How to "wear" 2 cameras at a time

ymc226 said:
Thanks for the quick reply. I just don't like all that weight on my neck. Can you instead, drape on camera/strap across one shoulder and the other against the other?

I am thinking of making my own Y strap as the cost per foot of nylon webbing is about 50 cents. Just need to hand stitch the webbing and find round or D rings to uses as attachment points.
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I'm inclined to think in fast moving situations (and they always come up), one on each should increases the chance of dropping one, unless as mentioned above, you have an epaulette.

You might consider going to a shoe shop for your stitching. Should be very inexpensive, and better done, so less chance of wearing loose.
 
Here's another Vietnam-era photog: Tim Page, sporting Leica and Nikon.

P04959.067
 
Just a lot of gadgets to sell to photographers, nothing wrong with a simple neck strap . I wish all these companies would stop trying to re-invent the wheel.
 
Heavy stuff

Heavy stuff

peterm1 said:
Agree! If you look at photos of Vietnam war photographers you will often see them carrying two (usually) Nikon Fs in this configuration. I suppose in a fast changing setting it meant no lens changes - one camera was carried with a wide to normal lens and the other with a tele.

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This use to kill me. I carried a Photomic-T and FTN like this and the weight felt like 4lbs apiece backache city
 
I can't wear the multiple cameras around my neck because of the strain.
As it is, a motorized SLR with a relatively small wide zoom carried there is heavy enough.
So, this is the way I carry multiple cameras:
With SLRs one off each shoulder and one around my neck.
With Rangefinders one off right shoulder, one around my neck, one off left shoulder with short strap and one SLR with long lens on longer strap off left shoulder with camera body facing backwards so lens is resting across buttock.
Works like a champ and the two off the left shoulder never bang against each other.
 
Most of the replies involve multiple neck straps or a neck strap plus camera bag. Either way you have more weight on the neck and shoulders.

To keep the weight on the neck and shoulders down, wear the lightest camera on a strap however is most comfortable. For the camera with a bigger lens, put it in a holster designed for short zooms/teles that you wear with a belt. Tamrac makes models that can be worn as on belt or shoulder strap, so you can change the way you carry them as you daily situation changes.
 
I hava an OP/TECH reporter strap. It works great, even with big and heavy SLRs. Some times I've carried two cameras on the OP/TECH strap, plus my Contaflex with it's original strap, on a never ready case which I turned into a half case.
 
To shoot an event with two bodies, I've done the following:
  • Primary camera (with a 28mm or 35mm lens) on a wrist strap (right hand).
  • Secondary camera (with a 50mm or 90mm lens) on a Y-Strap slung so the camera sat on my left hip.
When a shot presented itself that required more reach or a tighter composition than the wide lens gave me, I brought up the secondary camera, with my left hand cradling the lens, while I simply dropped the primary camera and let it dangle from my right wrist. This worked well for the most part, though if the primary body has a long/heavy lens on it, its swinging from the wrist can cause camera shake issues while using the secondary body. If you choose well, though, the primary body covers 80% of the job.

In general, I really like the cross-body straps (Y-Strap or LeicaGoodies STRAP) because they keep the camera out of the way, unobtrusive (something at your hip doesn't catch peoples eyes the way something at the chest does), it doesn't swing out when you bend forward and it doesn't hurt your neck/back over a long period. I haven't used a normal neck strap in years now.

::Ari
 
If you check my avatar I'm carrying two M7s and a Rolleiflex - it's not "easy" but it can work. The M7 straps (and Rollei strap) are varying lengths thereby making them less likely to (doesn't mean they won't) bump into each other on my body.. 🙂

Cheers,
Dave
 
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