Lightest camera strap for 3lb camera?

[chris smead]

Hi there.  I recently purchased an awesome, but heavy 3lb camera. (Sony A7rii)

Anyone have suggestions for an ultralight neck strap that can still comfortably support this weight?  (Just periodically, I won’t be hiking with the strap on.)

 

 

[Ian]

Hi Christopher,

I’ve no idea if it’s the lightest but I’ve been really happy with the Peak Design Leash.

[chris smead]

Wow I was just looking at that online.  Looks pretty cool, and apparently there’s a lite version.  By chance do you know the exact weight?  It says 5oz here, but I’m not sure thats accurate.

[Ian]

Looks like the lite version is actually the lite version of the slide.  Looking at the hardware on it, I’m guessing it’s heavier than the leash.

Mine weighs 1.8 ounces including the three micro anchors.

 

[chris smead]

Nice!  I just ordered the leash.  Thanks Ian

[David Thomas]

If you do backpack with it, stitch two fastex “D-rings” on the front of your backpack’s shoulder straps.  Then secure the camera to that with short lengths of para-cord on quick-releases.  If you get the location and lengths right, you can bring the camera up to shoot without detaching it.  Total extra weight: about 0.5 ounces.  And those shoulder straps are as good or better than any camera strap.

Similarly, you can convert a daypack and use that while you’re not backpacking, because you’d typically have a shell, hat, water, extra lenses, etc, along with you.

[Ian]

The beauty of the Peak Design anchor system is that you can attach these to your pack and hang your camera case or multi pack off of it.

The anchors are pretty easy to remove from the plastic buckle with one hand.  The trick is to fold the cordage back over the disk portion when pulling it out (probably easier to demonstrate than explain).  I’ll post pictures and/or video later as to how plan on carrying this on my ruck.

My original anchors were made of amsteel (about two or so years ago) but the anchors I purchased last month are made from a new material that is designed to show different colors if you start to wear through it.  They are rated to hold 200lbs.

My originals still look fine but obviously someone/somewhere had an expensive camera take a drop and are blaming Peak Design.

[Ian]

BTW, I’m somewhat green with envy.  That A7Rii is a slick body and I’ve heard at least one person say that they prefer to film with it over the A7Sii, which surprised me.

A6000 continues to serve my purposes, but someday I would like to upgrade to a FF Sony body.

 

[chris smead]

Ian:   The A7rii was actually recommend to me by Jason from the Muir Project (makers of Mile, Mile and a Half) and it’s AMAZING!!! :)   It’s a huge upgrade compared to my rx100.  However, it’s 3lbs with a 16-35mm lens on it.  Add spare batteries, a shotgun mic, 28mm prime lens, and a gimbal for my gopro and we’re talking 6-7 lbs of additional weight!!!    I’ll need to go SUL just to make up for it.  In the end the quality of my film stuff will be about 100x better so it’s worth it.

Dave Thomas,  Your idea with the D rings and paracord sounds interesting.  How do you keep it from bouncing around while hiking?

I’m debating a multipack, though I’m hearing good things about top loading lowepros.  I have a cotton carrier shoulder and hip harness as well.  Not quite sure which is the most comfortable yet.

[Ian]

There are some shortcomings to the A6xxx line’s video production, but they do many things well.  For backpacking, I definitely love the size and cost which allows me to get away with one of the smaller Lowepro top loader bags.

I fit the camera and lens cloth in the main compartment, a couple batteries in one side pouch, and a CPF & variable ND filter in the other side pouch.  I tend to hike with wide lenses but I will likely start carrying a yet to be purchased 70-200 f4 telephoto lens for landscapes and an imperfect wildlife solution.  I haven’t sorted out how/where I will carry that lens yet.

I just wish Sony’s gear wasn’t so expensive.

[David Thomas]

“How do you keep it from bouncing around while hiking?”

If you got more bounce than you like you could add a bit of bungie cord between the shoulder straps over the camera to keep it your chest – really small stuff, like the shock cord inside of tent poles.  PM me if you need some.

The most avid photographers I’ve hiked with want their camera handy at all times. And yet a separate strap for the camera seems redundant if you have straps over your shoulders anyway.  I’ve seen a few people clip cameras or binoculars (birders and hunters) to their shoulder straps for ready access.

To have enough “swing” to bring the camera up to shoot, I imagine you’d attach the camera straps at the top of the shoulders or within 3-4 inches of the top on the front side.  Some shoulder straps have “load leveler” straps there already, so maybe you wouldn’t need to do any sewing.

[chris smead]

Ian, I was actually leaning toward the a6500 until the muir project guys talked me into the A7rii.   I’ve seen some pretty impressive stuff on the a6xx platform!  The A7rii in my tests is a whole new world.  Straight out of the camera the footage looks cinema worthy.  It’s mind blowing for me.  I used to spend hours color grading my rx100 footage.   (see the yosemite point film on BPL’s front page for examples of quality).  But footage out of the A7rii takes seconds to grade, and looks soooo much better.    Cool part is that you can switched to crapped APS-C mode so you can still use your APS’C lenses.

David:  You make a really good point about the backpack straps being redundant.  It seems like a zpacks multipack might be good for utilizing those.  I was worried that having that big bag on my chest would get irritating throughout the day though….maybe its not that bad?  Any experience?

 

 

 

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