NickHeaphyPhotography

Decided to take advance of the strong NZ $ and finally upgrade my crusty old Velbon (ex video) tripod to a nice new Manfrotto 055XProB with a flash ball head. I must admit that I am not really much of a tripod user, but having dropped the cash, I now really need to make sure I take it everywhere!

To that end, I wanted a method of carrying the tripod, but I did not really want a bag to get in the way. The goal was to have a shoulder strap that I could use with the tripod collapsed down, but also with a camera mounted and the legs extended.

Visited a local haberdashery shop and picked up some D rings, slides, clips and webbing and proceeded to raid my toolbox for cable ties and electrical tape.

The D rings were attached to the tripod with cable ties and electrical tape (the idea was that the tape would stop it moving round) while the slides and clips formed a strap that would stop the legs opening while I was carrying it. The shoulder strap was donated from an old laptop case.

Overall it works pretty well, might have to rethink the upper attachment as the D ring tends to slide around under the electrical tape when the head is not oriented with the D ring up, but not bad for $8 worth of parts.