Sun Sniper Pro - product review

This past weekend I had an opportunity to go and shoot the Ohio State Buckeyes playing their annual Spring Football Game at the Horseshoe In Columbus, OH.  It also gave me a chance to try out the Sun Sniper Pro camera strap system.

When shooting college or professional level athletics, you are required to stay a decent distance from the playing action, so a decent fast lense is mandatory. I use a 300 f2.8 lense  with my Nikon D300S body and mount them both on a heavy-duty Bogen monopod. That’s great for most of my “distance” shots, but you always need a smaller lense for those times when the action is coming right for the sidelines where you are standing.

In that case I grab for my second body with an 18-200mm zoom. That lense can handle whatever I need in the way of close-ups.  The only thing that worked against me in this scenario was the strap. So often the camera just didn’t hang right where I expected it and I found myself groping for the camera grip. Or worse yet, as I pulled it to my eye, the strap would cover the lense or my eyepiece.

When the action is coming right at you, you don’t want to have to glance down and locate your equipment. With my new Sun Sniper Pro strap, that’s a thing of the past. Using a special sliding attachment, the camera always lays exactly the same place, which I adjusted it to be right where my hand goes when it’s straight down at my side.

Whether I’m standing or kneeling, it’s a great sensation to reach straight down and know that the camera is waiting to be grabbed. The patented rail-way slide system allows the camera to slide up into position and back down again without the strap ever rotating on my body. You’ve got to try it just once to be sold. Here’s a quick video that gives you a clear picture of the advantages. 

With the across-the-shoulder style strap, the weight of your camera is displaced similar to wearing a messenger bag. The built-in shock absorber system and the padded shoulder pads around the heavy duty webbing design make this a strap that I can wear all-day and never feel fatigued. In addition, there is an invisible but secure wire cable embedded in the strap to prevent “snatch and grab” thieves from cutting your strap and running off with your gear. 

The Sun Sniper Pro is available locally at Dodd’s Commercial Store  on Carnegie in Cleveland or can be ordered online from all the usual pro photo outlets.