Wednesday, April 25, 2012

I'm still here! (review of Black Rapid camera strap)

Photo by Black Rapid (That's not me, I usually frown when shooting. Because I'm thinking so hard.)
Good lord, the last post was a month and a half ago! I do have something special planned: I've been working on several posts about our trip to Fiji last month. I took about three thousand photos, of which I've deleted at least half, but that still leaves an awful lot to edit. How long does it take for me to edit a thousand photos? Let's see, we got back to the States on March 22nd ... about a month! I'm almost done, just need to edit the night-time shots from the meke. You do want to see the meke, right? (It's a traditional Fijian dance and feast. I've never been to a real luau, but I imagine it might be similar.)
Black Rapid RS WS-1 camera strap (Again, not me.)
Just to keep things alive over here in blogland while I continue to process, I'm sharing my new favorite tool, the Black Rapid RS WS-1 camera strap. This is a camera strap designed for women, and I absolutely love mine. See how the strap curves around her chest? Trust me, this is brilliant. Whether your girls are big or little, they sure are happier when they aren't being smooshed by your camera strap. If only seatbelts were made like this!
Further brilliance? The camera is on a sturdy hook that screws into your tripod socket, and when you want to shoot, it slides up the strap smoothly. When you put it back down, a little bumper behind it makes sure the strap goes right back into position. Everything is well-made and works like a dream. It is awesome for hiking because you can just push your camera behind your back and use your hands to pull yourself up a really steep trail. I'm not even going to discuss how awkward and painful that can be with the standard around-the-neck camera strap bouncing on your babies or whacking the rocks.

At $60 it isn't cheap, but it still costs less than the chiropractor visit you need after a day with a strap that puts all the weight on your neck. They make a straight-strap version, too, so you don't have to be jealous, guys. In fact, Black Rapid makes a whole series of clever straps and accessories. I love people who figure out how to do one thing really really well, and then just keep figuring out how to make it even better!

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