To Carry or Not to Carry

* * * G E E K   A L E R T  * * *

If you find tech stuff and photo geekery

too boring, adios, see ya tomorrow.

So how do you carry your gear. Belt, pouch, bag, or simply around your neck. Lets face it, the camera strap that comes with your camera is woefully incapable of taking care of your fine piece of photographic gear. They are uncomfortable, and not very secure unless you have it around your neck which reverts right back to the first point. So I thought I would take the opportunity to do a review of the main different types of camera caring equipment.

First is the high tech replacement to the venerable neck strap. This being the Up-Strap camera strap. This is about as good as it gets for over the shoulder camera strap. It's kevlar straps  are rated at 300 pounds and is really built well. The neck strap is not the most comfortable for an around the neck type of strap. Having said that when it is over the shoulder, it will just stay there... That is it, No movement. no slippy, slippy of the shoulder. It does a great job at that but you just have that small stinking element in you mind that it is going to flying off your shoulder.

Up-Strap Camera Strap

You know the adage that says " hey, I should have thought of that." Well... The people over at Black Rapid did just that. Here is the R-Strap camera strap. This gem of a device hooks onto your tri-pod attach ring or they have a screw-in adapter that has a locking ring to it. The strap goes over your head and shoulder crossing your chest and is very secure.

The real beauty of this system is that your camera is supported on a clip that rides on the webbing that makes up the strap. There is an adjustable stop on the belt that when not in use, the camera slides to the lower position at your side or if adjusted, on your bum.

R-Strap by Black Rapid

Check out the sequence of storage to shooting in the images below. When you are ready for 

to shoot, simply grab the camera and rise it to your eye and shoot away. Simple as that!

The last of the "around the body" systems comes the belt system from Think Tank Photo. Here again an group of people have come up with a unique device that addresses a need and provides a quality product. It starts with a clip belt, kind of a Batman utility belt to which you attach different size holders for lenses, camera bodies, or general utility bag. Once attached to the belt, they may wither be slid around into position where you may access the contents, or may be secured into a fixed position. This is a really cool product.

I bought the belt,  two lens holders, and a utility bag. When I got home I mounted the bags and put the belt on. After loading the pouch with a couple of items, placed the EF 28-105 F4.0 L IS lens into one pouch and the EF 70-200 F2.8L IS bazooka into the other I felt the belt start to slide. These are not light lenses and even after tightening the belt I knew the harness was going to be the next purchase if this was going to work.

Once the harness was attached and adjusted the belt system was going to be the ticket for walking around. Great support and easy access to some great lenses.

Think Tank Belt System

With Harness Support

Now onto more traditional camera storage. First there are a thousand satchel or hand type bags out there and they all do a great job. I am not going to evaluate bags in this class but rather the merits of the bag design. The hand bag has been around for ever and sits securely on the ground, bench, or chair. The disadvantage is the bag is bulky to carry around.

Traditional Hand Bag

The back pack design is a really handy way to tote a good amount of gear efficiently. It's drawback is the accessibility of the equipment. It must be removed and opened. Not very efficient for rapid shooting and a little clunky for toting a camera around the neck while wearing the backpack. Now for the good news... It looks like ten bazillion other book-bags being toted around the country. Who??? Me??? A photographer??? Nope just another back packer enroute to the next exciting place. Besides, the TSA doesn't see you coming until the gear is already in the scanner

Tenba Back Pack

Lowepro took another approach with the backpack. The call it the sling bag, it is really a hybrid backpack. If you take a backpack, put it on the R-Strap, and use the Think Tank rotational logic, you would have the Lowepro Sling Bag. I have the smaller version of this bag and holds A body with a short telephoto lens and a couple of other lenses. It does rest across your head and shoulder and when loaded the sling part of it is a little more cumbersome than might be expected. It does provide a convenient way to eliminate the "Oh wait... I've got to remove my backpack" problem.

Lowepro Sling Bag

Now for the big boys. The folks over at Pelican produce some really impressive equipment, not just photographic cases. The cases are bulletproof (I don't know if they really are), water tight, and constructed very well. The choices are vast and have both a divided and padded interior. The foam padded material is cut such that you can form what ever shape best fits your needs.

Pelican Divided Case

Pelican Padded Case

So what does all this mean when it comes to carrying your photographic equipment. Here it is... There is no one case or system that will be the best for all occasions. Certainly if you shoot portraits, or only shoot landscapes then the decision is a little simpler.

For me landscape is a combination of a backpack and the belt system especially if I am airlining somewhere. I load the back pack with what I think I will need for the entire trip. Once in the destination city, the belt gets loaded with what I need for the short term of the shoot. If I am shooting studio or have to move to another location by car with all my gear, then the hard cases work the best. If I am on a photo walk with a single lens then hands down it is the R-Strap. If I do need another lens then the belt system without the harness works well with the R-Strap.

Hey that was a long one and if you are still with me, congratulations. That will do it for me today, it's time to watch the VP Debate.

Cya... Doug

PS UPDATE

After posting this I ran across Scott Kelby's blog on My Traveling with Photo Gear' Dilemma and his thoughts on the Pelican case. read it here.