Carry it like you mean it

Sometimes I wear it around the neck, but tend to prefer to wear it across the chest. I like how it rests near my elbow for protection; if I'm wearing it under my long overcoat, it's not in people's face if I have no intention on using it; if at a party, I don't get food droppings all over the camera; and if I lean over, it doesn't bang into something. Currently just using the A&A adjustable strap extended all the way out. With some effort, I can drag the strap to bring the camera to my eye. It's not ideal, but generally works OK.

If I'm going to be using the camera more frequently, then yes, I'll generally move it around the neck again.

Sometimes I'll just carry it, but it depends on where I'm at, and how secure the environment seems. I don't think just carrying it, even if the strap is wrapped around the wrist, is terribly wise in some settings.....
 
dave lackey said:
Ken Rockwell loves the Tamrac straps. Must look into them. The word macho was a jest...as in only real men put up with pain. Not me! I am a wimp.😛
Click to expand...

Oh my gosh! Really! Please - someone.... ANYONE... show me a photograph by Ken Rockwell that impresses you to such an extent that you want to emulate him in any way. Or, take gear advice from him. Down to the detail of strap preference. I've been struggling to understand this for years. You recognize his name. I get that. That makes him an expert?

....

OP: i wear mine on the right shoulder, across my chest. The strap is long enough to use the camera without taking the strap off my shoulder.

I wish i could just hang it around my neck, but the darned things always seem to bounce around as i walk. Clank-clank-clank on my chest. Why is it that no one else is similarly affected? Maybe i walk to fast. I certainly don't have any kind of strut in my gait....
 
I usually carry two cameras - one in my shoulder bag and the other around my neck. The reason for the around the neck part is that over the years I have bashed up more lenses and cameras in car-doors, normal door frames and once had a shoulder carried camera get stuck in a revolving door!!!!!
It is a habit - and as most habits, difficult to break. A single rf camera with a moderately heavy lens is OK - sometimes heavy lenses can impart a bit off a "blood flow cut off" to the brain and you do stupid things - like buying different camera systems at swap-meets etc.
The other reason for having the camera "up front" is that you can glance down and check shutter speed settings, aperture etc quickly.
I also can grab the camera while driving and do "drive by shots" (generally dont work out though).
In my past I used to do multiprojector A-V shows (24 projectors - way before Power Point!). Then I used to carry 4 Nikon F2 or F3 with motordrives, one short strapped and one with longer strap on my chest and one on each shoulder. Inertia was a problem, the sheer weight of the stuff would propel you forward!.
I also like keeping hands free - and the wrist -strap/wound up neck strap is a bit clumsy - and you have to find a place to put the camera down on if you are sitting down, or simply shaking someone's hand!
But in like everything photographic - to each his own and it is more important that you are comfortable with how you carry the camera than what other people tell you to do!
 
Dave,

A fun thread to read, I now have a mental picture of you, Tom A. and other folks proudly walking around with cameras around your neck 🙂

I'm fine with my shoulder bag "way" where no one sees a camera until I decided to take a picture. It's not the "stealth" part that is the main motivation although it does help, it's more the sense that I'm blending in with the street crowd.

There is one camera that I proudly sling on my shoulder at events, that is the F3 + MD4. I feel like I can take on the world when I'm toting them 😛
 
CK Dexter Haven said:
Oh my gosh! Really! Please - someone.... ANYONE... show me a photograph by Ken Rockwell that impresses you to such an extent that you want to emulate him in any way. Or, take gear advice from him. Down to the detail of strap preference. I've been struggling to understand this for years. You recognize his name. I get that. That makes him an expert? ...
Click to expand...

Ha ha, that's funny. I've never thought of it that way. Turn it around -- what do you think Ken Rockwell thinks of us? I'd LOVE to hear his impressions.
 
For myself I like a bandolier style strap. Too easy to get bumped off of shoulder and my gait causes camera to bounce too much around neck. I also prefer a vertical orientation of the camera and so have hooked up a home made strap slot to my M4-2's tripod socket.
 
Personally around the neck is not for me, and find the camera swings uncontrollably whenever I do anything other than stand upright. Now bandolier-style across the chest with the M resting beneath my elbow I love, for all the reasons mentioned already above.
 
Not just a bump, but another thought prompted by Tom A.'s comment about the shoulder carried camera being prone to banging into stuff. Agreed.

On the shoulder, I always carried my cameras with lens in - pointing to my body - sounds dumb, but it works and it's very comfortable. Makes a long lens lay against your back... or butt, depending on strap and/or lens length.
 
kxl said:
20+ posts re: carrying your camera around your neck... only at RFF 🙂
Click to expand...

lol

i've never NOT carried my camera around my neck with the exception of truly pocketable P&S cameras which are either around my wrist or tucked away somewhere when not in use. i have, however, changed how i carry my camera around my neck when it's not in use: instead of it dangling in front of me all the time i now wear it around my neck but to the side like i would a purse/messenger bag. i'm always paranoid that the lens/hood might bang/brush up against something while walking, though, so my hand is always hovering around it in crowded/tight places.
 
Ken carry CAMERAS around his neck 😱

KR-XL.jpg
 
kxl said:
20+ posts re: carrying your camera around your neck... only at RFF 🙂
Click to expand...

Ha! Love this thread - can't miss reviving and adding my 2 pennies...

Since coming back to rangefinders a couple of years ago I've abandoned all the various carry options that were required for the heavy DSLR gear. Back to around the neck. I use the short fixed length A&A cloth straps which are light and comfortable, don't let the camera swing too far when bending, are perfect for using slip-loop fashion as a secure wrist strap when I'm shooting a lot, and don't take much space in the bag.

Happy to contribute...
 
655417208_12ba093c43_z.jpg


30 years ago - boy were those glasses ugly and I had hair, lots of it. yes, I have always carried cameras around my neck - maybe not this many. Tuulikki took the shot with her nikon F and a 105f2.5 on Technical Pan film.
 
Tom A said:
30 years ago - boy were those glasses ugly and I had hair, lots of it. yes, I have always carried cameras around my neck - maybe not this many. Tuulikki took the shot with her nikon F and a 105f2.5 on Technical Pan film.
Click to expand...

Tom, now that is a picture I would like to have on my coffee mug, seriously. Even a T-shirt!:angel:
 
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