Ideas on Carrying Camera Gear

[radson]

Im a big fan of Clik Elite products for my Nikon D800E. I have been on quite the quest trying to find a good camera carrying system. Late last year, we were shooting a doco on climbing in the Sanache Himal of Nepal. Here's a pic of my setup as taken by Pete.

[diantsvetkov]

What about tripods. I have a Canon EOS 1D X and I'm actually currently looking at these reviews for a professional tripod and if I'm going to be spending about $350 for a tripod, I better make sure that it's kept safe. Does any one know a good carrier. These Glitzo tripods might be great for heavy camers, but the carriers in the set sucks. I do have a Osprey Aether 60, but I'm not exactly sure if there's a good way to strap it on to the backpack safely. I try my best to pick my camera accessories, but haven't picked any tripod carriers before.

[photohiker]

I just strap it to the rucksack. If there is room, and the opportunity to balance it on the other side, I put it on the side of the pack and perhaps my tent or some other equivalent weight on the other side. Failing that, it goes on the back of the pack, ball head down to lower the COG.

It's not hard to find a sturdy tripod and head under 2kg these days. I would say that $350 for tripod and head sounds a bit too little.

Given the weight of the 1DX, the extra weight and bulk of a tripod is the least of your worries!

[diantsvetkov]

Which one of these tripods would you choose. The GT1544T looks like a good option too. It does cost quite a bit more than what I was planning to spend, but it's true that it's better to be safe than sorry and go for the better model.

[radson]

Im a huge fan of Gitzo mountaineer tripods, Here we have it setup on a river bed. I generally put mine in my crampon pouch on my backpack but yeah no need to coddle it too much, Strapping it on the pack like a pole or axe is fine IMO.

[photohiker]

Which one of these tripods would you choose. The GT1544T looks like a good option too. It does cost quite a bit more than what I was planning to spend, but it's true that it's better to be safe than sorry and go for the better model.

Depends on your needs. There are a lot of gitzo clones about now and with a bit of research to avoid poor quality you could do well.

There is a good topic on tripods here on this site: viewtopic.php?f=23&t=450

[stepbystep]

Im a big fan of Clik Elite products for my Nikon D800E. I have been on quite the quest trying to find a good camera carrying system. Late last year, we were shooting a doco on climbing in the Sanache Himal of Nepal. Here's a pic of my setup as taken by Pete.

I've been looking at these and am very close to pulling the trigger. Are they cumbersome to get on/off? And does the harness system cause 'rubbing' issues with rucksack straps?

[icefest]

I have spent the first couple of weeks of this year walking with the Sony A7R plus a variety of lenses.

My dream set-up Unfortunately it will have to wait until I am no longer a student.

Can you share some photographical results?

[radson]

Im a big fan of Clik Elite products for my Nikon D800E. I have been on quite the quest trying to find a good camera carrying system. Late last year, we were shooting a doco on climbing in the Sanache Himal of Nepal. Here's a pic of my setup as taken by Pete.

I've been looking at these and am very close to pulling the trigger. Are they cumbersome to get on/off? And does the harness system cause 'rubbing' issues with rucksack straps?

They are slightly cumbersome to get on and off, I think they can do better on that front. I haven't had any rubbing issues

[iandsmith]

And lets be serious, a top class photographer would be lugging a massively heavy tripod as well to eliminate camera shake. A tripod carrying walker moves slower than a three toe sloth --- I've just booked a trip to South America in order to prove that I'm not as slow as a 3 toed sloth!
You can get tripods on Ebay from China with ball heads for less than $50 with fully adjustable legs. I've never paid more than $60 for a tripod. Also, the tripod is not that heavy and comes in handy sometimes when crossing creeks etc.
It must be stated here that I am not a multi day walker (like to sleep in my motorhome at night) and my idea of a walk is to see things, not just go from point to point to cross that off a list; so I do spend time and effort to try and (occasionally) get some good pics.
Loved some of those other suggestions re keyhole stuff, very interesting.
Cheers all

[GPSGuided]

Recently picked up a neoprene "camera wrap" to work with the Joby shoulder strap system that I like to carry my dSLR with. In the past, the camera/lens combo were fully exposed to the elements with potential knocks and bumps even when securely positioned just behind my right hip on walks. With this camera wrap, an additional degree of protection from knocks and bumps is offered. To shoot or when at location, one simple velcro pull and the whole wrap comes off. Granted, it's not a creaseless perfect fit, but with the stretchy neoprene (felt like 2mm or more), the whole thing wrapped around my dSLR/lens combo very tightly. In the photo, it's wrapped around a Nikon D5100 and Nikkor 10-24mm DX lens (a bit of a fat and heavy lens compared to my 16-85mm DX) with more lens extension to spare (Medium size). In fact, the wrap was turned upside down to allow an opening for the tripod attachment from the Joby shoulder strap to exit. Although it does interfere with the free rotation of the strap attachment but it's not really an issue when the camera is being carried. The best was, the wrap only costed US$4.65 from Aliexpress delivered. Arrived in around 2 weeks.

[photohiker]

And one that has been around for a while, but hasn't hit my radar:



It's a strap that attaches to your backpack. How innovative, why didn't anyone think of this before?

http://www.sunsnipershop.com/THE-BPS-BA ... :::58.html

I use a BlackRapid strap for general camera carrying without a backpack, it works sort of, with a backpack but it's messy.

[GPSGuided]

The Joby is similar to BlackRapid in design and I am curious of how you use it with your pack/s? Any particular tricks? I found that I can work the Joby effectively when underneath my large pack shoulder straps. But when using my 11L Ultimate Direction PB Adventure Vest, it goes over on top. Decently comfortable and doesn't really interfere. I find these Sling straps make the camera most accessible.

[photohiker]

The Joby is similar to BlackRapid in design and I am curious of how you use it with your pack/s?

Simple. I don't.

The padding on the BlackRapid gets in the way. I might buy one of these Sunsniper jobs to try.

Will need to find a way of stopping the cam from swinging around while walking as well.

[GPSGuided]

The Joby works quite well in comparison. The shoulder strap is relatively thin, so doesn't get in the way of pack's shoulder straps. The strap is also easily extendable and shortened with a click lock, meaning it can be securely tightened around the torso or extended for the shoot.

[photohiker]

Bought one of the SunSniper straps. Haven't actually used it yet but it's close to ready now.

Firstly, it comes with massive biners that are all out of proportion to the strap. I replaced them with some gatekeeper clips (from tombihn.com):

top clip:


That funny looking rubber on the strap bottom of frame is a shock absorber. seems to work ok.

bottom clip:


This might be a fiddle to remove when fingers are cold, but I only need to remove the one, or I can remove the camera and throw the sling over my head to get the pack off. I could possibly put a squeeze buckle there to make it easy. I'm trying the harness connection on both sides to even the distribution, but I may also try connecting the bottom clip to the pack itself via a buckle. I'm liking that the camera stays front and centre so it keeps out of the way of walking poles.

End result:


Landsailor, if you're watching, you can see why I'm not that fussed about any diets

When the weather clears, I'll give it a run. Will probably need some sort of tether to stop the camera flopping about but it's reasonably stable walking around the house.

[GPSGuided]

Stop! Aarn has a patent on carrying your (camera/lens) weight at the front.

[photohiker]

Stop! Aarn has a patent on carrying your (camera/lens) weight at the front.

Not like that!

[photohiker]

Quick report on the Sunsniper strap.

I made some adjustments from the photos above:

1. I inverted the strap with the shock absorbing section at the other end.

2. Using gatekeeper clips, I hooked a buckle type quick release connector up on the top of my left shoulder strap as it was too much of a fiddle detaching the strap using gatekeeper clips alone.

3. I moved the other connection point from the right shoulder strap to the pack frame below my armpit using a small carabiner.


With care, it is easy to take off the pack, you just need to keep your wits about you regarding the camera when you put the pack on the ground.

The benefit is that the camera is always at hand. I carried it with a light 27 mm pancake (40mm equiv) and never had a problem with the camera getting in the way or flopping about over 110km of varied terrain. The only time I removed the camera was when it started pelting down or at camp.

The Sunsniper is a bit expensive for what it is, and it's too long in this configuration too. If we could find a good supply of the sliding camera connections it would be cheap to MYOG strap to this spec. The Sunsniper sliding clip is well made with ball bearing swivel.

All in all, this is the best solution I have found to date for a stable and easily accessible backpack compatible camera support.

[GPSGuided]

That's excellent Photohiker! With a solid attachment system, there can be lots of room for MYOG on the strap geometry.

[GPSGuided]

I have the Peak Design Capture and it's great for having the camera handy...

Have just acquired one of these too, a CapturePro v2. It's solid alright with aluminium construction and weighed in at around 150g. No fear of it falling apart in use. Now, just have to take it out for a test on a real walk and try it with different positions on my shoulder and hip straps.

[GPSGuided]

Reporting in after taking my latest acquisition on an overseas trip... Lowepro Photo Sport 200 AW II backpack.

http://www.lowepro.com/photosport

This is a compact backpack that's around 16-20L capacity with a built-in left side access camera compartment that fits a compact dSLR/mirrorless with mid-range zoom mounted plus a small lens or flash (with a moveable divider). One special feature of this compartment is a tie down strap that goes outside the compartment, thereby reducing the amount of bouncing around within. The rest of the pack is similar to a regular top loading pack. The advantage of the side compartment was for easy access by just unloading the right shoulder strap and swinging the pack to the left side. It really worked well in my short period of ownership! No more dropped bits and pieces as the camera compartment became a bucket to catch any mishandling. The pack also has a decently wide hip strap that will take a bit of the load and was comfortable, along with a zipper pocket on each side, although the pockets are a little small and not for anything bulky when the hip belt gets tightened. The pack also has a water bladder compartment that's more suited to 2L or less than anything more. Fact is, the back harness is just moulded PVA panel that doesn't hold its shape very well when filled with a 3L bladder in a full pack. Given the capacity of the pack, there's just enough room for gears needed on a day walk in my experience. The construction was solid for general use although the pull loop on the camera compartment zipper had a tendency to pull out. I had to use a heavy plier to close the gap on the zipper. For foul weather, it has a rain cover built-in, hence the 'AW' designation (all weather). In summary, it's compact pack for quick day trips when one doesn't want to carry the camera outside the pack while still wanting convenient access. Very happy with the investment and happy to recommend to fellow members for consideration.




Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[photohiker]

Thanks for the review GPSGuided.

I have the original Mk1 version of this in orange, and it has had a lot of use. It's my preferred camera travel pack and has been since 2012.

If I'm carrying more gear than fits in the camera compartment, I add a Crumpler Haven Small into the top area (a medium would probably fit also)

My only problem with the internals is that items placed in the top section can slide down behind the camera compartment and even below it. Small items can disappear down there! Has this been corrected in the Mk2 version?

The pack isn't very long, so I find the waistbelt rides a bit high. It looks like they have improved the buckle and strap system, the Mk1 is a bit strappy.

[GPSGuided]

With Mk II, it's still possible for small items to slip under the camera protrusion, but only via the space to the right or in front. It's not possible to slip behind the camera compartment protrusion as it's sewn down to the internal of the main compartment. I am not too worried as I usually have rolled up clothing or small rolled bags stuffed into that space, or a lens to the right of that protrusion. I didn't think of throwing in a Crumpler Haven (I think mine is a medium) but have just thrown additional lenses in with neoprene pouches as protection.

The length of the pack is fine for my build but I can see how it may be an issue with someone who is significantly taller. Further, when packed with a camera, the weight usually keeps the hip belt at the appropriate level on me. Otherwise yes, it's not a heavy pack and can lift.

Glad that you have also validated this basic design as I gain more experience with this pack. Finally I have found a camera carriage pack that I actually felt comfortable to run in.