The BlackRapid R-Strap RS-4 camera strap was only product I came across at PMA that I decided to buy and try for myself because I thought it was such a clever solution for an age-old problem. BlackRapid has obviously gotten a lot of press for this product because I am seeing a high percentage of Google hits on my site from my single mention of it last week. So, I decided to forgo the usual studio photography routine and go ahead and publish my user review to help all of those of you obviously trying to figure out if this thing is worth all the hype.

Pros:

• Quick access to camera as advertised.
• New design camera mount is fairly easy to use and solid.
• Decent construction quality of shoulder pad.

Cons:

• Camera incessantly gravitates to an in-the-way position.
• Difficult adjustment mechanism.
• Camera dangles and spins at your side.
• Chintzy connection clip.*
• S.W.A.T. team riot gear styling.
• Shoulder pad does not stay put.
• Connection clip may contact LCD screen potentially causing damage.
• Camera can not be set flat without removing mount.
• Sharp edges on camera mount can damage surfaces, other objects, etc.
• $50 price tag.

Conclusion:

I’m guessing by this point you can tell that I’m not a huge fan of the R-Strap. The most disappointing thing is that I had such high hopes for this product. In fact, I made a special trip back to BlackRapid’s booth and forked over $40 (PMA show special- $8 off their MSRP) just so I could start using it right away even though they promised to mail me a review unit after the show. Eager to get rid of my 12 year old Nikon branded neoprene shoulder strap, I stepped around the corner and quickly tore into the package. Immediately, I encountered difficulty with the connector clip. Then, I struggled to get the length of the strap adjusted to suit my preference. After spending a good 6-8 minutes squatting behind a trash can I was finally ready to put the R-Strap to use.

Within the first 5 minutes I was already starting to think I had made a mistake. My camera just wouldn’t stay put. It kept gravitating to the bottom of the strap which put it on my right hip with the lens sticking straight out into my arm and oncoming traffic. I tried turning and shifting my camera sideways and around to the small of my back like the BlackRapid people had shown me to do standing in their booth. But as soon as I started walking it would quickly slide back around front where I’d smack my lens against my arm or some poor soul walking by. I knocked the lens hood off my little kit lens 3 times in the first 10 minutes of use. I can’t imagine how bad it would have been had I been sporting a longer lens.

Thinking that maybe I hadn’t gotten used to this new-and-improved way of carrying my camera, I was determined to give it the ol’ college try and muddled through the rest of the day and half through the following day. Yes, the R-Strap did make it quite quick and efficient for me to get my camera to my eye and snap a picture. And, I love the fact that the strap doesn’t get all tangled up across the eyepiece like a traditional strap always seems to do. However, I just couldn’t get used to my camera dangling, twirling and knocking into everything while I was walking the show and the streets and casinos of Las Vegas.

BlackRapid seems to market their product to people on the go. From my experience the R-Strap is really only suitable for photographers in a static position that need quick access to their camera (like sports photographers standing on a sideline with three cameras around their neck). I can see how it might work better attached to the tripod collar on a larger telephoto lens- though the laws of gravity seem to suggest that it’s always going to seek the lowest point and not stay behind your back as BlackRapid suggests. As it is- combined with the geeky styling, camera dings and high price tag- I can not recommend the R-Strap. And I’m really bummed about that. Be that as it may, lot’s of people seem to swear by it so make your own choice.

Now for the details and photos:

Review:

The key to the strap’s design is the sliding camera hook (top). Note how the adjustment buckle is positioned at the left with the tag (loose) end of the strap feeding back through the pad assembly. This makes loosening the strap a piece of cake (pull down on the buckle while tugging on the bottom of the strap). However, if like me you get it too loose, you have to remove the strap and feed it backwards through the pad in 1/2″ increments until you get the fit right. I never did figure out the purpose of the extra buckle on the right. I tried feeding the tag end of the strap through it but it was too tight of a fit. Instead, it just dug into my back most of the time.

Adjustment mechanism detail. It’s basically like a backpack strap turned upside down. Why it is turned upside down I’m not sure.

Connector clip and FastenR camera mount. The connector clip on this version is basically a suitcase strap spring clip with a DIY aquarium tubing “lock” mechanism. The importance of this seems obvious but the implementation made it nearly impossible to open the clip wide enough to get the ring on the mount through. *To be fair, BlackRapid showed me a new carabiner style clip with a screw down lock mechanism that seems much more appropriate to this application. They said it would be shipping on the new RS-4 straps “soon.”

The camera mount screws into the tripod mount on the bottom of your camera. There is a rubber washer that provides tension as you tighten the mount to the camera body. This is a very clever way to lock the mount securely to the camera and is a significant improvement over the previous version. An extra rubber washer was included in the package- suggesting that this one will eventually get lost or fail.

Once installed the camera hangs neatly from the mount via the clip. Orientation of the mount is not important since the clip spins freely.

One potential alarming thing I noticed was that the clip would contact my LCD screen on my camera when I was using the R-Strap without my battery grip. The potential for scratching not withstanding, hit it the wrong way once and you could break the LCD screen. BlackRapid does make a point of including a disclaimer card saying they are not responsible for damage to your camera caused though the use of their product. You know what that means….

Another drawback to this design is that once you screw the mount into your camera you can no longer set your camera level on a flat surface. I made the mistake of doing this on my dining table and the sharp corners of the mount left a nasty gouge in the finish. I guess that’s part of the risk I assumed in using this product. :-/

The strap worn in its intended manner. I say “intended” because a number of times I put it on backwards. I’m not sure what I would put in the pocket. Designers always think we need more pockets on our stuff. More pockets just equals more places to loose things. In this case it also means more material and labor cost. Since the camera is not attached to the two fixed ends of the strap like on a traditional shoulder strap, every time you pick the camera up to shoot, the shoulder pad has a tendency to shift one way or the other due to the effect of gravity. Mine kept working its way over my shoulder and down my back where it was impossible to reach to pull it back up. This lead to me having to remove the strap regularly and replacing it backwards by mistake. The “cool mesh” backing material on the pad is likely to blame here and a non-skid material would make more sense.

Here you can see how the camera starts off in the middle of my back then after a few steps has worked its way to the back of my hip and then a few steps later around to its preferred location at the front of my hip. No matter how I positioned the camera this is what would happen within a dozen steps- banging into my arm on the way around.

Now, with the camera hanging as it is in the third frame above, it is in the ideal position for easily grabbing the grip…

…and quickly raising the camera to your eye for a shot. Notice how the clip has slid along the strap rather than the strap sliding around your body. Also notice how the strap is coming off the bottom of the camera where it is out of the way rather than off the top. This is what held so much promise for me.

However, after walking a few more steps the camera would flip itself around so that the flat back was against my body and the lens was pointing out. This made it somewhat awkward to grab hold of…

…and really creates a problem when your arm swings by. Also, having your camera hanging off your hip (lens out) is the worst position for walking in any kind of crowd. Clink, bump, clank, “excuse me, is this your lens hood sir?”

So, is the R-Strap any better than a standard shoulder strap? That depends. If the shoulder strap is worn like this, it seems like an even bet either way (though at $48+ shipping not a bet I’d be willing to take). Here the camera is always slipping off the shoulder, is dangling with the lens pointing out in the way of your arm and is quite difficult to reposition after a shot.

However (given a long enough strap- unlike my stock Pentax one), worn across the chest like the R-Strap a standard shoulder strap starts to make a lot more sense.

You can easily tuck the camera to the back of your hip where it will stay within easy reach but out of the way while you walk.

When the going gets tough, you can just swing the camera around the the small of your back where it is completely out of the way. Simply tug the strap to slide it back around to the front for a shot. I have litteraly logged hundreds (possibly thousands!) of miles in all kinds of sitautions with this set-up. My only gripe about this whole system is the grippyness required for the strap to stay where you put it also means it will constantly be pulling your clothing around with it. Maybe BlackRapid will continue to improve ther product and make a version that lives up to its promise and potential. I’ll be keeping an eye out for that.

Update:

Apparently the clip I couldn’t figure out on the right in the first picture of the review section is a stop block that you can set to prevent the camera from sliding further backwards than you wish for it to. (For the record, the instructions that came with the strap make no mention of this clip or its function.) I tried it and it basically only prevented me from sliding the camera around to my back where I wanted it. Had I placed it in a way that would keep my camera out of the way it would have prevented me from sliding it around front to take a picture. I also tried positioning it so that it kept the camera hanging in front of my body but the weight of my camera just pulled the whole rig back around to my side again.

Please let me know if there is anything else I’m missing here.

Day one of PMA is in the books and as promised here is my first round of interesting product picks with comments. I will have more to report as the show continues and hopefully some additional in-depth reviews of a few of these items. Let’s dive in:

Prior to the show opening I headed up to the press center to pick up a lanyard for my badge and check things out. Outside of the press center I ran across Greg Downing from xRez standing in front of an awesome panorama of Yosemite valley that he helped create. Rather than try and explain what’s going on here I suggest you hit the xRez site and check it out for yourself. Very cool stuff.

The show opens to a pretty good crowd. I’m used to bigger shows (CES, for example) so this seems a bit tame to me. The show is contained within the two floors of the South Hall of the LVCC. CES, for example, uses the entire LVCC + the Sands Expo Center.

Joby has added a much needed ball head with bubble level to their often-imitated-never-duplicated Gorillapod.

Ever wonder what a Nikon D3 looks like cut in half? Wonder no more!

The LensPen people have come up with a nifty little sensor cleaning accessory the SensorKlear Loupe. At $60 I still think it’s a bit pricey for a magnifying glass + LED flashlight but it does feature a nifty slot in the side so you can reach in with your LensPen to get that pesky last speck of dust while you’re using the scope.

Not technically a photo product (nor a product on display) but I spied this “Wrist Writer” product on a guest at the Sigma booth. It features 25′ of paper on a spool that can be manually advanced to keep a running logbook of shot notes while in the field. I recommend field use as it is pretty incredibly dorky for anything where you might encounter other people ;-)

Also while in the Sigma booth a snapped this shot of a fellow Pentaxian’s DIY BlackRapid R-Strap. More on that later. I’m digging the 31 f/1.8 Limited lens, though.

I know I said I wasn’t going to blog about the mainstream products but I had to take a look at Panasonic’s new G1 while I was there. I find these new small form factor DSLRs quite interesting. Unfortunately, this photo illustrates the problem I have with this whole concept. Why would I want to bolt such a nice tidy little camera to such a huge lens? I mean isn’t the whole idea to have a smaller camera system?

Investigating further I uncovered the other problem with this system. Above is the complete collection of compact lenses for the G1. Clever concept but too limiting for enthusiast use IMO.

Naturally, I spent much time in the Pentax booth. They had a very interesting macro photography demonstration set up on display.

I also spent a little time with their new smc DA 15mm f/4 ED AL Limited wide angle lens. This is an absolute jewel of a little lens. I couldn’t tell much about the image quality from the few test shots I took on the show floor, but the thing just felt so nice that I know it will do well ;-)

Olympus had a very clever display for one of their ruggedized pocket cams. They were frozen in a solid block of ice. I presume at some point they will remove them from the ice and prove that they still work…

Samsung has arguably gotten the most attention at this year’s show with their new NX compact APS-C sized DSLR. This photo answers the question of whether or not there will be multiple lens options available for this camera. I like the little pancake lens but I refer back to my Panasonic G1 comments otherwise. Samsung says this camera “bridges the gap” between compact pocket cameras and full-sized DSLRs. Sounds to me like a compromise situation where no one wins.

Jill-e debuted a new line of stylish leather camera bags for men called “Jack”. If you don’t know Jill-e check them out. They are doing some really nice things with camera bags from a fashion standpoint that I haven’t seen before.

Here’s another Jill-e bag design featuring a highly functional “gatemouth”-style opening that makes getting at your gear while wearing the bag much easier. This proves that Jill-e is thinking beyond just style.

Next I visited the Crumpler booth where they were stuffing their bags with toilet paper (?). I complained about the difficulty of accessing my gear due to their universal use of a flap-over design and was told in no uncertain terms that Crumpler “always puts style above functionality.” Hmmmm.

For you studio lighting types I’m here to report that CFLs are now all the rage. This one has the output of a 250w incandescent lamp but outputs almost no heat and lasts 10K hours.

Lunch break: $13.85.

Zeiss Pentax mount 50 f/1.4: $550 MSRP. This could be the ultimate bokeh tool. I took a few sample shots and was immediately blown away by the complete lack of vignetting. I’m planning on getting a review sample or two to do a more in-depth analysis.

Bryce Thatcher and the crew at Clik Elite had some of the most unique bags I have seen yet at PMA this year. They have a very narrow focus right now on the adventure sports set but I’m told to keep an eye out for some more “mainstream” products that might appeal more to everyday outdoorsy folks like myself. Their first batch of products should be showing up at your local REI store in the next couple of weeks.

LowePro had a huge collection of bags. The one that caught my eye was their new Classified series of shoulder bags. They feature un-camera bag-like take-it-to-work styling with that gatemouth type opening that makes so much sense to me. My Crumpler may end up in the bottom of the closet for good.

Another clever thing I spotted in the LowePro booth was this camera mount on the handle of their roller bag. Perfect for those airport departure lounge self portraits. I get the sense that LowePro’s design staff actually uses (or at least consults with people who use) their products. Lots of clever design features like this that are missing on lesser bags.

This is the Ray Flash ring light accessory. As you can see, it bolts up to your existing external flash unit and re-directs the light to a large ring around the lens. This type of lighting is very popular for portrait photography. I find this to be very clever but am somewhat appalled at the $200 price tag. Pros won’t bat an eye at it but us amateurs need a more cost-effective solution. Plus, it seems a little plastic-y for the $$ IMO (though I have not used one yet).

Not a very good picture of a very clever product solution. The Shootsac is a function-specific neoprene shoulder bag with multiple compartments that allow one to keep all their lenses within easy arm’s reach. The designer has seen fit to add a fashion component with a bunch of interchangeable covers (none of which I would have chosen). Were I still shooting Canon and had a bunch of L zooms this product would make a lot of sense. As it is, my little Pentax lenses would get lost in there.

Trek-Tech has some very interesting products all based around a very slick custom magnetic tripod mount (shown above).

The most interesting Trek-Tech product was their MagBag system. Using the same magnetic tripod mount, the MagBag securely supports your camera beanbag-style. It has a number of other unique features that I hope to go into more detail about at a later date.

Across the asile from Trek-Tech (and at the far back corner of the exhibit hall) I found Black Rapid’s tiny booth. I found their new R-Strap a few weeks ago while doing some camera strap research. From the information I read online I couldn’t quite make out how the product worked. I got the fact that you attach the strap to the tripod mount on the bottom of your SLR, but I couldn’t see how it would be much better than a regular strap. The main benefit is shown above- the strap stays stationary while the camera slides along the strap on a D ring. I could do without the SWAT-style padded-strap-with-pockets styling, but overall it seems a very clever attempt at a solution to an age-old problem.

After the show I returned to the hotel to retrieve my laptop and download my pictures from the day while enjoying a cold one.

Then, I treated myself to a table for one at Mon Ami Gabi at Paris for some wine and steak frites :-)

Day two I’m back looking for things I missed and spending more quality time with some vendors looking for some nuggets to report on.