PhotoWalkPro

Photo by Mike Palmer

This past weekend the folks on my photowalk saw me sporting a new piece of gear but it wasn’t a camera or a lens, or even a new bag. Nope, what I had resting on my hip was a SpiderPro Camera Holster and let me tell you, it’s pretty slick.  The holster system is actually comprised of several components that, when combined, make for a camera carrying system that feels natural and keeps your camera handy when you need your hands free.

Here’s how it works, the key to the system is the Spider Holster. It’s all stainless steel and hardened aluminum and provides the resting place for the camera on your hip. There is a two position lock system on the side of the holster that requires you to lift slightly to remove the camera from the holster when it’s in the down position. When you move it to the top position you can freely slide the camera in and out of the holster without having to touch the holster.

The other key components to the system are the Spider Plate and Spider Pin. The plate mounts to the bottom of your camera using the tripod socket and a hex screw. One of the things I really liked about the plate was the thought that the engineers put into it. There are a lot of camera accessories that use hex screws and include the appropriate allen wrench but the folks at Spider went the extra step of creating a storage compartment for the wrench so it’s hidden right inside the plate and always handy. As someone who has lost more than my fair share of wrenches in the bottom of my camera bags, this is one feature I can really appreciate. There are also additional 1/4-20 holes in the bottom of the plate if you want to mount it to a tripod without having to take it off the camera. The only problem with the plate is that it might need to be removed to pull out the camera battery depending on what type of camera you are using. But having the wrench handy makes this a pretty quick operation.

The second component that pull it all together is the Spider Pin. This little piece of stainless steel is made with a small ball on one end and a 1/4-20 screw on the other. The pin screws into one of the threaded holes on the plate and serves as the mounting point between camera plate and holster. The ball portion of the pin slides easily into the groove of the holster and gravity and the locking system do the rest. The pin can also be screwed into a tripod mount on a lens foot if you are using a longer lens.

Those are the basic pieces to the system but if you want to go all out with the Pro system you will also get the Spider holster Belt. The belt has one feature that makes it different from most other belts in that it has a camera pad on one side to keep your camera from banging and rubbing your leg/hip. It also has a small elastic cord that slips over the bottom of the holster and holds it securely in place on the belt and keeps it from shifting. The thing I liked about this belt was the safety button on the clasp. Like many belts with plastic buckles, you need to squeeze in the sides to release the buckle but this one requires you to press a small button on the front before the sides can be squeezed in. Just another one of those little finishing touches that make this system so secure.

My Thoughts -

I wasn’t sure how I would like the system since I had never worn a belt system before, but after wearing it for a day I have to say that it felt completely natural. The belt fit securely around my hip and the velcro size adjustment made sure that it wasn’t too loose or too tight. The camera plate mounted securely to the bottom of my camera (I was shooting with a Canon T2i with a 15-85mm lens) and didn’t interfere at all with the way I held the camera. Fitting the camera into the holster was as easy as placing the pin in the groove of the holster and letting the camera drop down to my side. When I let go, it lay comfortably against the pad with the lens facing rearward. Removing the camera was almost as easy, just grab the camera and lift up slightly on the locking mechanism while sliding the pin back out of the holster slot. While it did take two hands to remove it, it was a fairly natural motion to grab the camera and release the lock.

As someone who doesn’t like using a camera strap that much, I really liked having the freedom of hanging the camera in the holster while I rummaged around in my bag for a filter or a bottle of water. When I was ready to shoot again, it was right there where I needed it. I also spent a little time just walking around with my camera hanging in the holster to see how it felt. The truth is that I hardly even noticed it was there. Everything was extremely well balanced and the belt and camera pad did an excellent job of keeping things where they belonged.

The Bottom Line -

I don’t know if this system would work in all shooting situations but if you find yourself constantly needing to use your hands between shooting, I think you will find that this is an excellent system for keeping your gear close at hand and ready to use at a moments notice. I can really see this being handy in a studio where you are constantly having to put your camera down to adjust lights. If you are a sport shooter who uses two cameras, this system will rock your world. Unlike a shoulder strap like the Rapid-R, the camera will not shift or slide as you bend down or kneel over.

The Price -

The Spider Pro Camera Holster system runs $109 US and includes the belt, holster, plate, and one pin. You can also purchase the components separately. This means that, If you already own a belt system like the LowePro Street & Field Belt, ThinkTank Pro-Speed Belt, or even the ThinkTank Steroid Belt, you can buy an adapter for the holster for about $19.99 and then just but the plate, pin and holster.

You can find out more information about the SpiderPro Camera Holster system including instructional videos at the Spider Holster website.

I received a question the other day from a reader asking me about lens compatibility for his Canon 50D. Basically his question was if a EF 70-200mm f/2.8 L lens would be compatible with his camera. The good news is yes, it is compatible. The bad news is that if he purchased any EF-S series lenses, they would not be compatible if he ever moved up to a full frame camera. That’s because the EF-S lenses are made specifically for the smaller APS-C sized sensors in cameras such as the 50D, 7D, and all of the digital Rebel models.

EF-S lenses are made to have a shorter back-focus, meaning they sit back further in the camera than a standard EF lens. This helps the lens provide better coverage for the smaller sensors, especially for wide angle lenses. So while the short back focusing EF-S lenses are great on APS-C cameras, they can’t be used at all on full frame cameras such as the 5D Mark II. Knowing this, you might want to give consideration to which lenses you plan on buying in the future. If you don’t think you will ever move up to a full frame camera then you can pretty much buy whatever lens you desire without fear of it becoming obsolete. If, however, you think that a full frame is in your future you might want to consider only investing in EF lenses.

And you Nikon shooters have the same problem only not quite as severe as Canon. If you are shooting with one of the non-full frame cameras such as the D3000, D5000, D90, or D300s, you have the option of buying standard lenses or the DX style lenses. The DX lenses are the equivalent to the Canon EF-S lens and are also short back focusing lenses. The good news for Nikon shooters is that the DX lenses will still work on full frame bodies…sort of. So here’s the deal, if you put a DX lens on a D700, D3s, or D3X the camera will automatically enter into what Nikon calls DX mode. This means that, due to the reduced lens coverage, the sensor is cropped down to a smaller size to accommodate the DX lens. So the lens will work on the camera but with a reduced image resolution.

Any way you slice it, it pays to do some forward thinking when purchasing lenses, especially if you own a camera with an APS-C or DX sensor. Because camera bodies can come and go but a good lens can last you decades.

The latest buzz is that Canon is going to be bringing a high quality, small camera to the market to compete with the mirrorless competitors from Olympus, Panasonic, and Sony. While I understand why they need to compete in this area, they can probably count me out as a consumer, along with all the other manufacturers.

Sony NEX-5

It’s not that I am opposed to a camera without a mirror, in fact I own one from Panasonic. It’s a point and shoot called the LX-3 and it really works for me in those situations where I just need a quick snap and don’t feel like lugging around my DSLR. But you won’t soon find me trading away the benefits of the DSLR for a smaller mirrorless camera with interchangeable lenses. There’s several reasons for this, and the first has to do with how you will frame your scene.  See, mirrorless cameras don’t have a viewfinder, at least not in the sense that a DSLR does. Your main source for viewing what you will photograph is the rear LCD. This means that looking at the screen outdoors on a sunny day will be difficult at best.

Olympus E-PL1

Also, it’s hard to estimate things like depth of field because there aren’t any depth of field preview buttons on the cameras (although I think this would be easily solved). But the biggest problem for me would be viewing distance. My eyes aren’t getting any younger and I already find that I need to hold the camera further away to even see the rear LCD with any clarity. This has nothing to do with how good the screen or how much resolution it has. It’s simply a matter of not being able to see anything closer than 20″ from my nose with any clarity.

Panasonic Lumix GF1

Poor vision isn’t a problem with my DSLR since all I have to do is adjust the diopter and I see things with crystal clarity. Besides, there’s just something great about looking directly through the optics of the camera that seems to make it more personal and connected. If you own one of the new mirrorless cameras, drop me a comment and share your experience with it.

I’m getting ready to travel again and I wanted to try something different this time for my camera gear. I’m not planning on taking the kitchen sink and I wanted a bag that not only will hold the gear that I need but also makes things more accessible while walking around the street. I also didn’t want it to look like a camera bag, which is why I went with the LowePro Classified 160 AW.

This messenger style bag is actually a top-loading bottomless pit when it comes to camera gear. The bag was designed with photojournalists in mind and allows for quick access of the camera through a top zipper. There’s also room for 3 or 4 extra lenses, a flash, and other gear goodies, all in a smartly designed and well padded package. One of the other things that really interested me was the addidtional padded compartments that are perfect for my netbook and iPad. I also like the fact that it will fit easily in under an airline seat, my preferred storage location for my gear when I travel by air.

The price for the bag is about $130 and is available from Amazon, B&H, Adorama, and many other photo stores where LowePro bags are sold. I’ll be sure to give you a full review when I get back from my travels.

I was chatting with a friend the other day about their new camera and they asked me what they should really buy next to improve their photos.  They had just purchase a Nikon D90 and loved the camera but they were anxious to start improving their photography beyond just a camera and a kit lens.  I’m sure that a lot of you quickly thought that a new lens is definitely a must to get better photos but I say, not so fast.  This is not an easy question to answer until some more information is available.  There are a couple of questions that will really define which piece of gear will be of benefit.  Just saying that a new lens will help might be true, but what if the lens that they have covers the desired range that they want for now.

What if they want to take pictures at parties or maybe portraits?  The 18-55mm lens that comes with most cameras has an effective focal length of about 70mm on a full frame camera.  That’s a pretty decent lens length for portraits.  But what about that pop-up flash?  Maybe it should be replaced with a decent speed light.  The built in flash on most DSLR cameras is, at best, only good for fill light.  With no ability to point it anywhere but directly at the subject makes it incapable of providing any decent or flattering light.  Start bouncing light off a ceiling or a wall and you now have the ability to add shape and dimension and take a decent photo of a person.

Maybe what they want is to take great landscape photos in which case a good tripod would be their best investment.  VR lenses aren’t going to cut it when you want to take low ISO, high F-Stop photographs at sunrise or sunset.  Having a great tripod is probably one of the most important accessories for providing tack-sharp images in these situations.

There are a lot of other options as well but that’s where today’s poll comes in.  Let me know what you think is the most important, “gotta have” accessory for your digital camera.

By the way, my recommendation was a SB-900 Speedlight. I’ll let you know how it works out.