From time to time I go for a long trekking with my camera and I face the same problem every time, that at some point I’d need to take of my backpack, dig out the camera, make a photograph, put the camera back again. I searched for some solutions on the web because carrying a camera hanging on the neck with a large lens attached is a pain. I found Capture Camera Pro Clip by Peak Design. I decided to test it on the field during latest trekking through Dolomites. Here’s what I found out.

Built quality is excellent, all parts are metal (aluminum) so it should survive for a long time end all possible harsh conditions. It’s pretty easy to mount and what is the most important for me it holds easily my Canon DSLR with 70-200L attached. Unfortunately there are two drawbacks. First of all mounting on a backpack in reality is possible only on a waist belt.

Mounting on shoulder strap (no. 2 on picture) is not very comfortable because the clip is wider and it tends to pinch shoulder especially when you use trekking poles. It may be ok for a short outdoor trip but If you walk 5-7 hours a day it’s not acceptable. For the whole 5 day trekking I was using clip on my old Karrimor Hot Rock 30 backpack and of course on a waist belt (no. 6 on picture). It worked perfectly not disturbing much weight distribution and what was crucial, camera with lens attached did not disturb while steep climbing and going downhill. Another drawback appeared later. Clamping bolts (refer to instructional video) tend to unscrew after some time and this my be dangerous to the safety of the equipment. It seems that even after tight screw on you need to check from time to time if they hold and most likely tighten them a little.

Apart from above mentioned issues clip worked very well because it gives immediate access to a camera not disturbing even if you are roped in.

Would I recommend it? Absolutely! If you know what to expect you can use it safely and won’t be surprised.