The BlackRapid R-Strap

(Click here to view my gallery of product shots for Blackrapid.com)

If there’s anyone out there using a regular neck strap for their SLR – Don’t do it anymore!

I’ve been hunting for the perfect camera strap for a long time, and I think the R-strap from blackrapid.com may finally be the one. It is by far the quickest, most intuitive, most convenient strap I’ve ever had the pleasure of using.

Regular camera "neck straps" have never been my thing, and I always use them as shoulder straps – not neck straps. It’s a rare occasion for me to hang my 5D or 1DMkIII from my neck because they weigh so much (and I always feel like a Chinese tourist with a giant camera and lens sticking out of my chest). Not to mention, using a neck strap around your neck with the 70-200mm or 300mm just doesn’t work. Carrying a camera hucked over your shoulder on it’s neck strap will work for transporting it – but taking a shot with that camera is sometimes tricky. Using regular neck straps as shoulder straps, things always end up the same way – twisted and awkward. This is a problem for me, especially with portrait orientation shots. Try it and you’ll see what I mean. Try taking a quick shot (vertical/portrait) with your SLR slung from your right shoulder. It’s a pain in the ass to swing it around and get a shot off, making sure the strap isn’t in the way or pulled and twisted around your hand or arm. These shortcomings are also magnified when using any type of telephoto lens. Additionally, I’ve also always hated having to worry about keeping the camera strap from slipping off my shoulder, someone grabbing it like a purse snatching, lenses banging into walls behind me, or the quick release clips giving out and watching my camera take a nice four foot drop (or worse) into water, sand, rocks, concrete, etc.

None of these problems exist with the BlackRapid R-Strap.

Simplicity is a beautiful thing, especially when it solves multiple problems at once. I can’t believe how simple yet beneficial the R-Strap is. It’s basically a nylon strap with some adjustment levers, a shoulder pad and a military-grade connector clip. All components are quality parts – well made, well sewn, thick. Professional feeling.

The R-Strap attaches to your camera with a nice powdercoated heavyweight clip connector via the tripod mount d-ring, or with a screw-in connector called the "FastenR" (pictured above). While there aren’t any hard specs yet as far as weight limits go, the tripod mount attachment point feels like it could hold an elephant, and will no doubt hold your heaviest SLR or telephoto with ease. It’s a much more secure feeling than having everything hang from those tiny little rings provided for your neck strap. I don’t know about anyone else, but I’ve got the Manfrotto tripod mounts on both camera bodies and both telephotos that I own, making the R-Strap interchangeable with all of them in about a half second.

With the R-Strap slung diagonally across your body, your camera hangs securely upside down near your hip/belt, ready to shoot. Taking a quick shot? Vertical/portrait? Just reach down, grab the camera and slide it up to your face. No twisting, no shortness, no hang ups. It’s pretty incredible. When you’re done, just place the camera back down at your hip. There’s an adjustable clamp that’ll stop the camera from sliding back too far around you on the strap. It’s that easy. Having the camera body hang upside down is much more intuitive, and I can’t believe nobody else thought of this before. It just makes more sense. No worries about shoulder slippage whatsoever when it’s across your body, mail-sack-style. It’s solid and not going anywhere you don’t want it to when worn like that. Leaning, sitting, climbing, walking – you’re good. I sometimes wear it over one shoulder when getting in and out of the car, and when over one shoulder it’s not too bad, but there’s still the feeling it might slip off. I may adjust the strap length to make it a little shorter for regular, day-to-day, in-and-out-of-car-to-office type transport… then adjust it back to a longer length to carry it mail-sack-style on longer walks/assignments (Note to Ron: a little rubber coating or Domke style stitching on the underside of the shoulder pad would be awesome for preventing fear of one shoulder slippage!)

Walking around and hiking with the camera upside down took some getting used to, but is a surprising change. It’s very natural, comfortable and it makes your lens point towards the ground and behind you. This means no more banging into people, door frames, trees, etc. Combined with the Boda Dry bag, I think I’ve found a winning combination for the way I shoot.

Overall, I’m extremely happy with the BlackRapid R-Strap RS-1, and will be placing an order for another one in the next few days. BlackRapid.com also has another version of the strap, the RS-2, which sports a spot for your ID or business cards, a cell phone/radio holder, a spare-battery pocket, and room for two CF cards. The RS-2 also has a quick-release sizing adjustment clip, which believe it or not, will probably be the reason I stick with the RS-1… I just don’t trust those quick release clips (long story). The BlackRapid RS-1 will set you back $44, and the BlackRapid RS-2 is $56. Each strap includes one FastenR connector for easy attachment to a standard tripod thread-mount. So be sure to check out the BlackRapid.com website, and if you’ve ever had a camera strap that just didn’t feel right to you, give these guys a shot and pick one (or more) up. I can’t see any reason not to.