- Handling
- Value
- Ease of Use
Photography Life Overall Rating
I have a BR Strap with out the secondary underarm strap. The pad stays in place great when caring, but when shooting the pad moves a bit. Even when it moves it doesn’t get uncomfortable. There is a small pocket on the pad which holds extra battery and lens cleaning pads.
I have never found the thing to unscrew by itself. The rubber grommet is thick and allows a lot of locking force. I do find the D-ring/carabiner makes a lot of unpleasant noise as I hike. I have never felt my gear wasn’t safe on the BR strap.
You must take care to remove your keys, knife, pants with grommets, anything that will damage your camera/lens must be removed. Even with that I do get concerned that the focus ring gets a work out as I hike unless I supervise the lens with my hand. The focus ring on my 200-500 has become lose and wobbly, I can only assume it was the many miles it rubbed my pants.
D500/D800E 200-500 and many shorter lenses. Very comfortable and secure.
I have the Black Rapid wrist strap on my Olympus micro 4/3 travel camera. It has worked well for two years. However the strap did unscrew from the camera and I was lucky to catch the camera in mid air. No damage to the camera or lens. After that bit of drama I attached a safety cable from the strap to the camera side lug and I check the mount frequently to assure it is tight. I am considering the shoulder strap as well and this review and comments have been helpful.
Ready to buy but one thing is really bothering me. What keeps the bolt from unscrewing at some point. The rubber grommet? Sure I’ll check in now and then, but after a day of hiking and shooting I worried Ill see the rig on the ground. I should mention, BTW, that I am paranoid – I just bounced a D-500 and Nikon 200-500 on the ground due to a monopod failure. The lens was okay – the camera is heading back to Nikon… :-(
Hal, Yes the grommet is one thing that prevents it as it increases friction, and the other is the swivel above the screw. I know others report having their gear coming unscrewed, but I have never experienced it and as you state, it is wise to periodically check it and make sure it isn’t loosening. As an aside, I was using a BlackRapid strap from 9 am till 3 pm yesterday and I had the same rig you do on it – D500 with the 200-500 lens. It was fine all day. Be sure to screw it down tight and check it often and I think you will be fine.
Hal & Tom,
Unfortunately, there are no perfect products out there. I do think the BR is a very good strap and I’ve used it with a D800/gripped + 2x TC + 300mm f2.8 without any problems. I also have my concerns for product failure, so I check it periodically.
It is best to check your gear in the same way a pilot would check his plane.
Hal,
Regarding the monopod, I wasn’t sure what you meant by monopod failure. I’ve had the monopod accidentally slip with the camera/lens attached. Now, I attach my BR to the camera (and monopod to lens) as a backup. No more major accidents after that.
Hello, I use a BlackRapid RS-4 a long time and is seeking information on the RS-Sport I came here. The problem with my RS-4 is that it goes over the shoulder and neck, it gets uncomfortable pretty quickly. I think I’ll take a RS-Sport after reading this.
I secure my BlackRapid like that : www.hostingpics.net/viewe…Secure.jpg
To ring keychain I found the idea on ebay with Chinese vendors selling immitations of BlackRapid and have secured their system like that.
Sorry this is the Google translate.
I did not want to attach a strap to the tripod mount of my D800 and found a very comfortable and sturdy strap from Photojojo ( I think they sell it on amazon as well) called the Split strap for $25.
Easy on the neck and shoulder without worrying about the camera coming loose from the mount.
As an owner who has a BR strap and nearly had his Canon 5d3 drop onto cement because of this, the BR screw WILL work itself loose to the point where it will unscrew completely from your camera, dropping it. BR’s response is to “always check tightness before you shoot”, which is a poorly worded way of saying, “yeah, we know but you bought our strap and that’s not our problem”. Just some FYI.
I’m also happy with my BR RS-7. I keep a Kirk clamp on the Fasten-R and then just attach that to the arca-swiss plate on the camera body. I use a Peak Design Leash as a tether between the strap and the body (D7000) for extra fall security. Don’t usually have anything much larger than the 70-300 on, so this has worked well for me. Much more comfortable than the OEM strap.
I love my BlackRapid strap. Definitely one of those “never knew I needed it until I had it” kind of things.
stephen hung beat me to the question about a BlackRapid and a backpack, though my Kata backpack lets me do the backpack first and then the strap over it. It’s a little bit easier to unfurl myself when I need a break.
I also use the RRS plate to attach to the L-plate on my D600, and used a drop of blue LocTite to screw Fastenr. Also check periodically that the little screw thingie that keeps the clip locked is tight. Haven’t had any problems yet, knock wood.
A few comments as I have been using a BR RS-7 for the past 2 yrs.
To Samantha Decker’s question – put the BR on first, then put on your backpack. if you are using a camera shoulder bag, it won’t matter which you put on first. You will have to remove your equipment in reverse order of course.
To Mitchell’s comment – That photographer should have attached the strap to the tripod mount of the lens, not the camera. Attaching to the camera’s tripod mount (when you are using a large and heavy 200-400mm lens) is asking for trouble. That is too much stress on a tripod mount that was never intended to support that much weight. Even if it did, the stress to the camera/lense mount comes into play.
I use a Nikon D800 with battery grip and 70-200 f2.8. My BR is usually attached to the tripod mount of the 70-200 (like the first photo of Tom and his BR). If i am using a monopod, then I attache my BR to the camera, but only for security – I still carry the camera/battery grip/lens by the monopod. I have an extra BR FastenR on the camera tripod mount as well as the lens tripod mount.
Tom – how do you like the underarm strap on the BR sport? I opted not to use one; instead I use a carabiner on my belt if I want to secure the strap (or the camera) to my hip – learned that trick while trying to help my young daughter on the toilet and trying to prevent my camera from swinging forward at the most inopportune times.
Thanks Stephen for your comments.
The carabiner idea is nice. As for the underarm strap, I used it and it worked well but I am sure it works without it, too. It just may slip a little more.
Hi Tom,
I own a Nikon 300mm f/2.8 lens + D7000 + MBD-11 battery pack for bird photography. My question is regarding using Black Rapid strap with the standard Nikon lens foot. Can I use it with the standard lens collar foot or should I buy a replacement foot from like RRS, before attaching the FastenR? I was looking at this specific replacement foot from RRS: www.reallyrightstuff.com/LCF-1…2-8-lenses
Please let me know your opinion.
Thank you,
Regards,
Balaji.
Balaji,
You could use the standard lens foot that comes from Nikon, or use the RSS. You may wish to switch to the RSS foot so you can mount it in the tripod head you use. It is up to you.