I can break all reviews into two categories: those that are solicited, and those that are not. This is the latter. And I write this unsolicited review because I believe Blackrapid’s straps have changed my life in a significantly positive way.

DSLR News Shooter is a great resource for finding out about new gear and user opinions of the most up to date technology. Looking at the past couple weeks there are reviews of new cameras, new sliders, new glass and even a new user medium. As technology (and our gear habits) advance its easy to forget about some of the most basic parts of our kit.

But its ok, Blackrapid has not forgotten. The relatively nascent company rethought the most basic element of our kit — the strap.

Here’s how it works:

FasternR System: Each strap uses a small screw which attaches to your cameras tripod mount. Between the screw and the camera is a small rubber washer unit which both protects the camera from getting scratched as well as stops the screw from unintentional loosening. After two years of using the system — the screw has never become loose enough to which it came even close to following off. I’ve climbed mountains, crossed rivers and sat on the side of helicopters with cameras hanging from this screw.

ConnectR System: On the other side of the camera mount is Blackrapid’s ConnectR System — which is essentially a carabiner that allows the FasternR to swivel. These two items together make an amazing combination because you can have the camera move at your side, without the strap moving — or without needing to adjusted your clothing as you move. The straps then sling either diagonally (RS models) across the chest or vertically down the torso (DR models), distributing weight across the entire body.

Comfort Level: The strap has done wonders for my physical health, but beyond general comfort Blackrapid has made a strap that is completely adjustable to any body type. On each strap — there are two “stoppers” which can be placed where the user wants the camera to either fall or stop when at desired shooting position. If you place these right, pulling your camera up from your side will be smooth and the camera will stop exactly where you feel comfortable shooting. In addition, Blackrapid make’s male and female models for … varying chest shapes.

Health: For years after work I had neck and back pain from using traditional camera straps that place a heavy weight across the neck. Within weeks of changing straps, I actually felt physically better. I was less soar, my posture improved and I even began to sleep better.

Mobility: Here I am in sunny India. I often find myself shooting in crowded places. With Blackrapid’s straps, the camera hangs upside down, and you can rest the camera either on your hip or toward the small of your back. Either way, the camera isnt sitting right under your face like a bullseye. This is great for a number of reasons. In a crowd like the on above you can sneak through protecting the camera with your body. Second, the straps allow you to hide the camera. In Bihar, India (where the average annual income is $350) you might stick out a bit being foreign and walking around with $10,000 around your neck. When using Blackrapid straps in dodgy places, you can keep the camera out of direct site, making it a little easier to blend in and possible — a bit safer.

The system also allows you to use your hands for other stuff, while still keeping the cameras safe. Below, I’m using a Blackrapid DR-1 Double Strap, moving a three meter jib with a Canon 60D on it, with a Canon 7D and Canon 5DMII safely at my sides.

For video oriented DSLR photographers: These things are great. I hate shooting video with a strap attached to the camera. Blackrapid straps come instantly on and off. Since I normally have multiple cameras rolling the straps come in handy all the time when one camera becomes unneeded but I want to have either a lens or a camera on standby.

In addition, in between shots I often have to move small distances that would be easier to not have a camera attached to a tripod, but not far enough away where I want to put a camera away. These straps make it easy for me to not completely disable, but partially de-rig and move from place to place without carry all the weight of the camera all the time.

For still oriented photographers: These things are also great. Above, I’m at a Prada Show shooting a new collection of clothing. While its great to have 10 lenses with you, sometimes space is an issue and being nimble helps. With one Blackrapid DR-1 Double Strap I can shoot all night with two cameras, no bags and no accessories needed to tie around my waste. For fashion, news and wedding photographers two cameras and two lenses is often enough.

MODS: There’s also a ton of add-ons and modifications that work with these things. when shooting stills a Brad which helps stabilize the camera a little.

Normally, I’m not so head over heals, “ready to propose” about a product — but between the utility and the physical health benefit — this one definitely has me.

• Blackrapid DR-1 Double Strap sells for $129.95.
• RS-7 Strap with FastenR-3 – $58.95
• BRAD Modification – $15.95

– Jonah M. Kessel is a Beijing based freelance visual journalist working with the New York Times. See his web site here and follow him on Twitter here.

Wukan Video Journal from Jonah Kessel on Vimeo.

Using a fat Chinese man, a large backpack, a baseball cap and the hood from my sweatshirt, I attempted to hide myself.

I was sandwiched in between the beefy man and a f-stop Satori backpack jammed with gear on the rear of his motorcycle. He drove me down a dark dirt road in the middle of the night near the uniquely autonomous village of Wukan, Guangdong Province, China.

I was hiding from police and those who might not want attention drawn to the small village of about 13,000 people.

Earlier in the week, pissed off villagers had overthrown their leaders and in mass numbers chased the police out of town. When the police came back, they set up barriers and created a stronghold in their fishing community, only letting sympathizers and foreign journalists into the village. These outsiders started to grow in numbers and after a couple of days, a small media circus had developed.

The New York Times’ Edward Wong described the situation like this:

“The outsiders had come to see how furious residents had transformed their village on China’s southeast coast into a temporarily autonomous zone. Their anger focused on two issues: what they called illegal land sales by village officials, and the death on Dec. 11 of a village advocate while he was in police custody. The villagers chased out Communist Party officials, repelled an assault by police officers and barricaded all roads leading into Wukan with tree trunks. The two police stations in the village stood empty. So did the headquarters of the Communist Party committee.”

The villagers used this media circus and created a bit of a propaganda war. They shared their homes and food with us and drove us around on their motorcycles whenever we needed. This was a funny sight: I would be on the back of a motorcycle with a DSLR rig hung to the side, flying through small alleys and passing other motorcycles — all carrying journalists on the back as well.

With the global spotlight on this village, provincial officials were cornered and agreed to start negotiations with the angry mob.

Within 24 hours I filed one basic news video and one video journal (above) on my experience in Wukan. The video journal was paired with a text journal by Edward Wong. You can read his story “Canny Villagers Grasp Keys to Loosen China’s Muzzle” here. I shot mainly with one camera and a prime 24mm lens. While I love using jibs, sliders and mechanical movement, this video journal seemed most real shot hand-held.

While there was a lot of media there, I was the only DSLR video shooter (that I saw). All other newspapers, TV stations and wire service photographers were using standard video cameras — and with good reason. This was a tricky shoot and using a standard camera would certainly have been easier.

However, I knew it would be tricky and planned accordingly. Before I left I was told to pack light — bring no bells or whistles. Nothing extra. There would be limited car space, I would be riding by motorcycle and I would most likely have to run, so should bring only one bag.

Knowing this I created a really small franken-rig and minimized everywhere I could. Above, you can see what the franken-rig looked like disassembled and in use.

Above: f-stop Satori bag, Blackrapid RS-7 strap with Canon 60D with Canon 70-200 f/2.8 L USM, Canon 5DMII with Canon 24mm f/1.4 L USM, 2x Redrock Micro microHandGrip (Part # 2-19-0009), Redrock Micro Handlebar clamp (Part # 2-017-0002), 2x 18″ 15mm carbon fiber rods (Part # 8-011-0002), Porta Brace Universal Shoulder Pad, Jag35 Top Handle, Jag35 Tripod Plate Pro, Jag35 Quick Release Gorilla Stand with Zucoto Gorilla Plate, D | Focus Follow Focus, Jag35 90 Degree Clamp with ball head attached to a Ruige 5″ TL-S500 On-camera HD LCD monitor, Genus Counterweight for CSMK Shoulder Mount System (3.5 lb) and topped with a Rode VideoMic Pro Compact Shotgun Microphone.

I got all of this to fit into a single f-stop bag. The rig was small enough to fight for territory in press scrums and stable enough to run around in a less than stable environment.

This setup was also small enough to take onto a plane without checking anything. I kept one small tripod with me — although I barely used it.

The videos were largely edited during during the middle of the night or in the back of moving cars as I was fighting US East coast deadlines.

To see the strange conclusion to this story see my blog post “Wukan Journal Unfinished.” To see how this story unfolded check out these stories:

• Canny Villagers Grasp Keys to Loosen China’s Muzzle
• Demonstrators Who Took Over Chinese Village Halt Protest
• Officials Meet With Protesting Chinese Villagers
• Wukan Protesters Seek Return of Xue Jinbo’s Body
• Wukan Revolt Takes On a Life of Its Own

– Jonah M. Kessel is a Beijing based freelance visual journalist working with the New York Times. See his web site here and follow him on Twitter here.

Jag35.com have launched a new, as yet unnamed, compact rig for the run and gun DSLR video shooter. It looks to be an interesting option for budget-minded news and documentary shooters looking for a lightweight solution.

According to Jag35’s Misa Garcia “It’s a very simple, compact and lightweight design which will allow you to mount your DSLR along with other accessories.  It’ll feature two 6″ bottom rods below your camera’s body so that you can mount a Follow Focus and Mattebox if you want.  It includes a Shoulder Pad that can be used to support the rig with your chest, giving you another pressure point for added support, and helping you with stabilization. The rig also includes a comfortable cushioned handgrip.”

The new rig will be available starting at $199 (parts with a value of $249.99) within the next couple of weeks through the Jag35.com website. 

Additionally, Jag35 will be running a contest where anyone can submit their ideas for naming this new rig.  If Jag picks your suggestion then you will win a rig for free.  You can find more info on this page.

Sam Morgan Moore of Half Inch Rails has been busy again. It seems like not a week goes by without him launching a new widget; this time it’s the descriptively named Bumper – a simple end stop for any camera rig using regular spaced set of 15mm rods. I must confess this is not something I ever imagined that I needed for my rig, but if you think the risk of impaling someone on yours is too great then this is for you.

15mm Bumper from HalfInchRails from Sam Morgan Moore on Vimeo.

You can find out more about the Bumper here.

Half Inch Rails have launched the very interesting looking HIR_SP shoulder pad solution for camera rigs. The solution is actually a series of plastic pads which slide onto 15mm rails and combine together to provide support. This is instead of a traditional sculpted rubber block or rubber on metal pad commonly seen on rigs. The idea is that the shape of the pad curves in such a way as to keep the camera horizontal when on the shoulder and each pad compresses under weight to fit the curve of your shoulder. The other concept they talk about is how it breaks down easily for travel – a feature that some news shooters will certainly enjoy. Check out the video below.

I have no idea how well this works or how comfortable it is but Half Inch Rails will be at the Canon Pro Solutions show in London where I am also speaking next week – I hope to check it out then.

They are sold as a set of five or individually. Price is £30 for a set + delivery and tax but there is an introductory offer right now at £20. You can find out more here.

(Photo courtesy of Matt Jeppsen/FreshDV)

The past weekend Hollywood DP Shane Hurlbut ASC unveiled the new Master Cinema series of rigs which bear his name and are made by Letus. Shane has long been a proponent of using the smaller form factor of cameras like the 5D mkII to create cinema. His work features a lot of handheld motion and often relies on putting the camera into hitherto impossible places. The new line of rigs is designed to allow a DSLR to move easily and quickly between different handheld and studio situations. Some of the larger designs mimic the handling of more traditional movie camera setups. It might be interesting to see how some of these rigs perform in a documentary rather than Hollywood environment.



Matt Jeppsen of FreshDV has some behind the scenes video from the launch. You can find more details of the new rigs over here and here.

You can also read about the rigs and the concepts behind them on Shane’s blog.

It seems like there is a new DSLR accessory manufacturer born every day in China, although some of them don’t seem to be doing much innovation. Sunrise is a brand I had never heard of before the show, and given the flimsy feel of their rigs I would not seek them out. They look very similar to existing American products but I personally wouldn’t use them.

The Sunrise range of DSLR products

Take a look at the video below and see what you think.

Wonderlan rigs are usually to be found on Ebay and are made in China. Offerings to date have usually been of the inexpensive variety. Their stand at BIRTV 2011 was showing their usual range of DSLR rigs as well as a camera stabilizer and a rig for the Panasonic AF100. They seemed pretty unwieldy and somewhat less than inspired. Suffice to say I don’t intend to buy one of these anytime soon.

Wonderlan 5DmkII rig

Tilta are relatively new entrants into the DSLR and camcorder accessory market. The Shenzhen-based company is quite small and the brand has recently become known in budget filmmaker circles by selling an inexpensive follow focus. They have rapidly created a much larger line of products that caters for more professional gear like the Sony F3.

Tilta 5DmkII rig

Tilta's Sony F3 rig

I was particularly impressed by their universal handgrips which are fully adjustable and fit on both 15mm and 19mm rods. I’d like to test how they stand up to real world use.

Tilta's Universal handgrips

Also interesting was their bracket and power solution for AJA’s popular KiPro Mini external Prores recorder. It mounts directly to 19mm rods and allows a V-lock battery to power both recorder and camera – but unlike other solutions I’ve seen it has a cooling system to stop the recorder overheating.

Tilta products can’t be easily found in Western stores yet and most parts need to be ordered online.

Movcam are an established Chinese manufacturer best known for selling camera stabilizer systems. Their quality is generally regarded as better than most other Chinese accessory manufacturers. That’s reflected in their pricing – some of their gear actually costs about the same as some Western equivalents.

This BIRTV they launched a whole range of DSLR and large sensor camcorder rigs designed with production in mind. Most eye-catching was their Sony F3 production rig with a cage design and multiple mount points for accessories to the camera and a carbon fibre mattebox. While many Chinese rigs look like cheap copies of Western designs it was good to see some original thought going into this one.

Movcam F3 production rig

Also on show was a follow focus which is articulated and has adjustable end stops.

Another interesting part is their power distribution box designed for DSLR users.

Movcam power distribution box