After listening to Michael's & Kevin's unreserved praise of the Blackrapid strap, I'd like to alert them to this thread at DPR, in which the OP claims that the use of a bottom-attaching strap damaged his Nikon D800 (caused separation between the bottom plate and the rest of the camera). Nikon's response was "impact damage," though the OP swears he wasn't swinging the camera around or that it knocked against anything.
One poster in the thread related this:
"On speaking with Nikon I was told that the tripod socket was intended for support on a tripod and not designed as an access point for the camera to be suspended from. I then contacted BlackRapid and was told how strong the connection screw was (rated to x? kg), but they would not comment on if camera was designed to be carried in that manner, referring me back to Nikon for that information.
Nikon's recommendations were in regard to both camera bodies and lenses such as the 70-200. Their position was that the camera strap is to be attached only to the intended lugs and that the lens is to be supported by hand."
This occurence seems to be an outlier, since I haven't heard of anyone else having this problem, and it seem to me that it's quite possible there was a manufacturing defect in the camera. That said, for me, while I think these style straps are a great idea for lightweight cameras, I would not carry my D800E + 24-70 that way. When I saw the thread I stopped carrying the camera attached to a monopod over my shoulder, as I used to do, which with the bouncing motion of walking could put a lot of lateral stress on the tripod mount/bottom plate. Maybe an excess of caution, but I'd rather be safe than sorry.
I do like the security of an across-the-chest strap, so I carry that camera/lens combo across my chest on a long Ape Case strap (attached to the strap lugs) that lets it hang at hip length, I can easily raise the camera to eye level without the stap binding or anything. Anyway, the picture in the tread made my blood run cold, so I took the most prudent course.
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/thread/3338762If Michael could get some meaningful response from Blackrapid on the issue, I'd be interested to hear what they say, since it really is a very attractive carry system.