Cotton Carrier: Shame on You!!!!

MDJAK wrote in post #13317973
What is an AS clamp?

Reinforcing your title?

Arca-Swiss (style)

I've used a CC chest harness while hiking and I've never had the camera come loose from the attachment. I use a nickle to tighten mine down and it has never worked itself loose. I take mine on 12-14 mile hikes in rough terrain. I use it with my 1Ds Mark III and 17-40mm or 70-200mm f/2.8L depending on which trail I'm doing. I think the problem your having is from not being 90˚when taking it in or out of the harness or tuning it a bit before it is all the way out or all the way in.

Take Care,
Cheers, Patrick

The tight clearance I get; I'm just unclear as to how those parts are causing any abrasion to the camera. On mine, the screw heads are showing some wear from rubbing; but not the camera. <shrug>

Either way, you're certainly not wrong about the clearance being quite close. I don't view that as much of an issue, though. I do WAY worse to my gear in normal use than a little rubbing's going to

Saint728 wrote in post #13317994
I've used a CC chest harness while hiking and I've never had the camera come loose from the attachment. I use a nickle to tighten mine down and it has never worked itself loose. I take mine on 12-14 mile hikes in rough terrain. I use it with my 1Ds Mark III and 17-40mm or 70-200mm f/2.8L depending on which trail I'm doing. I think the problem your having is from not being 90˚when taking it in or out of the harness or tuning it a bit before it is all the way out or all the way in.

Take Care,
Cheers, Patrick

You may be right, but I'm speaking of the waist holster which it is not easy to turn it that far. It requires great wrist contortion.

AS=Arca-Swiss clamp. Sorry for the abbreviation.

J.

Snydremark wrote in post #13318007
The tight clearance I get; I'm just unclear as to how those parts are causing any abrasion to the camera. On mine, the screw heads are showing some wear from rubbing; but not the camera. <shrug>

Either way, you're certainly not wrong about the clearance being quite close. I don't view that as much of an issue, though. I do WAY worse to my gear in normal use than a little rubbing's going to

Oh, totally agree. I'm not a gear fanatic (i.e. no scratches). Just another 1/32" would make a big difference. There really is no reason it has to be that close. It just makes it harder to get the camera into the clip by requiring that the alignment is closer.

I find that I need to be quite careful about keeping the screw heads down. It worries me a bit that if one worked out just a tiny bit it would be hard to get it out of the clip or to get it in.

J.

Ok. I have a RRS camera plate, not the L as I find them too bulky.

I removed it for the cotton carrier puck as the rubber had very little purchase. It rested on the edge instead of flush against the camera body without it.

Will my RRS plate fit into the capture clip or do I have to use the proprietary one that comes with it?

Oh, I am a semi fanatic. I'd be unhappy to say the least if the screws scratched my camera.

JohnJ80 wrote in post #13318120
Oh, totally agree. I'm not a gear fanatic (i.e. no scratches). Just another 1/32" would make a big difference. There really is no reason it has to be that close. It just makes it harder to get the camera into the clip by requiring that the alignment is closer.

I find that I need to be quite careful about keeping the screw heads down. It worries me a bit that if one worked out just a tiny bit it would be hard to get it out of the clip or to get it in.

J.

We'll see with more extended use; I don't see any forces on this setup that would back those out at all, once they're set. But this is, what? 3 months into it at this point? It took a year and a half before I started seeing the problems I did with the Cotton.

Wow sorry to hear about your misfortune. Good thing your 1D had an happy ending. I will consider myself warned towards this product and stick with BR

MDJAK wrote in post #13304703
Woa, locite? Isnt' that a permanent solution when you don't want something to come loose? Won't that gunk/gum up the tripod hole?

As to the tethers, yes, as I said, my fault for not using it. One reason is the "key" ring they give you is very difficult to slip through the shoulder strap loop on the camera, and will definitely scratch the paint in the process. I was actually thinking as I was walking that I could put a small strap through the shoulder strap slit and attach the tether there.

However, that's a lousy method and something they included only because they have to know this thing comes loose without warning.

And as I stated and I repeat: I read the warning that came with the product as I only bought it 2 weeks ago at B&H. I cinched the screw as tightly as I could right before leaving the house this morning.

It's the very poor design that turns it loose after a while when you take it out and replace it.

I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed, and I was trying to figure out which way to twist the camera to take it out as I thought it would work the piece loose. However, it's almost wrist breaking to turn it forward,so it requires you to twist backward, and that must make it loose.

Sorry to hear about your incident. I've used my CC rig(s) for a couple years now and haven't had anything come loose. And I've used it in the field shooting wildlife in Glacier and Yellowstone well off the beaten path with big primes and zooms.

However a year or so ago they used to have on the Cotton Carrier site something similar to their current "Universal adapter plate". The difference was that in addition to a very wide long rubber tire like gasket/washer which prevented any kind of loosening...the plate was a *one piece cast aluminum base with an integrated cast angled hub and (in my case) and integratedl Manfrotto PL200 QR plate*.
Thus no screws to tighten down except for the one that secured the plate and the big rectangular gasket/washer to your cameras bottom or battery grip bottom via the 1/4 x 20 tripod screw hole.

Because of the size of that plate/gasket assembly and the fact that everything was one integrated cast piece...nothing comes loose no matter how much twisting you can do.
I've use this setup with all kinds of gear on the side holster and the center vest position.

Give them a call and see if it's still available. I think they also made an arca swiss varient if that's the system you use.

It also made it very easy to go from the CC vest or side holster <--> hand held <--> snap into your ball heads QR mount on your legs or stick

JohnJ80 wrote in post #13316246
2. The only time they have problems if the hub is not properly tightened and it should be tight. Frequently if there is a problem, it's come down to those who did not tighten it properly - a common problem with screw fasteners, but that's what the camera gives us.

I think they need to supply a tool similar to what Ikea gives you. A 90º bend and a MASSIVE "blade" if you were to compare it with a screwdriver. The thing is a screw driver doesn't give you a ton of torque because of it's shape and most people don't own one large enough for the slot in a CC button. Nickles work well, but again, it's hard to grab it and to get the torque.

They should supply something like this (but with a proper blade that fits their slot and is in the right direction):

MIME changed to 'text/html' | Content warning: script

that's the big issue I've seen. The camera is a much longer lever than a screw driver if you're twisting it with the button in the slot. For the same reason I'm suggesting they offer a tool (FOR FREE) to get it super tight, the camera makes it easy to loosen...

JohnJ80 wrote in post #13316744
They also have this plate which looks interesting. I have one on the way.

my issue with that is I lose my L-bracket. One of these companies (spider, cotton, capture) needs to get in bed with either kirk or RRS and have them make L-brackets with their hub milled into them. With the spider I'd just need enough space for a single 1/4-20 hole (which my 5Dii bracket is close to having). With capture it's just changing the shape of the dovetails on the bottom section. With CC you need space for their hub as well.

Or kirk and or RRS need to come up with their own system. But either way, L-brackets and carriers shouldn't be mutually exclusive. And yes, right now I have my CC button on the bottom of the tiny kirk clamp that cotton offers. It works but it's far from an ideal solution.

Snydremark wrote in post #13316775
But "learning to use a screw and screwdriver" isn't the problem. The screws on my BR, all of the QR plates I've used and several of the pieces of hardware in my bathroom have never backed out on me...they stay fine.

it's not so much learning how to use a screwdriver (although this DOES need to be tighter than almost anything else I've tightened in a long time, in my car, on my boat, or in my house...). It's more learning how to use the CC system so you're NOT rotating the camera/hub while the hub is in the slot. That slot holds the hub perfectly still and the camera then gives you a 4~6" lever to loosen it.

Saint728 wrote in post #13317994
I use a nickle to tighten mine down and it has never worked itself loose. I think the problem your having is from not being 90˚when taking it in or out of the harness or tuning it a bit before it is all the way out or all the way in.

yes and yes. Change is the best way to tighten this thing easily from what I've found. This is where the spider has an advantage in their design, they have a hole in their spike so you slide something through it and use it to tighten it. Their "hub" or spike also rotates in their holster so it's much harder to loosen. But IMHO, beyond not getting it tight, the big issue here is rotating it when you take it out of the holster. Happened to me twice when I first got it. The first time I thought I didn't get the hub tight enough, the second I saw what I was doing. I've never had a problem since.

jacobsen1 wrote in post #13336898
The camera is a much longer lever than a screw driver if you're twisting it with the button in the slot. For the same reason I'm suggesting they offer a tool (FOR FREE) to get it super tight, the camera makes it easy to loosen...

The Cotton Carrier that I receiver used an allen head screw to mount the hub. Allen wrench is included.

gremlin75 wrote in post #13337940
The Cotton Carrier that I receiver used an allen head screw to mount the hub. Allen wrench is included.

well there you go. Mine is old (first batch I think) and has a massive slot for a regular screwdriver (a coin works better).