Reviews
Reviews of kit i have used or continue to use
The first thing i am going to review is the best bit of kit i have had the pleasure of using in a long time. How i got out and about without it up till now i genuinely don’t know…
Sun-sniper The Pro Steel & Bear (Bear is short for ball bearings, stainless steel no less!)
I had been wondering for a few days about what the package Fed-Ex kept trying to deliver was, the last thing i thought it was going to be was this strap supplied by the lovely people @calisunbounce for testing
The packaging it comes in is a reasonably attractive retail box, well wrapped with testimonials printed on the box it reassures you that it is going to be a quality piece of equipment inside.
First impressions once out of the box.
- Lightweight
- Looks less bulky than i imagined
- Rotating swivel bearings along bottom looks really sturdy
- Appears well made
- Very Professional finish.
I attached my canon Eos 450d + battery pack which happened to have its 70-300mm lens on within 30 seconds and without any catching or forcing of the threads it was effortlessly over my shoulder in under a minute.
Once over the shoulder the first thing i noticed was the lack of weight my camera was generating, even with the bulky zoom! It sat firmly on my shoulder with the camera fitting in snugly at my waist. What a result after using a front facing strap for the past eons this felt like i had just discovered the wheel! The Shock absorber was doing more than absorbing the shocks it appeared to be dissipating the weight of the camera into another universe such was the lack of weight.
Out in the field
First time use outside was in the very urban setting of George Square Glasgow.
I found the shooting from the hip and extra flexibility the strap offered to be liberating. The camera was no longer sticking out from the front of my chest, this i felt had made me look every bit the tourist and therefore potentially a target for every Tom Dick and drug abuser Glasgow has to offer!!
The camera slid effortlessly up from the left to the right with the shoulder pad staying well and truly put. I had taken the camera out in my Lowepro 302aw but came back with it slung down by my side where it feels far better and is so much more accessible than if its in my bag.
The same night i think i was at the Camera Club and the guys were all eager to have a go with the strap slung over the way i had it. Like me they had been shooting for years using the provided Canon or Nikon straps which although good they offer little in the way of flexibility or security for your camera.
The consensus of opinion was to put it on the Xmas or Birthday wish list..
Since then i have used it out and about in both urban and natural settings. I find the camera hangs naturally at my side and does not seem to bounce around the way it would have it it were to be used on the manufacturers strap.
I am happy with leaving it by my side as i know if a thieving git tries to steal it i will notice long before they have had a chance to attempt cutting through the steel wire which is sewn into the strap…
Overall i am very pleased with its performance so far, as for durability time will tell but the quality of build leaves me confident that its with me for the long haul and that if it give up the game i will most definitely get another one.
One niggly point i have to note is when i am wearing it with my North face waterproof Jacket the strap steadfastly refuses to stay put on my shoulder and requires that i hold it in place whilst i zip the camera up to my eye. Although this is annoying i would imagine its relatively easy to resolve maybe by either and attachment to the underside which creates more of a grip between the strap and the jacket when needed or a slightly more rough material used for the grip as standard.
If i were to give it marks out of 10 it would have to be 9.9 as the movement whilst out with my waterproof jacket although irritating it didn’t affect the performance of the strap in any way.