Review of Lowepro Toploader Chest harness

Customer Ratings:

I bought this product to use with the Lowepro Topload Zoom 1 Camera Bag, and it works incredibly well. I do a lot of hiking that often includes periods of rock scrambling. I wanted to have my camera ready at a moment's notice, yet be safe from bumping up against rocky surfaces. With the chest harness attached, my camera fits snug against my stomach, and my hands are free to grab onto rocky surfaces. I have even used the chest harness to keep my camera from swaying while I've climbed into slot canyons. I highly recommend this product.

I've found that the camera is most stable when the waist belt is hooked onto the top of the camera bag and the shoulder belts are attached to the bottom of the bag the vendor's photo shows the opposite attachment.

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I use this with a topload zoom all-weather bag, and this harness keeps the bag stable, so I can lean completely forward (flat) or jog at a slow gallop. A nice feature of strap is that when you put it on, the back has a sown strap patch which permanently ties together all straps, and allows you to [loop] hang strap from your neck. This makes it very easy to put on as you don't have to rest bag on a table, etc. while you strap it in. My only issue with bag is that the D-Ring clips (which mount to your bag) are made out of plastic, and may break. But for the price, I'm not going to worry much. So 4-star because of the plastic clips, but other than that a nice 5-star product.

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I own a Nikon D80 and I usually go out with 2 lenses at any time. I purchased the topload zoom 2 along with the harness.

I got this for when I go hiking to use it with the chest harness and a backpack at the same time. While the harness is not that easy to put on the first time, the combo topload + harness is so convenient. It does not impair your capacity to carry other hiking related stuff, you don't have to miss all these incredible shots because you can just grab your camera whenever. And you do not need to kill your neck keeping your camera out all the time either. More importantly, this is a nice way to equalize the weight of your equipment when Hiking.

Some reviewers mention that the straps were not too conveniently located and could conflict with your backpack straps. If your backpack is well conceived, that's probably not a problem then.

Why 4 stars? The straps are fairly thin and not padded like on a backpack. This might hurt and not be too comfortable after long hours. Make sure you wear a pretty think shirt or a jacket.

The level of adjustments seems ok for a typical body size but I feel like either very small or very big people will have a hard time adjusting it. It will likely be too loose or too tight.

Overall, I like it!

Honest reviews on Lowepro Toploader Chest harness

I bought this item, so that I could have my DSLR accessible, while on long day trips, overnight trips, and backpack trips. I found that it doesn't work well with a backpack, because the straps conflict too much. I also found it to be quite uncomfortable, in conjunction with a backpack, because the straps are unforgiving.

I found that it doesn't work well with backpacks, but it might work well, when used with a lumbar pack. Even then, you might as well just use your bag's shoulder strap and attach the belt loop to your belt (cheap and easy).

If they made the lower straps, which go around your abdomen, out of a stretchy material, this might be a great product. Otherwise, I don't recommend it the idea is great, but it doesn't work the way I thought it would.

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This holster accomplishes one goal: to carry my DSLR and a zoom lens without the encumbrance of a camera bag with a shoulder strap, or of a backpack that I must reach into whenever I need a camera tool. For this, I give the product an A-.

However, I also have two big complaints.

Lowepro designed this holster and harness for a man's body (e.g., a person without breasts). This is a huge disappointment and a frustrating problem. I can wear the harness (and I will), but because the ideal carrying position is slightly below chest level, it means that the holster and harness require a tighter fit, which makes it more cumbersome to open and close the holster. If I loosen the harness to move the holster farther down (say, to waist level), the straps slip up on my shoulders and create an uncomfortable non-fit for the harness.

Come on guys! Surely you can design a harness system that takes a woman's body into consideration and accommodates it. We, too, are photographers and would really appreciate it if you paid some attention to these details.

The other disappointment with this product is its lack of a wider belt loop opening that stretches across the entire width of the holster itself. As it is designed, the loop is functional, but with a larger DSLR/lens, the holster sags and pulls on the "belt", creating huge discomfort on my lower back and making the holster itself much harder to open and close easily. I have seen holsters that have belt loops that are as wide as the holster's width, that are also padded to keep the belt from being overly tight and uncomfortable on the waist/lower back.