On the back of this post by @manchesterbirder.bsky.social I dug into a belt system for my new, lighter weight, camera setup. My shoulders are bust and even halving the weight of the camera and lens hasn’t fully helped. What I needed was to get rid of shoulder straps altogether. #BirdingGear 1/7 - ThreadSky

stevedudley.bsky.social • 2 days ago

On the back of this post by @manchesterbirder.bsky.social I dug into a belt system for my new, lighter weight, camera setup. My shoulders are bust and even halving the weight of the camera and lens hasn’t fully helped. What I needed was to get rid of shoulder straps altogether. #BirdingGear

1/7

Reposted from CM

#birdinggear tried the Cotton Carrier Slingbelt and harness for my camera, with pleasing results. I use a Canon 7d m2 with a Canon 400mm lens, a fairly heavy set up. The slingbelt really helped distribute the weight and save my neck. I was concerned that I'd be too large to wear the sling, but...

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orgreavebirder.bsky.social•2 days ago

I use a Think Tank belt system. Beauty of it is the ability to add and change various bags, depending what I'm taking out with me.

stevedudley.bsky.social•2 days ago

I tried my LowePro case on a wide belt before I bought the Spider. Didn’t get on with that type of system at all and no intention of adding anything else (or have anything else I need to switch to/from). The shaped ‘holster guard’ of the Cotton Carrier and Spider systems is also something I wanted.

stevedudley.bsky.social•2 days ago

I needed a belt system and the only decent options are the Cotton Carrier and Spider. I messaged a pro-photographer friend who uses the Spider and he said it was the way to go. He uses a double belt setup to carry two cameras at once. So this is what I was to look at 👇🏼

2/7

stevedudley.bsky.social•2 days ago

So I searched for one secondhand and boom! A DSLR one on eBay that I haggled down to £70. And what a way to go! It’s so freeing for me not to have anything on my shoulders. The belt takes a little adjusting as did on top of which layer I wore it. I’ve gone for under my outer shell jacket.

3/7

stevedudley.bsky.social•2 days ago

Placement was key to comfort and accessibility. I wear lots of layers here, even in summer. I was worried that the belt would abrade my thin fleece mid-layer but I always wear an insulated jacket between it and my outer waterproof or windproof. This also allows full use of the outer pockets.

4/7

stevedudley.bsky.social•2 days ago

Wearing it over my outer shell felt restricting and I could imagine I’d soon be overheating. Also, in the wet I want my jacket to be unimpeded in its performance and anything worn over it will compromise that. There’s little point buying high end waterproofs to then compromise them.

5/7

stevedudley.bsky.social•2 days ago

My concern that the camera wouldn’t sit secure were soon dismissed. There is a fiddly lock but so far I haven’t felt the need. Get the belt adjusted right and it sits perfectly flat against the upper leg and moves very little when walking. And it slides in and out of the holster effortlessly.

6/7

stevedudley.bsky.social•2 days ago

The belt I bought from eBay was the DSLR version. The mirrorless version has a different plate. I’ve got the DSLR plate to fit my OM-1 so let’s see how it goes long-term.

So my thanks to @manchesterbirder.bsky.social for kicking this off and to the kind chap who got haggled down on eBay!!

7/7

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