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October 2013

New camera straps: Pro Sling Strap and Convertible Neck Strap!

By | Camera Straps | No Comments

To round out our camera strap family, JOBY launched two new camera straps today!

Go pro with the Pro Sling Strap

Last year in the fall of 2012, we launched the UltraFit Sling Strap for Men and the UltraFit Sling Strap for Women. We weren’t in camera straps at the time, but we applied JOBY design and engineering to come up with what we thought was a pretty dang cool sling strap (even got a design award nomination!)

But we don’t believe that one camera strap can be everything to everybody. One group of photographers that we got a lot of feedback from was from professional photographers. They wanted all the speed of our SpeedCinch mechanism but they wanted a sling strap that was even lighter and more durable than the UltraFit Sling Strap and wanted more peace of mind for their $3000 gear. So, for the pros, we created the Pro Sling Strap.

Pro Sling Strap

Like the UltraFit Sling Strap, the Pro Sling Strap has our SpeedCinch deployment system that lets photographers quickly secure their camera if they needed their hands free for a few moments but still lets them quickly deploy their camera. But we also included a cam lock to let you lock your camera in place if you wanted to do things like like ride your bike, hike, etc. but still easily unlock it when you needed to get shooting. One of our designers even wanted a video of somebody jumping on a trampoline with the sling strap and camera locked in place because that’s not something other camera straps let you do (or maybe he just wanted an office trampoline.)

To solve the puzzle of something lighter but stronger, we scoured the world for just the right materials and manufacturing. We designed a material and shoulder strap that is extremely tough and durable but still soft enough to fold up to practically nothing without even getting kinks. The new shoulder strap on the Pro Sling Strap is computer-loomed and manufactured with so much precision that we were able to put in an integrated tread on the strap to prevent it from slipping but still have the shoulder strap be one seamless material. The UltraFit Sling Strap is already one of the lightest sling straps on the market already, but we don’t think you’ll feel anything like the Pro Sling Strap. 

 

Pro Sling Strap integrated tread

 

The second feedback that we got from professional photographers is that they wanted more security and peace of mind from the strap. The new strap is substantially more durable than the UltraFit Sling Strap (which is still plenty tough) because of its more precise, integrated construction. But we’ve also included a camera tether for those photographers who were uncomfortable with relying solely on a the camera’s 1/4-20″ tripod mount. If you screw in your sling strap tight into your camera tripod mount and regularly check it to see if it’s secure, your camera should be secure. But we understand that some people want extra insurance. So, we created a minimal but super strong camera tether that attaches to the shoulder lug of your camera and is made out of the same Dyneema cording that you’ll see in mountain climbing or sailing.

Camera tether

Combine the Pro Sling Strap with our popular UltraPlate that lets you use your tripod and camera strap at the same time, and you’ve got the perfect pro setup. Check our the Pro Sling Strap and let us know what you think!

Don’t wear a pain in the neck

The second camera strap that we just launched today is our Convertible Neck Strap.

Convertible neck strap

Neck straps seem to be the most common straps used by beginner photographers, but so many of them seem so limited, bulky, and uncomfortable. They often look more like torture devices than camera gear. How many times have you seen a neck strap turned into a tourniquet wrist strap as the photographer wraps it around his wrist until it starts to turn blue?

By creating a neck strap out of the same materials that we use for our sling straps, we could substantially cut down on the bulk and weight of the strap while still providing a softer, smoother neck strap. Now instead of looking like a mummy wrapped up in your neck strap, you can look all sleek while the wind blows through your hair (your results might vary).

Convertible Neck Strap

But since we’re JOBY, we thought it’d be cool to create a neck strap that could do more. Why just drive a car, when you can own a Transformer?

Our convertible neck strap can quickly turn into a wrist strap if you want to give your neck a break.

Convertible camera neck strap
You can even quickly transform your convertible neck strap into a carrier mode for a third way of carrying your camera!

Convertible camera strap - carrier mode

At JOBY, we think our customers should decide on how they should interact with their gear depending on the environment or just plain mood that they’re in. And we just think gear should just be fun! Check them out and let us know what you think on Facebook, Twitter, or in the comments below!

“GorillaQuad” Quadcopter Creates Awesome Aerial Photography

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Petr Jan Juračka is a professional science photographer, based at Faculty of Science, Charles University in Prague in the Czech Republic. Every day, he takes on the challenge of taking shots of various objects, from really small microorganisms to aerial shots of large areas. In the latter case, he decided to build an amazing tool—a quadcopter. Petr is much more  a photographer than engineer, so he improvised in the creation of his quadcopter. Still, he’s been really satisfied with his unique “GorillaQuad”. Using his invention he can capture very professional (and strikingly beautiful!) aerial images on very low budget. Check it out and get inspired!

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Quadcopters are becoming really popular these days. Their prices are falling strongly down and you can see them flying over almost every big sports events. The bird’s eye view is an attractive perspective, showing simply more. Although it looks easy, flying with these drones for shooting is very demanding activity and requires a lot of training.

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“I decided to buy a quad and supposed it will be another accessory, just easy way how take shots from above…” Petr says. “However, it was much more challenging than I ever thought. I got injured during the first fly, the quad fall down and broke many times. Moreover, I was disappointed with the image I got from the small sport camera on the board. For the stills, I wanted to rebuild my quad into something bigger holding advanced compact camera shooting in RAW. Gorillapods were my choice, as I was used to using them for other types of photography before. GorillaPods make really easy to rotate my camera as I wish, and it is easy  to fold up my quad for traveling. Other professional photographers might might make fun of how it looks, but they have to admit it works.”

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Petr’s GorrilaQuad consists of the quad (Czech DIY frame, cheap Chinese electronics, propellers from US) and two gorillapods – one serves as quad foots, second holds a camera. Their weight is 270 & 30 grams, what is just acceptable for flying – GorillaQuad can still fly about 5 minutes per battery, which is enough time to take breathtaking stills from the air.

“It is quite new solution for me, we constructed that in my favorite camera shop last week. So these images are really first shots I took using gorillas on my quad, but hopefully not last. I really, really like it!”, Petr adds.

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Do not forget to visit Petr website, or follow him on Facebook or Twitter to see more amazing photography! Thanks Petr for taking the time to chat with us today!

 

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