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Hi, I'm Dustin Abbott and I'm here today to actually answer several questions that I get
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quite often. So one of those questions is that I get asked very often on YouTube is what are those
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red things that are dangling off the side of your camera? I'll definitely answer that here today
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I also get asked often, say, if I'm doing Q&A for photography groups, I do those sometimes
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And one of the questions I'll very likely get asked is, like, what's the most indispensable piece of gear that's not in my bag
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Or, you know, what should I have in my bag that I don't right now
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And so I'm going to attempt to tell you about two things that are, like, indispensable parts of my workflow as a photographer
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And they're two products that are not overly expensive that come from peak design
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Now I'll preface this by saying that I'm not a big fan of the camera straps that come with cameras
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and that's true of any brand that I have tested. And the primary reason, the reason why when I get
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a new camera the strap stays in the bag and never gets unpacked is that they simply not convenient enough to take on and off Most of the time I don want a strap attached to my camera It just gets in the way It more likely to get you know I find that if a strap is always on the camera it far more likely if it sitting on a table that something hooks that
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strap and it's going to pull the camera off onto the floor. And so as a byproduct, most of the time
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I don't want a strap on the camera. However, there's obviously plenty of situations where I do
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want a strap. And so Peak Design's straps, and I've got a couple of different models here
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both of which I really like. And so the least expensive is this very slim leash, as it's called
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And so it is a great strap if you're carrying a lighter body, but it is surprisingly robust
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and also surprisingly comfortable when carrying a bigger camera body. And I just keep the leash
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around. It runs about 45 bucks. I have multiple ones, and I keep them in the major bags that I use
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I coil them up like this. And when I, you know, if I'm out and I have a bag and I want to go to a
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strap. I have that nice and handy. It's compact enough that it can go into a very small space
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in pretty much any kind of camera bag. Also with that, they give you a little pouch with
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a few accessories, including a couple of these extra anchor points. Now their anchor points
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are kind of the key thing here. The anchor points go very quickly to, it's basically
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just looping through and pulling through to attach to the mounts on the side of your camera
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if you want to do the traditional hang style. For me, I always prefer to carry a camera sling style
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And so that means that I really love the ability to click into these and I'll demonstrate how in
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just a moment here. But then to carry it sling style and there is a great range of movement in
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either the leash or in the slide light, which is the other one from them that I really like
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It costs you around 55, 60 bucks, but extremely well-made, extremely durable. And as you can see
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it is thicker and it's got a few like grip areas. And so it rides even better
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So if you're carrying a little bit heavier piece of gear, it is the way to go, but there is a broad range of adjustment
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And so for me that adjustment needs to vary depending on the lens that I carrying Because what I don want is to have the camera and lens in a place where it either banging off my hip bone or in a place where it rubbing and going to cause wear And so having that quick ability to kind of set the exact place where I
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want the particular lens camera combo to dangle is a huge thing. So how do I get it into that
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position that it works really well for carrying it in a sling style? Well, that gets to the second
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piece of gear that I'm wearing here, and that is also from Peak Design, and it is called the
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Capture. And so the Capture, what it allows you to do is to, if you're carrying a backpack or
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something similar like this, it is an easy way to have your camera accessible. And so you just
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click the camera in using this base plate that goes on the bottom of your camera, and then you
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can easily remove it back off. However, I love those Capture plates all the time because I leave
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them on my cameras. You've probably seen that all the time for a couple of reasons. Number one
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it gives me a second place to put that anchor point. So I can easily click that strap in and
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out. And that's why I love the Peak Design straps. I can take them on and off in seconds
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but it gives me a second place to anchor that. It also gives me the ability to click that into
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the capture if I want to carry it like that. But then the third thing that is huge for me
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is that it's designed in such a way to where it's Arca Swiss compatible, which means it can go right
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on the top of a tripod and I can just screw it in just like that. And I have a stable connection
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and I don't have to worry about quick release plates. That means my cameras are always ARCA
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compatible, ready to go right on to a, you know, to a tripod. And again, it just saves me time in
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my workflow. So I love the way that these different things are all interchangeable. That capture runs
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you at $75, $80, but it's very valuable if you're someone that does, you know, carry a backpack
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you do some hiking or whatever, and you want to keep a camera accessible, but also in a stable
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place where it's not going to get knocked about. It works very well for that. But then even just
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the plate itself, you say, I'm not interested in carrying something like that. I would still recommend that you buy one of these plates I think they cost about individually to use in conjunction with the strap because it just provides a great elegant solution that accomplishes so many different things And then under normal use I don have a strap in
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the way. And because I mount everything on the left side of the camera where it's not interfering
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with my primary action here on the right side, after a while, I don't even think about the fact
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that it's here. I typically put my left hand up under there to where that anchor is out of the way
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and as a byproduct, it's just not a hindrance to me, but it makes my life as a photographer much, much easier
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And because none of these things are particularly expensive, it means that you can get them for yourself
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or for the photographer in your life without a huge amount of cost
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maybe a stocking stuffer or something for the upcoming holiday season if you want to purchase something like that for them
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So that answers two questions. What is the kind of indispensable piece of gear
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that's not in your bag that should be, but also what are those little red things hanging off my
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camera and of course a number of other people on YouTube. Now you know the answer to both of them
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If you want more information about any of these products, I have got them in the description down
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below. These straps come in a variety of different colors, as does the Capture. It comes in, I think
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black and silver, but then the straps, you have colors like blue and green along with their ash
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gray and black. I've been using these straps for years and years. I've never had any issue with
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them. They still look like new. They wear very well. And so I am completely satisfied with them
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And I've never yet had an anchor point fail, no matter what combination I was carrying
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They say that they're tested up to 200 pounds. So I don't know about you, but I'm not carrying too
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many 200 pound cameras. And so as a by-product, it's all served me very well. And I suspect it
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will serve you very well is also. I'm Dustin Abbott. Look in the description down below for
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that information there. Also linkage to follow myself or Craig on social media, become a patron
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and get channel merchandise. Like and subscribe if you haven't already. Thanks for watching. Have a great day and let the light in
