BlackRapid is one of the 2 leading "Sling Strap" makers (the other being Luma Loop) and is usually attributed with more sales. After debating for months if I really needed to upgrade my strap (from the standard Canon black and red) I finally decided to take the plunge. Doing so made me realize how important of a decision it was!
To start, my main camera body is a Canon 7D without grip. I don't have a real use for a grip since most of the things I shoot are either sports (where I have fine battery life to shoot 1200-1500 shots easily on 1 charge) or events (where I have plenty of time to change to an extra battery). My main lenses are a Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II and Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS. Occasionally (depending on the event) I also have a Canon 430EX II flash hooked up. Before I get on with the rest of the review let me just say that this strap had *NO* trouble holding any and all of that, but more importantly...in place.
Alright if you want to see how this thing works, I'd recommend youtube. A strap such as this one kind of needs to be seen or felt to understood completely. Basically, it's similar to a sling strap for an assault rifle or carbine. Being ex-USAF I immediately saw the usefulness in such a design: ease and speed of access. In the military, a sling is usually used to hold your weapon because it lets you bring the weapon up to operating stance in less than a second even when you least expect it. The other useful reason for such a design is that it keeps the weapon in place even when moving quickly or in different directions. This is just as important because it makes sure the weapon isn't in the way but also because it keeps the weapon safe.
In Photography, all of those things apply. It's extremely important to have ease of access and just as important that you can get it up to operating stance quickly. You never know when that moment will happen and you'll want to get a shot. Being able to *very* quickly raise the camera to eye level and have it trained on target means you can get shots you normally wouldn't be able to unless you're constantly holding the camera up to your face (which gets tiring). The other reason, the ability to keep the camera stationary, is even *more* important in photography because the camera is much more fragile. On an average day I'm usually carrying a concealed firearm as well (legally, of course) and if the camera swings around my hip it has the chance of making contact with the butt of my weapon. For those of you that can't understand why that would be a problem let me say this: hardened steel and polymers are harder than glass...much harder.
Ok so now you know about the usefulness of this strap...what other reason do you need? Comfort. The strap that comes with your camera (whether Canon, Nikon, or some other brand) seems completely fine...until you start popping big lenses on it. For reference, my camera with my 70-200 and flash on it is slightly over 6lbs. That doesn't seem like a lot until you realize all that weight is on a single muscle cluster on your shoulder. If you carry your camera across your body like I do (with the strap on your left shoulder but the camera hanging on your right side) that puts a *lot* of pressure on the muscle cluster. By the end of the day you might find you're not even standing up straight or it hurts to move the left arm a bit. It's something that should be avoided...and now it can.
This strap distributes the weight *perfectly*. After walking around all day long with the strap and the 70-200 attached I had no more pain in my shoulder than I did when I put it on. It's fantastic. The contour of the strap makes sure to distribute the weight across the entire upper body area instead of just the contact point. It makes it *much* easier to handle. Also, the clips on the strap make sure that the strap stays in place no matter what you do. They're easy to move around the strap and once you place them (one right behind the camera body and the other up top) they'll "re-place" the strap whenever you put the camera back down...so you never have to worry about the comfort strap migrating to your back.
Pros
-Extremely comfortable, no matter what's hanging from your camera
-Makes sure that your camera is *very* easily accessible and can be brought to form quickly
-Looks great but doesn't scream, "someone please steal my expensive equipment"
-Keeps the comfort area of the strap on your shoulder so it doesn't migrate to your back
-Can hold weight *FAR* in excess of your equipment (holds somewhere around 250Lbs)
Cons
-Tad expensive at $60, especially if you have to buy extra FastenRs or other accessories
-Very hard to use as a weapon since it's so comfortable.
Additional Details
Small Business
Shop products from small business brands sold in Amazon’s store. Discover more about the small businesses partnering with Amazon and Amazon’s commitment to empowering them.
Small Business
This product is from a small business brand. Support small.
Customers who viewed this item also viewed
Page 1 of 1 Start overPage 1 of 1
Reviews with images
Wow!! What a difference this strap makes!!
I got my Black Rapid RS-7 today and I absolutely love it!! It's definitely a world of difference from the OEM Canon strap. I have to admit that it is a little daunting to have several thousand dollars worth of equipment just dangling from your side, but a little vigilance with insuring that the strap is screwed on tight and I think that those worries are alleviated. I think as always I will just have to keep my hand on the hand strap that I have attached to my 5DMK2 and I'll be OK. Great strap though and will buy another one for my back up soon.UPDATE 6-9-2013: So I've had the Black Rapid RS-7 now for about a month. Yesterday, while I was taking a break from shooting a wedding, one of the videographers approached me about the Black Rapid strap. He told me that he had the same exact setup and proceeded to show me his RS-7. He advised that there have been complaints regarding the carabiner falling off the oval metal ring that houses it and showed me how he modified his in order to prevent a catastrophic drop with his equipment. Basically what he did was take two 4 in cable ties and secured the carabiner on each side. Then he took an 8 inch cable tie and created a loop in the oval ring, from there he attached an S clip from the cable tie to the Black Rapid carabiner. He also attached to 8 inch cable ties to the clip lock that holds the Black Rapid Strap together preventing that from accidentally unhinging. Like myself, he also had several thousand dollars worth of gear normally hanging from the Black Rapid so he wanted the added security. Well as soon as I got home last night, I pretty much mimicked his setup. Took cable ties and secured the plastic clip that closes and opens the RS-7, then took two cable ties and secured the carabiner to the oval ring. Finally, I used a cable tie to make a loop in the oval ring and attached a Nite Ize S clip to the loop and the carabiner. This way if God forbid the oval ring ever failed and released the carabiner, two cable ties and the s-clip attached to another cable tie will serve as a fail safe.I know it sounds a little extreme, but I would rather have these fail safes attached than seeing my gear smash to the ground. The modifications themselves do not interfere with the RS-7's functionality, except that I can't unbuckle the strap anymore because I zip tied them shut, but I never did that anyway as I always just put the RS-7 on over my head which is probably what 95% of Black Rapid owners do. I want to say that I am in no way saying that the RS-7 is a bad product, because I love my Black Rapid, but like I said before, with several thousand dollars hanging around my waist, I would rather be safe than very sorry down the road.I added the pics of my modification on the site...check them out and see if it helps. I would also like to hear from Black Rapid regarding the few cases of failures that I have verified occured with the Black Rapid RS-7.
