Steadsnap Universal Tripod Plate Adapter

You may remember I’m the one that did a bit of DIY by taking an angle grinder to my camera gear. I did get a Black Rapid Sport (Amazon | B&H) strap to work well with my tripod’s quick release plate but if you don’t have the tools to grind metal the project could be a bit difficult. As I’m not the only one with this problem Steadsnap created an adapter that slips between the tripod quick release plate and your camera for a spot to hook your strap. The major improvement in this method is that you still can use a tripod without completely having to remove the shoulder strap from the camera.The plate is milled out of aluminum and features a steel tripod bolt so it’s not going anywhere and can take up to 44 pounds of gear. Unlike my setup it's universal so if you switched to a MeFoto tripod for example there is no additional work altering its quick release plate. Unfortunately as these are small batch orders the drawback is that the Steadsnap adapter costs $35. Compared to the BlackRapid FastenR-T1 that I used, which retails for $17.95, its the pricier option but an easy solution.As for use the adapter held up fine in review, I covered about 20 miles hiking while testing the plate and had no major issues. Since the mounting point is on the side versus the bottom smaller lenses work better with this setup as larger lenses such as the Canon 55-250mm telephoto lens tended to bump into my leg while walking. I do wish the attachment points were larger, being low profile there is a limit to how big the holes could be but I found that if you didn’t detach it exactly right the tip of the Black Rapid’s carabiner would catch. Since the attachment point to the camera is now on the side taller users get a bit of a bonus using a black rapid strap it gives a couple more inches of material to get low profile shots.Now as for safety you are adding an additional failure point to an expensive camera hanging on a thread. The steel tripod bolt the Steadsnap uses fit quite well and I never had any of the connection points loosen. If you're paranoid of having a camera fall off the connection, or just want a backup, an Op/Tech strap can still fit securely between the carabiner and the DSLR’s body mounts.So would I buy it? Yes & No. Since my current DIY setup works for half the price on a Dolica tripod my method works fine in my case. Now if I ever upgrade to a mefoto tripod having a low profile connector would work quite well and for $35 it isn't the most expensive adapter for sale at the moment. If your looking for a simple setup for your shoulder strap and like the option of not having to detach everything to use your tripod the Steadsnap adapter would be a good solution. https://vimeo.com/105384625Steadsnap Universal Tripod Plate Adapter, available now at B&H for $34.99