Cool Must Have Products
When Canon announced the release of the “5D Mark II” I was thrilled, when they announced the “1D Mark IV” I was ecstatic, and when they recently announce the release of the new “70-200 2.8L IS II” I almost fainted. Honestly I’m a huge fan of great products such as the aforementioned, but in reality I rarely get excited over new gadgets, doohickeys, gizmos or attachments. Lord knows the market is flooded with every kind of contraption imaginable. Some of which are quite useful and some of which are not so much. But it seems to me that the majority of these thing-a-ma-bobs inevitably end up in a box headed for ebay. Take the Fong dome for instance. A great idea, both bounced and diffused directional lighting out of your attached camera strobe. Great that is until you start using the darn thing. It seems to have a real problem staying fixed atop that 580 EX II under real world circumstances, and the last thing you need is that puppy slapping down on a marble floor during a ceremony. Sure a little Velcro, a little black tape and it’s as good as welded on, but really who has the time and patience for that? It just seems that those miracle products just don’t work as well as they say they do.
Now if you’ve ever shot with two cameras at the same time you will know that trotting around with a camera hanging off each shoulder isn’t exactly a smooth operation. Oh you can try, but one is always falling off your shoulder at the most inopportune time. And if you have a 70-200 or longer telephoto, no doubt it bares the scares of smacking the ground for those times when you knelt down for low angel shots. You could crisscross the straps and end up strangling yourself in the process, but wouldn’t it be nice if there were a better way?
A few weeks ago I came across a gizmo that caught my eye, something that seemed revolutionary, something that not only worked but worked well. I was surfing the net as I so often do when I saw a video were a photographer was shooting with two cameras; one hanging from each of his shoulders. What caught my eye was that his camera straps were a part of something that resembled a backpack harness. (the light bulb goes on over my head) As I sat there watching with one eyebrow raised higher then could be considered attractive I thought, “This I’ve got to have! Who makes it, what’s it called, where can I get one?” So I did a web search and came up with the RS DR-1 by Black Rapid. It’s a revolutionary new type of camera strap that not only solves the problem of slippery camera straps, but also distributes the cameras weight and balance far better then any other product I’ve ever used or seen for that matter. Another impressive feature of this product is that when you raise the camera to your eye the strap stays stationary. The camera slides up and down the strap via a mechanism that attaches to your camera where you tripod plate would normally connect. It even has adjustable stops that will prevent the camera from moving to far back or forward.
While this thing is just plain cool, it’s also surprisingly fast. You can literally switch between cameras in less then a second, no fumbling; no rope burn, a really cool feature when you need to switch between a camera with a long telephoto to one with a wide-angle attached. I must warn you though, this isn’t for the faint of heart; expect to spend between $130 to $135 plus tax or shipping or both depending on where you shop. I bought mine at the Houston Camera Exchange and they had several different models in stock. You can also purchase the RS-4, which is a single camera strap, and they make various attachments for memory cards, cell phones and the like. Your world on your shoulders, these guys thought of everything. Seems to me they might actually be photographers.
In conclusion, of all the gizmos I’ve purchased over the years, this is a product that I can really get behind and one that will have a permanent place in my Pelican case.
To learn more and see it in action click here: http://www.blackrapid.com/
Posted by Houston Wedding Photographer Scott Villalobos/RSVPStudios.com
Houston Wedding and Portrait Photographer - Scott Villalobos www.rsvpstudios.com
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Thanks for this great article. It looks sweet! I’m saving for one today!
These do look cool. I just bought an Op-Tech Dual harness which is similar and attaches in the usual way to eyelets on the camera (instead of the tripod mount as the R-strap uses). Works great and is worth looking at as an alternative (it’s cheaper as well).