Blackrapid RS-Sport 2
Was introduced to Blackrapid line of camera strap by a friend and I am very impressed by the design and quality of the product. I ordered the RS-Sport 2 strap with 2 bonus quick release plates for use with Manfrotto tripods which I currently do not own (yet). The bundle was offered at Amazon and is cheaper than buying just the RS-Sport 2 directly from Blackrapid.
This is what is included. The RS-Sport 2 strap sits inside a red bag and the quick release plates are packaged separately. Arrived in a padded envelope and everything looks good.
Unpacked the RS-Sport 2 strap and it is nicely bundled up by a black elastic.
Here it is stretched out :) Also came with the package is a Blackrapid sticker and some brief instructions. Not sure what to do with the sticker….
The bolt is called FastenR-3. It is well designed and has a rubber bushing to prevent scratching the bottom of the camera.
The ConnectR-2 is what secures the FastenR-3 to the strap.
The ConnectR-2 has a sleeve that prevents the connector from accidentally popped open. This is when the sleeve is not engaged.
This is when the sleeve is engaged. It has threads on the inside and when you turn it, it moves up or down depending on the direction you turn the sleeve.
The FastenR-3 screws to the tripod socket at the bottom of the camera. It is very simple to use.
What I like:
- The length of the strap is adjustable for your liking. I like the camera just hanging by the right side of my hip and easily accessible and can be protected by my hand when I feel the need.
- The strap has stoppers to prevent the camera to travel along it too far back. So you will never have the camera hanging behind you if you prefer.
- The strap goes diagonally from my left shoulder to the lower right of my body. I am right-handed and this makes perfect sense to me.
- The travel from free-hanging to ready-to-shoot position is very smooth, almost like drawing a handgun if you know what I mean.
- The built-in underarm strap adds extra stability to the whole strap. It also prevents the strap from traveling around your body.
What I think can be improved:
- The strap works very well for DSLR when you naturally place the camera body against your face while using the viewfinder. However, the strap is not designed to accommodate the extra distance between your face and the camera if you were to use a point and shoot camera that does not come with a viewfinder. That extra distance I usually need to comfortably view the LCD on the back of the camera is constrained and feels I can’t use the LCD with ease. It feels that it is too close to my eyes. Of course, you can get around this problem by loosening the strap but that also means that the camera might hang and bit too far below in free-hanging position.
- It would be nice to have a double-secured fastening mechanism. The fastener is well designed and the material and workmanship looks good to me. However, the entire camera seems to be just hanging by a stubbed pin on the end of the connector. It would be nice if there is a second hook that can be used to connect to the body of a camera via the regular strap ear just in case if the pin breaks over time.
My dslr strap is just customized to look like blackrapid straps style. Destroyed one of my tripod’s quick release plates just to remove the mount. The tripod’s joint is already worn out anyway. ^^;
I would like to see your customization :o