Just though I'd outline the major differences between the Sun Sniper "The Pro" Steel & Bear sling strap to the Black Rapid RS-5 strap.
1) The Sun Sniper mounting mechanism is based on a ball bearing system which allows the camera to rotate easily (which is supposed to stop it from swinging as much). It is easy to remove from the camera but it is not removable from the strap.
It is a much shorter and neater mounting system than the Black Rapid two part system, which means there is less metal hardware dangling around.
In the picture you can see the straps are a similar width but the Sun sniper has a channel with the steel cable inside it. You can see the thin steel cable winding through the center, the cable makes it slightly less pliable than the Black Rapid strap but any thicker cable would prevent the strap from folding.
The Sun Sniper also doesn't have the back bumper clamp the Black Rapid straps do, but I haven't really found this to be a problem as the shoulder pad stays in place and doesn't need to be repositioned by the weight of the camera.
2) The Sun Sniper has a slight curve in the padding while the RS-5 is straight. Overall the Sun Sniper has the smaller pad but it is a bit more padded and less obtrusive than the wider Black Rapid strap.
The adjustment buckle for Sun Sniper is in the middle of the two velcro flaps which secure the shoulder pad to the strap. It is easy to adjust, but there is no storage in the pad unlike the RS-5
The Sun Sniper shoulder pad material looks tougher than the RS-5's nylon material.
3) The Sun Sniper pad is definitely more rigid and has a kink built into it, I suspect this is too help center it and keep it on the shoulder. This works very well and the shoulder pad does not move when swinging the camera up to the eye or back down.
The pad is quite thick but I don't tend to notice it as much (from the peripheral vision) as I do with the RS-5 and its mobile phone pocket. When you put stuff in the RS-5 pockets it becomes much thicker and unwieldy from the extra weight.
4) The Sun Sniper has a built-in suspension link near the shoulder strap, this works quite well and is rigid enough to stop the heavy kit from bouncing. The Black Rapid does not have the suspension feature.
5) On the back of the Sun Sniper you have a different mesh backing, as you can see from the photo's both straps are very well made. The Sun Sniper packs away easier as it is much smaller.
On balance I prefer the Sun Sniper due to the more compact shoulder pad dimensions, the smaller mounting mechanism, the steel cable reinforcement and the suspension link.
Both straps do the job very well, but the Sun Sniper has a few extra features.
The significant con with the Sun Sniper "The Pro" Steel & Bear is that it is even more expensive than the Black Rapid range.
