Carrying the D90

So, how am I going to carry this D90 in addition to the D7000? I have a Quick Strap that I am planning to hook the D7000 to. The D90 has the standard Nikon neck strap, which I hate btw.

Well, I think I will carry the D90 over my left shoulder on top of the Quick Strap. I am thinking of using a velcro strap to tie the Nikon strap to the Quick Strap. This way, the Nikon strap will not slide off my shoulder.

I am also thinking of carrying the D90 upside down like the D7000. To do that, I need to use the tripod mount. There is this metal plate I just placed an order for on eBay.  It costs $10 including shipping.  (If interested in this plate, search for "camera strap plate" on eBay.)  I also need a carabiner to connect the Nikon strap to the plate so I ordered a dozen of these carabiners for $10 including shipping, also.  Why a dozen?  I will use one of the carabiners for this purpose and the rest, well, they will come in handy when I go traveling or hiking about.  For example, when I travel, I usually keep my camera gears in a small daypack.  When I have to carry my 60L backpack, the daypack is carried in the front.  I use a carabiner to hang the daypack off the strap of the 60L backpack.  I can also use a carabiner for carrying a water bottle in the front.

Now, notice these carabiners have a locking screw.  This is important.  I do not want the carabiner to detach from the metal plate by accident.  The locking screw is a must in this application.  However, I have to question my decision to buy these specific carabiners though.  I got a dozen of them for $10 and I am hanging a thousand dollars worth of equipment off it.  These aluminum carabiners should hold at least 40 pounds of weight.  Hmm ....

This $11 contraption will probably work well.  However, you could just purchase a double Quick Strap for two cameras like this one below for about $30.

Stuck filter on lens

My saga with the Quick Strap and the broken SB-800 did not end with fixing the SB-800 and purchasing a new SB-900. No, I just realized this morning that the drop inflicked even more damage than severing the SB-800. The Hoya Pro1 Digital glass UV filter I had screwed onto the Nikkor 18-200mm lens took a hit too. The glass was fine, but the filter ring got dented. Without the filter, I might have had to replace the lens too but now, it was well stuck to the lens. I tried many times to remove it by hand. As hard as I tried, it would not budge. I get only a sore hand.

Notice the dent on the filter ring? I tried all my might to untwist the filter. I used a rubber band around the filter but it was just stuck solid. I needed some more leverage. I read somewhere someone used a lens cap but I did try that too. My next course of action would be to buy this lens filter wrench from eBay:

It probably would work but I'd have to wait a good couple of weeks for it to arrive. I had to give the rubber band another try, but this time, teaming it up with the lens cap, this way:

There was enough surface for the rubber band to stay on the filter ring. I then applied the same amount of elbow grease as before, with one hand on the extended barrel and the other hand around the rubber band. Lo and behold, the filter started to move. I thought maybe it was the lens cap that moved, but no, the filter did!

(As it turned out, the filter ring got warped. The lens seemed to work completely fine, except for a slight heaviness in the zoom ring.)

SB800 Flash

I was horrified to see my camera drop to the floor today. I was shooting a conference at work so I decided to use the Q-Strap. It worked great the entire morning, then came lunch. I walked out of my office and turned a corner when I heard a big thunk. I looked down and was shocked to see my SB800 split in half. It broke the fall. The SB800 head was now connected to the body by a bundle of wires. The batteries fell out of the battery compartment and the door laid some distance away. I gathered the pieces together and put it away in my backpack. I was not happy the rest of the afternoon but I had to keep on shooting.

What happened? It was not because of the Q-Strap. It worked as it should. It was the hand grip I purchased for my old D80. The tripod mount was this cylindrical metal piece that fits tightly in a groove. The hand grip bottom part is hard plastic and it virtually impossible to pull the metal piece out by hand, but I guess with enough wiggling, it can come out, and it did.

Here, I re-inserted the tripod mount back into the groove:

Lesson learned. I hesitated to attach the Q-Strap to the hand grip. I should have listened to my instinct. I have to shop for a SB800 or an SB900 now. In the meantime, I'll take my Krazy Glue out.

Quick Strap, in the field

A couple of weekends ago, I had the opportunity to test out this Quick Strap for the first time. A day out at Point Pelee was a good field test of the strap.

For the day, I brought my backpack to carry an extra lens, water and some snacks. The strap would go over my shoulder after the backpack. Well, the strap does what it claims to do. The camera dangles by the right side of my waist, pointing back or pointing down toward the ground, depending on where the metal plate of the Quick Strap system is. Since my heavy 80-400mm has a tripod mount, I decided to move the metal plate from the bottom of the vertical grip of the D7000 to the lens' tripod mount. Connected this way, the camera tends to point back, which makes it easier for me to find the grip of the camera when I need to shoot--my right hand is always in close contact with the camera.

How does it feel? I always felt the camera was secured safely. In the past, I would either throw the Nikon strap around my neck or over my left shoulder. Over a short period, my neck would feel stiff. There is a physical discomfort about it. If the Nikon strap is worn over the left shoulder, the strap tends to slide off my shoulder. There is a mental discomfort here, always having to re-adjust the strap every now and then.

With the Quick Strap, the wide padded strap that goes over my left shoulder was painless. I did not feel the physical discomfort that the normal Nikon strap has on my neck or the mental discomfort that my camera might drop to the floor. I hiked around the entire day feeling good but tired from the hike.

Now, what about the "Quick"ness of it? It does what it is designed to do. The silky, smooth texture of the strap allows for the quick sliding of camera up and down the strap. It works great. My only beef about the strap is that it tends to twist upon itself. If the strap material is a bit stiffer, it probably would not twist upon itself as easily. I kept on having to untwist the strap.

My rating is an 8/10.

Quick Strap

The Quick Strap I ordered from China five weeks has finally arrived.  It came with a metal plate that screws into the camera tripod mount.  The metal plate is quite thick (I think 2mm thick), although a bit sharp--they should round off or sand off all the edges.  The metal plate then connects to the strap via a carabiner.  (The connection is not where the tripod mount is but rather, on the end of the metal plate, close to the left side of the camera.)  The carabiner has a screw lock that prevents the swinging arm from moving.  Here, quality is not great either.  The screw lock is a bit rough to turn.  Well, for $20, you get what you pay for.  I don't own a Rapid Strap but I'm sure the Rapid Strap is better built than this but the Quick Strap will serve my purpose well.

After some length adjustments of the strap I have now a new way of carrying my camera around.  Like I said, I don't like the Nikon strap.  It gets in the way of handling the camera.  This Quick Strap is better, but it needs some more design work.

eBay purchase from China

It's been nearly a month since I paid for the Quick strap on eBay.  The seller indicated the item was shipped on February 14.  Today is March 12.  This is the first time I purchased anything from China that takes this long to arrive.  In the past, it could take up to 3 weeks so this is stretching it.  Maybe Canadian customs is inspecting every parcel arriving from China?  In any case, if it does not arrive in a week, it looks like I will have to bring this up with PayPal and get my money back.

Q-Strap

Well, I am anxious to get my hands on the Q-Strap.  This is a problem with purchasing gears oversea.  Not only are you not helping the local economy, except for keeping Canada customs employed, you have to endure the long wait.

Quick Strap

In December, I saw a cousin of mine carrying his Nikon D3 over his shoulder but something was different. There was only one connection on his camera, where the tripod mount is.

I thought that was super cool because I hate the standard Nikon strap. There is no easy to carry the camera with the standard strap. Yes, I swing the strap over my left shoulder but it tends to slide off my shoulder. I could swing it over my head, like a necklace, but I will get a sore neck after a while. I could also just leave it dangling down to the floor when I use the hand strap. It became annoying enough I removed the strap altogether.

I ran into the R-Strap while searching for a quick strap. The price slowed down my impulse to buy one. I then came across the Q-Strap, another quick strap, made in China. Alright, should I buy the original R-Strap or this knock off at half the original strap's price?

Well, the Q-Strap is on its way.