Rapid R-Strap?

[Cecco]

Thanks Bill for the explanation and the pictures.

Just a few qestions to make sure I understanding things right:

You've cut your Mennon plate because you want to use your setup mainly with the V-grip and the original Mennon plate is too big to attach to the V-grip.

You attach the Mennon handstrap on the V-grip instead of the base plate.

Btw. did the (uncut ) Mennon base plate cover the battery door, when attached to the A700? It seems they have switched the design a bit: http://www.mennon.de/Gurte-und-Handschlaufen/Tragegurt-fuer-DSLR-und-Kompaktkameras::1076.html

May I second the question of Alex concerning the low profile Manfrotto base plate. Went to their website, but wasn't able to locate it. Does it have a part no.?

My dream combination would be:

A hand strap with a slim base plate with a sturdy flip away D-Ring to attach an R-Strap like camera strap. Plus an additional tripod mount ideally in the same axis as the original one holding a MagMount camera adapter.

So far I only found either tripod base plates with D Rings or hand strap base plates without D rings. And I'm a bit reluctant to put my own D-Ring on the hand strap slots of these strap base plates. The open ends of the DIY D-Ring are not soldered together, so it could bend with heavy weights and the base plates are either plastic or some molded metal, that could break as well if all the weight is just at the connection point D-ring/base plate strap slots.

Any ideas still welcome.

Cecco

 

[EvilOne]

jim, in a battle of wits you enter the battle field unarmed ] : )
--
Bill
Capturing memories, one at a time.



Please visit my galleries at
http://evil-twin.smugmug.com/

 

[EvilOne]

Thanks Bill for the explanation and the pictures.

Just a few qestions to make sure I understanding things right:

You've cut your Mennon plate because you want to use your setup
mainly with the V-grip and the original Mennon plate is too big to
attach to the V-grip.

No, I didnt need the base plate because the Vgrip has a slot for the lower starp

You attach the Mennon handstrap on the V-grip instead of the base plate.

Yes that is correct, that was 5 months ago

Btw. did the (uncut ) Mennon base plate cover the battery door, when
attached to the A700?

No the base plate necer covered the door, the base plate is on the bottom, the battery door is on the side

It seems they have switched the design a bit:

http://www.mennon.de/Gurte-und-Handschlaufen/Tragegurt-fuer-DSLR-und-Kompaktkameras::1076.html

May I second the question of Alex concerning the low profile
Manfrotto base plate. Went to their website, but wasn't able to

If you notice my mennon bast plate with the wheel it's about 1 inch thick at the wheel, and I can still get my hands around it, but the base plate of my Manfrotto base plase is only 3/8 in. thick

locate it. Does it have a part no.?

My dream combination would be:

A hand strap with a slim base plate with a sturdy flip away D-Ring to
attach an R-Strap like camera strap. Plus an additional tripod mount
ideally in the same axis as the original one holding a MagMount
camera adapter.

So far I only found either tripod base plates with D Rings or hand
strap base plates without D rings. And I'm a bit reluctant to put my
own D-Ring on the hand strap slots of these strap base plates. The
open ends of the DIY D-Ring are not soldered together, so it could
bend with heavy weights and the base plates are either plastic or
some molded metal, that could break as well if all the weight is just
at the connection point D-ring/base plate strap slots.

Any ideas still welcome.

Cecco

--Do you have a Vgrip??????
Bill
Capturing memories, one at a time.



Please visit my galleries at
http://evil-twin.smugmug.com/

 

[dr jim]

Touche!
--
Just for fun!

Jim

 

[EvilOne]

] : ) jim
--
Bill
Capturing memories, one at a time.



Please visit my galleries at
http://evil-twin.smugmug.com/

 

[Cecco]

--Do you have a Vgrip??????

Sorry forgot to mention. No I don't have one and currently don't plan to get one.

I'm just looking for R-Strap comments alternate attachments. That's how I found to this thread.

Cecco

 

[BlackRapid]

BLACKRAPID 5/8/08

Safety Precaution

To provide an extra measure of security we're now
including a plastic sleeve to prevent the gate of the
hook from opening accidentally. Please use to insure a
safe shoot when using our revolutionary camera strap.
If you have any questions regarding our plastic sleeve
please contact us at.
http://www.blackrapid.com
PS.
Thanks to all the photographers who have made the
Rstrap part of there shooting experience.
The R-Strap is the most innovative camera strap on the market..

 

[EvilOne]

--Do you have a Vgrip??????

Sorry forgot to mention. No I don't have one and currently don't plan
to get one.

I'm just looking for R-Strap comments alternate attachments. That's
how I found to this thread.

Cecco

--AH !!! THE vGRIP SOLVES SO MANY PROBLEMS... its well worth the investment, it puts the battery door on the side. give the extra attachment bar for your wrist grip, it also adds some space for your hand inside the strap... the vgrip allows for that plate on the bottom with out it being any problem when shooting portraits. You may want to look into it.. having the extra battery in there and the battery display showing actual use of only one battery at a time. its a read out that is in real time % not just a bar graph...
Bill
Capturing memories, one at a time.



Please visit my galleries at
http://evil-twin.smugmug.com/

 

[EvilOne]

BLACKRAPID 5/8/08

Safety Precaution

To provide an extra measure of security we're now
including a plastic sleeve to prevent the gate of the
hook from opening accidentally. Please use to insure a
safe shoot when using our revolutionary camera strap.
If you have any questions regarding our plastic sleeve
please contact us at.
http://www.blackrapid.com
PS.
Thanks to all the photographers who have made the
Rstrap part of there shooting experience.
The R-Strap is the most innovative camera strap on the market..

--What up with this????, I looked at this product two months ago and found it to be a good product and design... when I went to order it two months ago it said back ordered, so I made my own... I just went there again and it says the same thing it said two months ago.. back ordered for 3 or 4 weeks... ??????
Bill
Capturing memories, one at a time.



Please visit my galleries at
http://evil-twin.smugmug.com/

 

[lonewolf69]

the vgrip allows for that plate on the
bottom with out it being any problem when shooting portraits.

Hi Bill,

I'm a little bit on the dense side, please explain which plate you are referring to? If it is the Manfrotto plate, I would love to know HOW this is possible as this plate is pretty hefty...?

Thank you,

--
-Alex

From the minds of Minolta to the imagination of Sony, Alpha, like no other.

http://www.pbase.com/lonewolf69

 

[EvilOne]

when I grip my camera with the vgrip in portrait mode my finger tips grab the front of the Vgrip and my thumb grabs the thumb détente on the back of the Vgrip,, this leaves the palm of my hand completely away from the base of the vgrip I could place a golf ball in my palm and still hold the camera in portrait position.,. the quick release grip is less that a 1/4 inch thick.. its no problem at all.. we are only talking the base plater here with the "D" ring , not the whole plate that mounts to the ball head..even the one I designed with the big wheel on the bottom as seen in the photos in this thread is over 1 inch thick and I still have no problems with it on and shooting in portrait mode... I'M going to say this because it was missed before.. we are talking about an A700 with the vertical grip attached.. not just an A700
--
Bill
Capturing memories, one at a time.



Please visit my galleries at
http://evil-twin.smugmug.com/

 

[lonewolf69]

when I grip my camera with the vgrip in portrait mode my finger tips
grab the front of the Vgrip and my thumb grabs the thumb détente on
the back of the Vgrip,, this leaves the palm of my hand completely
away from the base of the vgrip I could place a golf ball in my palm
and still hold the camera in portrait position.,.

Hi Bill,

This is the Manfrotto QR plate that I'm referring to and when it is attached to the V-grip on the A700, it makes my V-grip utterly useless... Sure I can still grab it and hold it but the plate then digs into my palm making it extremely uncomfortable to hold and so after about a minute, it either remove the plate or shoot in landscape only...

http://www.jr.com/JRProductPage.process?Product_Id=4111345&JRSource=googlebase.datafeed.MAF+3157N

Kudos to you, my friend if you can really hold the grip that well with this PLATE attached...

Thank you very much for the vivid description/explaination!

--
-Alex

From the minds of Minolta to the imagination of Sony, Alpha, like no other.

http://www.pbase.com/lonewolf69

 

[Cecco]

BLACKRAPID 5/8/08

Safety Precaution

To provide an extra measure of security we're now
including a plastic sleeve to prevent the gate of the
hook from opening accidentally. Please use to insure a
safe shoot when using our revolutionary camera strap.
If you have any questions regarding our plastic sleeve
please contact us at.
http://www.blackrapid.com
PS.
Thanks to all the photographers who have made the
Rstrap part of there shooting experience.
The R-Strap is the most innovative camera strap on the market..

Nice to see Blackrapid participating in this forum.

I've read about a warning you've sent out to existing customers:

We are pleased to announce that a new self-locking hook for the R strap is in the works and will be available mid- summer 08.

In the meanwhile, a plastic sleeve must be used on the connector hook to ensure the safety of your equipment.

Sounds like there were some unlucky R-Strap owners having their camera dropped already !?!

Can you comment on this new self locking hook? Will owners of the old hook be able to upgrade to the new hook? Will the upgrade be free? If not, what is the prosposed prize?

Cecco

 

[EvilOne]

While we are discussing this innovative idea, there is another issue that people shoud be aware of, and that is the eye hook, which is held inplace by a thumb wheel. if you look at the eye hook, it sticks up in a way thay you can't put your camera down without removing it first or run the risk of scratching furniture or getting caught some where, or putting a hole in your camera bag... A floating D ring, that would lay flat with no hard corners would be a much better design in my opinion..



--
Bill
Capturing memories, one at a time.



Please visit my galleries at
http://evil-twin.smugmug.com/

 

[EvilOne]

To be fair, I just realised that you can lay your camera on its side.. and not be an issue, I've always placed my camera down with the bottom of the camera down..there is no reason why you cant place it on its side, but the eye hook does still stick out..and something you have to be aware of
--
Bill
Capturing memories, one at a time.



Please visit my galleries at
http://evil-twin.smugmug.com/

 

[Cecco]

While we are discussing this innovative idea, there is another issue
that people shoud be aware of, and that is the eye hook, which is
held inplace by a thumb wheel. if you look at the eye hook, it sticks
up in a way thay you can't put your camera down without removing it
first or run the risk of scratching furniture or getting caught some
where, or putting a hole in your camera bag... A floating D ring,
that would lay flat with no hard corners would be a much better
design in my opinion..

I fully agree with you. The eye hook is really ugly. A lay flat version would be much better.

Recently I've stumbled over a thread in niconians.org debating the R-Strap. Someone mentioned the Kirk SS1 strap that includes an Arca Swiss clamp for L-Plate or appropriate lens foot as an alternative:



You find the whole thread at: http://www.nikonians.org/forums/dcboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=149&topic_id=122384&mesg_id=122384&page=

Unfortunately this strap's clamp doesn't slide up the strap while you bring up the camera in the shooting position. Instead the whole strap moves around your body, which is a problem if you use it together with a backpack or shoulder bag.

But the idea of using an Arca Swiss like clamp instead of an eye hook sounds good. A version of this clamp, that slides along the belt would be an ideal solution. That way you could keep a low profile quick release plate on the camera and use this to attach the camera either to a tripod or your R-Strap without having to unscrew any hooks/plates.

So the whole concept of these tripod mount attached camera straps seems still to be work in progress and you either live with what is currently available or have to investigate to tweak things to your own needs.

Cecco