Looks like I am going to be getting the 100-400L II a lot sooner than I expected.

[DavidEccleston]

If all you're doing is shooting, and you're not sharing a camera, then I imagine the BlackRapid strap is wonderful. While I liked the initial feel of getting the weight off my neck, but, after a week or two it was taken off... either the strap was in the way, or it put the camera/lens dangling in the way, far, far too often.

We often share a camera, and we found that the strap made that extra annoying. Shooting without the strap in use is extra annoying too, as it's not as easily held up and out of the way as the neck strap. It's also annoying if you're doing anything non-photo related. The camera hangs lower, and swings around, when not in use, which means we need to be extra careful when bending or squatting down. ie: to tie a shoe, going to pet one of our dogs, giving them a treat, or picking up after them. We need to take the camera off and find somewhere for it to sit temporarily when helping to move anything.

[conropl]

If all you're doing is shooting, and you're not sharing a camera, then I imagine the BlackRapid strap is wonderful. While I liked the initial feel of getting the weight off my neck, but, after a week or two it was taken off... either the strap was in the way, or it put the camera/lens dangling in the way, far, far too often.

We often share a camera, and we found that the strap made that extra annoying. Shooting without the strap in use is extra annoying too, as it's not as easily held up and out of the way as the neck strap. It's also annoying if you're doing anything non-photo related. The camera hangs lower, and swings around, when not in use, which means we need to be extra careful when bending or squatting down. ie: to tie a shoe, going to pet one of our dogs, giving them a treat, or picking up after them. We need to take the camera off and find somewhere for it to sit temporarily when helping to move anything.

If you use a back pack a lot, I thought this post (reply #15) had a nice DYI solution to get the weight off your neck and still use the neck strap when you want:

http://community.the-digital-picture...ight=carabiner

Pat

[peety3]

If all you're doing is shooting, and you're not sharing a camera, then I imagine the BlackRapid strap is wonderful. While I liked the initial feel of getting the weight off my neck, but, after a week or two it was taken off... either the strap was in the way, or it put the camera/lens dangling in the way, far, far too often.

We often share a camera, and we found that the strap made that extra annoying. Shooting without the strap in use is extra annoying too, as it's not as easily held up and out of the way as the neck strap. It's also annoying if you're doing anything non-photo related. The camera hangs lower, and swings around, when not in use, which means we need to be extra careful when bending or squatting down. ie: to tie a shoe, going to pet one of our dogs, giving them a treat, or picking up after them. We need to take the camera off and find somewhere for it to sit temporarily when helping to move anything.

We took an approach similar to Pat 'conropl'. We went with the Really Right Stuff B2-FABN clamps, and simply loc-tited the BR fittings into our B2-FABN clamps (four so far, two more that I need to do). My wife and I each have a single BR strap and a 'Double', so being able to leave a clamp on the end of each strap means we never forget. BR also sells a black plastic "locker" that fits over the BR carabiner and keeps the screw gate closed. It's not as cheap as electrical tape, but also not as cheap looking. The screw clamp of the B2-FABN isn't as quick as the lever-lock that Pat suggests, but it's a cleaner finished product by only having one knob. For the most part, we can leave the clamp just loose enough to slide onto the camera, and only have to open it wider if it's going on a lens plate with safety screws.