I’ve been a fan of HoldFast photography gear for the past few months already ever since learning about their products. It’s a small, independent company with most items hand-made by the owner himself or at least finished by him. What really draws me to his products are the fact that they use all natural materials like leather, canvas, and rope and they have a certain old-school charm to them. They don’t look like anything else on the market and they don’t look like mass produced military gear. Instead, HoldFast products are elegant, yet rugged. They are meant to be used and worn out. In fact, the more you use them and the more worn out they get, the better they look. No two will ever look the same, and that’s what I love about them.
MoneyMaker Multi-Camera Harness
Today I’m taking a look at the MoneyMaker Multi-Camera Harness. This is one of HoldFast’s most popular items and one which embraces all the style and characteristics HoldFast stands for. The MoneyMaker is a heavy duty, leather camera harness that looks as good as it functions. Unlike other harnesses out these days which are made from synthetic materials and have a militaristic type feel to them, the MoneyMaker is from a different school of design. The MoneyMaker is designed to mimic designs of old in which style was just as important as function.
The MoneyMaker is double shoulder harness that you would wear like a set of suspenders. In fact, when worn, it does resemble a very classy set of suspenders. The entire harness is made of leather with 4 different types to choose from and finished off with some heavy duty metal d-rings, buckles, rivets, and clasps. Because of the material, it feels quite heavy when in your hands, but once on, you barely feel any of the weight. I wasn’t bothered at all by the weight and in fact, the weight gives it a feel of quality and sturdiness that you just don’t get with modern harnesses. It’s a mental feeling you get in which the weight, feel, and look of everything gives you that highly satisfied feeling inside.
The MoneyMaker consists of 3 main parts. There is the main harness which consists of 2 equal lengths of leather and are adjustable by way of buckles, similar to how a belt would be sized. There are 2 buckles which means each side of the harness is adjustable in size. On each strap, there are 2 D-rings present, 1 on the rear and 1 on the front. The D-Rings can be used for a variety of functions such as hanging your glasses from them, adding a HoldFast Camera Leach to them and holding other gear, or whatever else you can think of. I use the D-Ring to hang my shades on when I’m shooting as well as clasping one of the Speed Clutches when not in use.
The other 2 parts of the MoneyMaker are basically the company’s Key Anchors which work surprisingly well too as camera holders. When attached to the harness, they work like quick release units in which you can slide them up and down the harness for quick use. I’ve seen a few quick release harnesses before which function in a similar way but they always seemed a bit flimsy to me with the parts they used. Not so here with the MoneyMaker. Because it’s made of leather and metal, it feels really strong. In fact, if you check out some of the images online, you’ll see that it can support quite a bit of weight, more than enough to handle the weight of 2 DSLRs. I’ve only used it so far with my Sony NEX-5N and whatever random camera I’m reviewing at the time and it’s more that enough to handle my needs.
Now you might ask yourself why you would use one of these over something like a camera neck strap or just carry a camera bag around with you. The answer is speed and comfort. If you camera is in a bag, it just makes it that much easier to miss those spontaneous shots you might get if you had your camera already out. Having your camera out means you’ll be ready to shoot anything and it’s great for street photography as well as shooting events. Now if you’ve used a neck strap before, yes it’s quick, but it also causes strain on your neck after some time and can get really uncomfortable. With the MoneyMaker, all the weight is supported on your shoulders which can handle the weight better.
The main reason however to use a MoneyMaker is the fact that it just looks plain cool. The use of leather and metal makes for an awesome combination and I really love the old school charm of it. It’s something you can wear that looks great with t-shirts and jeans or even with a nice buttoned shirt. It’s classy, yet rugged, while also being quite elegant. In my opinion, it’s the perfect accessory for the fashionable photographer.
You can pick one up for yourself over at the HoldFast site here. They start at $187.00 and come in 4 types of leather and a variety of color options for each type. It might seem a bit much, but you are paying for something that is hand-made using quality materials. I think it’s well worth the price and exclusivity of it.
