OK...So, fun time shooting rugby this afternoon, but more on that later...
Here's what I ended up coming up with and why...
Most here know I recently picked up a tripod and ball head with an ARCA-style base. I also purchased a mount designed for my monopod so that I could mount the tripod collars on the lenses to my monopod without always having to remove the bases. I was going to use 50mm bases. At that point, my plan was to use the 70mm base that came with the head to mount on my camera bodies when I wanted to mount the body instead of the lens. Seemed like a pretty nice plan...but...I do prefer to attach my 70-200 to the strap via the tripod collar and that meant removing the plate...Thus, my questions above...Eventually I decided that I should just get another base and mount bases on both the bodies as well. I like Thumper's (and other's) idea about having an extra tether just in case...after deciding on the Yeti strap (which can be set for one or two cameras), I felt like I had a plan...
I liked the part that Merco recommended but in reading some of the reviews they indicated that it didn't work in all bases. One person even posted images of the filing he needed to do on the plate in order to get it to work with his plate...But, I found another option...I could put one of these bases on the clip at the end of each strap and that would allow me to mount either lens or body as I needed to. Here are the extra tethers I decided to pick up...And, of course, I thought I would pick up these for extra security on the clip...The only issue in my head was that the base on the 200-400 came slightly loose once or twice last week...I felt like I was set if I figured that out...A friend and some other things I read suggested Loctite would do it...wasn't sure I wanted to go that route, but figured it might be my best bet...
Then, I had what one of my friends calls a "lightbulb" moment...yes, the lightbulb went on and I figured out how to fix the base...both the tripod collars have two mount locations. I now have the extra screw they provide with the base in one of the mount locations and the standard mount in the other mount location on the bottom of the 200-400 with the 70mm base. So, I ordered a second 70mm base and put the 50mm bases on the bodies...Of course, I forgot the extra security clips...luckily, the Yeti comes with 2 of them!
After last night's football game and today's rugby (2 matches), everything worked as hoped...nothing came loose and the bases on the Black Rapid worked fine. The tether straps work well and are small enough to be out of the way when I don't need them. I find the Yeti strap (with one camera) that I used today to be nicer than my older BR strap which I used last night...more comfortable and just as easy to use. So, here are some pix...
Today was on and off rain, so lots of gear got a workout today...
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Here you can see the 50mm base on the bottom of the camera with the mount piece for the BR strap and the tether on my D4 with 24-70...As a side note, I'm still debating how best to attach the tether...Last night I attached it to the clip on the BR strap...today I attached it to a small clip around the strap itself...I'm going to try a few things to see what works best for me...
BRGear-1098.jpg 210.31KB
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A close up of the two (front and back) ARCA-style bases attached to the BR Yeti...
BRGear-1109.jpg 180.38KB
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The full Yeti strap setup...
BRGear-1110.jpg 89.47KB
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Lastly, a better view of the tether and you can also see the 50mm base on the camera body...
BRGear-1112.jpg 66.75KB
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So, I'm checking out for now to go edit the pix from football and rugby - hopefully I can finish up some time tomorrow!