I, for one, never got into using neck straps for cameras. Even when I got my Nikon D5000, I only used the neck strap once while I was waiting for a sling strap. Now take note, that sling strap I bought back then when I first started in my hobby of digital photography was a cheapo Black Rapid knock off, because, well, I was still a medical student, and it was my parents that helped me pay for my Nikon D5000, so I don’t have much of my oen money to spend on accessories. But simply put, as early as I got into photography, I knew I would not be using a neck strap.
Granted, I am talking about the stock neck strap that comes along with a brand new DSLR, MFT, MILC, etc. Most of the aftermarket neck straps like the Cecilia or Peak Design neck straps are indeed a far better cry that the stock ones, but I still had my reasons for not wanting to use a neck strap.
My reasoning for not using a neck strap were a bit odd, but some are justified. Let us go through them:
- They are not comfortable:
- shooting all day, especially with the stock straps, can give me neck pain and it can be a bit annoying when you consciously feel it on your neck the whole day.
- They can be quite attention grabbing:
- practically, you are a walking ad with that big camera manufacturer logo; I do take a lot of street photography and want to be incognito as much as possible. TAKE NOTE, THOUGH! I am still very interested in the Black Rapid Nikon AN-SBR2 sling strap, albeit, attention grabbing (lol)
- When travelling to a different city/country, you can look more of a tourist than you already are (lol)
- May slip off shoulder if used as a shoulder strap:
- If using it as a neck strap isn’t for you, you can always make it like a shoulder bag and carry it that way, but the stock strap does not grip too well and may slip off your shoulder.
- Too small to be used as a cross body sling:
- Like using it as a shoulder strap, you can just try and use it as a cross body sling strap, but it is far too small to do so.
- Future proofing my comfort with heavy lenses:
- Even when I first started out with my Nikon D5000, I knew I will be collecting heavy lenses and most likely upgrade my DSLR body. It may be 4-5 years off, but I always like to at least try and future proof my comfort – using a neck strap while using a telephoto lens will tip the center of gravity.
- Too mainstream (lol)
- Yeah… everyone has it.
See? Told you my reasoning is shallow, but here we are.

The very first sling strap I own, as mentioned above, was a cheapo sling strap simply called Quick Strap. From 2010-2015, I actually used this in every event, every trip, absolutely anything.
Around 2015, I would have already owned a Sigma 30mm f/1.4 EX DC HSM (bought at 2011) and a Yongnuo YN465 Speedlite Flash (also bought 2011), along with my Nikon D5000, it was fairly heavy altogether. I mean, nowadays, I realized that combination wasn’t at all heavy, since my current gear are more heavy, but for what it’s worth back then from 2010-2015, even if this is a knock off sling strap, it did it job well.

One thing I like about the Quick Strap quick release plate system is that the 1/4″ screw that is used to attach the quick release plate also has 1/4″ threading on the opposite side, so you can still use you tripod without having to remove the strap’s plate, unlike that of the Black Rapids that use a D-ring fastener, named FastenR, as seen above.

By 2016, I wanted to finally get a Black Rapid strap. I got the Black Rapid RS-7, though a bit late to the party, because this was released around 2010, if I am not mistaken, and there was already a Black Rapid RS-Sport available with the Brad Strap (the strap that loops around under your armpit to keep the strap from sliding too much), but around 2016 I just starting working as a physician since I just passed my licensure exam earlier that year. So I wasn’t in the realm of affording the more expensive sling straps from Black Rapid.
I loved the RS-7, since knowing that the cheapo knock off worked so well, I had no doubt that the Black Rapid RS-7 will hold up to any sort of condition.
My only gripe was, as was already mentioned, is that the FastenR takes up the tripod mount screw from the bottom of the camera, so if you want to use a tripod, you have to unscrew the FastenR, screw in the quick release plate from your tripod, and when you are done, you do the opposite. Time consuming. But I wasn’t all too bothered.
By 2017, I started to get into photography again big time, so it was time to complete my version of Holy Trinity of Lenses: I got a Sigma 50-150mm f/2.8 APO EX DC OS HSM and a Sigma 17-50mm f/2.8 EX DC OS HSM, to join my “go-to” lens that I already own, the Sigma 30mm f/1.4 EX DC HSM. I also got a Nikon SB-600 Speedlight Flash to finally replace my Yongnuo YN465 Speedlite Flash.
Now with my new gear, especially if I attach the 50-150mm lens along with the SB-600 flash, unto my Nikon D5000, it was certainly very heavy and the center of gravity certainly shifted towards the front, so I have to screw in the FastenR onto the telephoto lens’ tripod collar to alleviate it. This adds to another set of time consuming screwing/unscrewing if I switch lenses (thus changing the center of gravity again), or if I need to use the tripod on the tripod collar for the telephoto lens. Again, I wasn’t all too bothered.
As 2018 rolled in, I did upgrade my Nikon D5000 to a Nikon D7200 and also grabbed the Nikon MB-D15 battery vertical grip (one of the major reasons why I chose the D7200 over the D7500 – the latter doesn’t have contacts on the bottom of the camera to communicate with a battery vertical grip without using a cable on the side). This is definitely a big heavy upgrade once again, and the Black Rapid RS-7 had no problems with my new current gear, even at its heaviest configuration. And the comfort, as always with any sling strap I ever used, was there.
Some would argue that it bumps on your hip too much, but overall, I don’t even notice it too much.


It is at this year I also added 2 more sling straps: a Focus F1 sling strap and (finally) a Black Rapid RS-Sport version 2 (slimmer version than the original). The former is more of a backup and the latter is more of my “go-to” sling strap. As for my Black Rapid RS-7, I gave it to my dad, and he is still using it to the fullest.
The comfort is there… all throughout the years that I have been using a sling strap, no matter the brand, or lack thereof, but the screwing/unscrewing for the tripod mount, is starting to annoy me.

I also recently got a Zomei Z699C (review later on), that takes advantage of an Arca-Swiss standard quick release plate, so I thought, there has to be an Arca-Swiss compatible quick release plate that can also easily hook up with a sling strap.
There was a famous video on how to still use your tripod easily that uses Arca -wiss standard, while your camera either has a L-bracket or the tripod plate:

And there is of course, the Black Rapid FastenR Tripod, that is essentially a D-ring that can hook up to your sling strap and the can be tucked away if you need to use the tripod/monopod. The idea here is that you replace the screw from the quick release system with one of these.
The former method, since I live in the Philippines, is not as easy to get the items shipped here for a decent shipping fee… Heck, I recently got 4 SDF Macros figurines, shipping was 60 bucks and then I had to pay another 80 bucks for import fees… I nearly died.
The latter seems to be too thin of a metal holding in the ring to really carry my gear in its heaviest configuration.
There has to be another way!

I chanced upon a the Fusion Plate from Fusion Photo Gear. As seen from above, it is an Arca-Swiss compatible quick release plate that happens to have a loop for your sling strap and that can be tucked away when it is time to place it on a tripod/monopod.
Sadly, as already mentioned, it is tough for me to get it shipped here in the Philippines, so I was just looking for any product similar that is available locally, or granted, if it were shipped, have it easily shipped without too much fuss.
Plus the price… I wasn’t willing at first to spend 65 bucks on this plate (maybe later on lol), so I found one that is of similar design from Andoer.


As you can see, it is similar in design, and the price is better, but you get what you pay for, as they say; so far, it is holding up VERY well even with my current gear on its heaviest configuration.
I even spent an entire day using this on the tripod collar of the Sigma 50-150mm f/2.8 APO EX DC OS HSM (plus lens hood for the heck of it) with the Sigma APO 2x Teleconverter, all attached on the Nikon D7200 that has the Nikon MB-D15 (I placed 1 EN-EL15 battery inside the D7200 body and another on the MB-D15 battery vertical grip to add more weight), and added the Nikon SB-600 (4 AA Eneloop inside), and it had no problem carrying it all in the loop. NOTE: This is my gear’s heaviest config, but I don’t find myself using this config for any future shoot… it is just to test the QR-60.
What I feared at first for both the Fusion or Andoer plate is if the aluminum loop is a single piece of metal that hinges on the bigger black aluminum plate. It turns out that the loop is of several components: 1 is the actual aluminum loop, a couple of ball bearings to lock the loop in certain angles, and a very sturdy metal rod to attach the loop on the metal plate. This is important to me, because if it was a single piece of aluminum hinging on the plate, there is a bigger chance of failure, but having a separate rod, lessens the failure. It can still fail… but not as likely.

Of course! I am still worried that a failure will indeed occur, so I added a Joby Tether, which according to research, can hold up to 15lbs of gear; now my gear in its heaviest is not 15lbs, it is more of 10lbs, but upon receiving this item in the mail, I tested it with my gear, holding the tether, and dropping my gear towards my bed (DUH!), and it does carry my gear perfectly without snapping it. This isn’t meant to carry your gear the whole day, though it can, it is more of security, so when something fails, this will give you enough time to pick up your gear as it dangles.
And so, the last problem with this tether is that I have to hook it to one of the strap eyelet or the triangle split ring on the camera body itself, then the carabiner to be hooked on to your sling strap, but as you can see from the pic above, the carabiner on the tether is not that easy to unhook. I will not place this carabiner on the Black Rapid CarabineR itself, because I also categorize that as a possible failure point, so the tether’s carabiner should be hooked on the sling on its own directly.

Thus I decided to purchase a Peak Design Anchor Links Strap Connector V4; well, I wanted to purchase it, but my mom insisted she buy it for me for my upcoming birthday. So there.
I looped one end of the Joby Tether to one of the Peak Design Anchor Links, and one of the Anchors will be looped on one of the strap eyelets/triangle split ring of the camera it self, acting as a quick release system, while the carabiner of the tether is permanently in placed in the sling.
So, let us see how I set it up!











And there you have it! That is how I use my DSLR that has a Black Rapid RS-Sport Version 2 (or any sling strap that applies) on an Arca-Swiss compatible tripod/monopod! It may be quite a lot of components, but it works, and it is quick to switch between the use of a sling strap and then mounting it on a tripod/monopod.
Hope this helps!
Cheers!

NOTE: ALL PHOTOS USED IN THIS POST BELONG TO THEIR RESPECTIVE OWNERS.
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