Black Rapid RS-Sport Strap

I regularly use a pro DSLR and a heavy telephoto lens. Because of the value of these two items I have always been aware of the consequences of carrying and accidentally dropping them. Although I carry these in a rucksack, I find it difficult to rapidly deploy the camera in the field. I needed another solution. After some internet searching, I had shortlisted a small number of products. I find it annoying though, that most makers of straps do not give you a maximum recommended weight for equipment, that can be attached. I felt uncomfortable with putting my expensive gear on a strap that depended on a plastic buckle's ability not to fail. Of course the buckle may be capable of taking it, but who knows? Enter the Black Rapid straps. I contacted Black Rapid directly and posed my problem. They recommended the RS-Sport Strap, due to my equipment's weight.For those of you looking for a strap, you cannot do much better than this, especially for heavy lenses. The strap is a continuos loop with a gated clip at the bottom; this attaches to a screw in hoop into you tripod mount. The gated clip spins so that your body movements cannot twist the strap. Once you have set up and put the strap on, you have the advantage of sliding your camera up and rapidly shooting, without relasing it from the Black Rapid strap. At least now, if you drop the camera it will only fall to the length of your strap; around hip level.Of course the real benefit is that you can walk with your camera attached to the strap, without the use of a rucksack or bag. This frees you up immensely, allowing to take have your camera next to you, and take photos you otherwise might have missed.The good: well made strap that gives you confidence it delivers what it promises. In practice I have worn this strap all day long and walked for miles. It is comfortable and the under arm strap stops the harnessing slipping around your body. This under arm strap has never rubbed me or been uncomfortable either. The fixings are strong and give me the belief I could carry much heavier items. I am carrying just short of 5kg at the moment.The bad: if you are hand shooting, the product is excellent. If you want to use a tripod however, you have to remove the screw in hoop, and attach your QR tripod plate. The spring gate on the strap that attaches to the loop is small and can be a little bit fiddly; more so, the heavier the equipment. If you use the Black Rapid Lockstar (basically a black plastic shield that fits onto the spring clip) it comes even fiddlier. The company does a FastenR-T1 (a replacement screw for Manfrotto plates); in practice (for heavy loads), I don't have the same confidence in this compared to the supplied screw in hoop. This is because the screw in hoop provided is solid cast and doesn't have moveable parts like the FastenR-T1. Maybe with longer use I will get to trust the FastenR-T1.Another thing a user of the strap must be aware of is that you carry your camera upside down. I tried rotating the tripod foot on my big lens to 12.00 o'clock to correct this, but it stops the camera from sliding up the strap correctly for shooting. Just be aware that you camera is upside down before you sit down on something hard! When you buy the strap it comes in either left hand side or right hand side. If you buy RHS, it means you will always be carrying your equipment on that side. The strap is extremely comfortable, but with heavy equipment being carried all day, be aware of the possible strain to your body. For all day use of heavy equipment, you may want to consider carrying a rucksack to give you relief between photography sessions.You also need to appreciate that with one fixing point only on your camera or lens, the equipment will swing. When walking or running I have found I it more comfortable to put my right hand on the end of the lens to reduce this.The above are minor gripes, but I think if you are considering buying one of these, you have a right to know first, bearing I mind it is not necessarily a cheap option. Would I recommend this strap. YES I WOULD without hesitation. I have tried other products like the SpiderPro camera holster, which is absolutely brilliant, another 5 star product. Even been rock climbing with my equipment clipped into the SpiderPro, and never worried twice about losing anything. However the SpiderPro is not so comfortable for walking with heavy equipment attached for long periods. Where the BlackRapid RS-Sportstrap excels is that it takes the weight on your shoulder and allows you to shoot whilst your precious equipment is harnessed to your body. It is well made and I was pleased with the level of support from Black Rapid themselves before purchasing the product.Hope this review helps you all!

When I was looking around for a strap for my SLR, I got through to some reviews on youtube that suggested the Black Rapid range. Once I made up my mind, considering that these things are quite expensive for the common bloke, I ordered myself an RS-Sport strap. And it got delivered well within time for my trip to the scottish highlands.Without much ado, I snapped the strap to my Nikon D5100 (with a 70-300 lense). Once I got out of the car near Glencoe and put on the strap for the first time, I really didnt feel the camera at all! I was also carrying other gear including another SLR, some filters and filter holders and a tripod on the other shoulder. By the end of the first hour, I could clearly make the difference. despite the Sport and my other camera bag straps crisscrossing my chest, I had no trouble at all in moving the camera up to eyesight for a shot. The most beautiful aspect, however, was the mobility that I got. With my traditional (read kit) strap, it has always been my bane to bang the SLR body on my knees or the ground below when climbing. With the Sport though, it was a whole different story. The two clips securely lock the camera by your side, again, in a position that is comfortable to you. And the under-arm restraint makes sure that the longer sling does not slide off your shoulder or move around when you are using both your hands to hang on to dear life for that perfect, off the mountain top, shot.All in all, I am super duper impressed with the strap. The only qualm I have is that Black Rapid should include hooks, loops to tag on other things like a tripod for longer climbs/walks. Would love to see it.I am so impressed my the comfort and mobility provided by the Sport strap that I am ordering myself an RS-7 now. Why RS-7? Because the sport strap lacks another important bit that the RS-7 offers. Pockets for memory cards and other things :)So, mobility wise, RS Sport is above the rest, head and shoulder. Improvements - Could use those extra pockets like the RS-7 on the strap and loops to hang stuff off would really make this a loooong term market leader.

Was wondering about paying out all this money for a camera strap when I already had one from ebay at a fraction of the cost. Then totting up the price of the equipment hanging on the end of it I decided to take the advice of the Amazon reviews and buy one.I have to say that the reason for the high cost was immediately apparent, the strap is at least twice the thickness, the carabina is a lot better engineered to finer tolerances, the supplied "Lockstar" (although plastic) fits well and does its job well, so there is no way that it can undo.The camera easily slides up to your face and back down to your hip again without taking the strap with it, so much so that I have taken the underarm strap off completely as I don't seem to need it to anchor the strap in place.My only concern is the strap release buckle located at the back, to my mind is an open invitation to any following thief, though I solved this by putting two cable ties through the the two components to tie them together to stop the buckle from opening or being opened.To sum up and to ask whether I would re-purchase then I would say "yes", it is a very well constructed piece of equipment made from high quality materials and designed to do its job very well. The only downside is the price which hurts, but then so would the replacement cost of the camera etc. from a cheaper strap that broke!