[FLASH]

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The fact that you are using both a SLR and a rangefinder interests me; Which rangefinder camera do you use, and why? And why use a rangefinder camera at all, given the capability of the SLR? I keep looking at a particular rangefinder camera, the LUMIX and wondering if it would make a good companion to the Pentax, but it's just wondering at this point.....

Thanks,

FLASH

[Peter Zack]

The fact that you are using both a SLR and a rangefinder interests me; Which rangefinder camera do you use, and why? And why use a rangefinder camera at all, given the capability of the SLR? I keep looking at a particular rangefinder camera, the LUMIX and wondering if it would make a good companion to the Pentax, but it's just wondering at this point.....

Thanks,

FLASH

A range finder is as quiet as it gets. There's no mirror to make that slap up and a lot less moving parts inside the camera. Another is size. No penta prism on top. Because of the lack of a mirror there is less internal shake inside the camera so low light shooting can be better. You can often get the same advantage as SR in a rangefinder model without the SR if you have steady hands. Since the inside of the camera doesn't need the room for the mirror then you can get the lens closer to the film plane and with a wide/mid focal length lens that results in better optical quality. I forget the technical term for it but there is something in the design of an SLR lens that allows it to be further from the pickup and still give a decent image. The SLR designed lenses often has limits for the sharpness at wide open apertures because of this distance. With a rangefinder the lens is sharper at wide open because it is so close to the pickup (film). You'll notice how many SLR lenses are reviewed and the comment is almost always "great lens at f4 or f5.6 but a little soft at f2.8 especially in the corners". That's because of the distance from the film or sensor in many designs.

Many wedding photographers will prefer a good rangefinder camera in the church for both those reasons. Optically superior at wide open so a flash may not be needed and the camera is so small and quiet that most people will not hear you taking pictures.

I'd love to see a Pentax rangefinder but I think that would involve so much re design work in the lens category that you'll never see it. My father in law had one and I used it a little. great camera for available light street shooting with a wider lens.

The "HOOK" idea is sorta neat as well. Basically along the idea of what I tried just a little more professional looking. I'm sure you could find those parts at any outdoor shop or yachting store and create it yourself for less. I'm not too crazy about too many ways to detach the strap though just so the camera doesn't wind up on the rocks when it's over the shoulder.

The Panasonic camera looks like a nice unit but the sensor is so damn small that I suspect there is a lot of noise in any enlarged prints . It's got some cool features though like the focus magnifier for close up work. Wouldn't mind hearing what any owners think of it.

[UltraWide]

Hi Guys

Interesting thread!

I had always just tucked the strap under the front of the pentaprism when in portrait mode

Maybe I need to investigate Peter's method. I too was concerned about the metal ring but some sort of fibre or belting might work.

Glad to see I am nor the only one using the old black straps with pockets. The first thing I did was remove the hotshoe cap and insert in one of the pockets with the VF cap. Being old and slow I did not think of SD storage. Brilliant idea - so simple and so handy

Cheers from Oz

[FLASH]

Thank you for the response....So which rangefinder camera are you using? I had thought for a while that since Pentax was building such small SLR's that perhaps they would move away from them and pursue a high quality rangefinder, but of course that is out of the question now. I've always been interested in the Zeiss rangefinder cameras; do you know if they are still building them? I thought that they had discontinued that, but believe I've seen somewhere where they have returned to that sort of camera....As nice as the rangefinders are, wouldn't it be nice to have a quality digital one? And of course some good glass to go along with it....

FLASH

[Peter Zack]

Flash, I'm not using a rangefinder I just used a Leica that was my Father in laws many years ago. Leica has an M8 digital model out. I hear it had some bugs at first but I think they fixed that issue. Not sure about other brands. of course they are a bit more limited in lenses choices as most brands never made a lens longer than about 150mm. I wouldn't mind owning one but that introduces a whole new LBA and EBA issue!!

[Khukri]

I have been quietly suffering the same problem as Will. More or less effectively resolved by Peter Zacks's innovative idea. I like it and thank you, Peter!

However, now the camera (not too light to begin with) hangs by only one lug. Add a 300mm lens or some such to it and I wonder if it remains a safe bet. Ofcourse as a norm this combination will be supported with with one hand under the lens (is there a better/more efficient way?) but equally there will be times when for short periods it just hangs by itself unsupported when both your hands are otherwise occupied, e.g. whilst you lumber up some steep incline or tree or whatever. Over a period of time I wonder what kind of stress the body will be subjected to and how well it will cope with it.

[WMBP]

However, now the camera (not too light to begin with) hangs by only one lug. Add a 300mm lens or some such to it and I wonder if it remains a safe bet. Ofcourse as a norm this combination will be supported with with one hand under the lens (is there a better/more efficient way?) but equally there will be times when for short periods it just hangs by itself unsupported when both your hands are otherwise occupied, e.g. whilst you lumber up some steep incline or tree or whatever. Over a period of time I wonder what kind of stress the body will be subjected to and how well it will cope with it.

I wondered about from the start. So I did a little bit of testing. After I had attached both ends of the strap to rings that are attached to the ring through the lug on the left, I took the camera -- with my Tamron 18-250 lens attached -- into my bedroom, held it over my bed with its thick down comforter, and did a few short test drops. My impression is that, even with a medium-sized lens attached, the lug will hold just fine. I don't know about you, but I don't actually let the camera hang around my neck much -- hardly ever, in fact. The neck strap is mainly there on the off chance that for some reason the camera slips out of my hands. Since I don't expect this to happen much, I don't worry about over-stressing that lug.

My suspicion, however, is that the lug is probably more than strong enough to stand up to the weight of the camera + lens even on a daily basis.

Will

[Peter Zack]

I should have added some further explaination to the idea. I always have a Manfrotto 3157 QR plate mounted on the bottom of my camera (firmly). That type of plate has a "D" ring in the 1/4" mounting screw. So if I have a heavy lens on the camera and want to redistribute the weight then that's where the caribeener clip comes in. Detach from the side lug and attach it to the QR plate ring.

You could do the same by putting a second ring on the unused lug and switch back and forth as needed depending on the lens/need.

[Peter Zack]

For anyone interested there's another one of these straps on Ebay tonight. The last one sold around 8 bucks. Much more handy than the original.

eBay.ca: Pentax AF Wide Camera Strap =NO RESERVE (item 170142356182 end time 25-Aug-07 18:59:08 EDT)

[Heathglen]

I opted for a different solution - I interposed a Hakuba wrist grip between my k10D and its strap. The wtist grip works equally well vertically (portrait) and horizontally (landscape) with or without the battery grip.

The manufacturer recommends installing the neckstrap holding the camera vertically. I found this uncomfortable, and worked out a way to install it so that the camera hangs from the neckstrap horizontally. This enables me to use both the wrist strap and neckstrap at the same time. Unfortunately, I've worked in situations where this was quite desirable.

Larry in Dallas