I think the Holdfast Moneymaker is pretty awesome. Not just because it’s made of durable materials, but because it’s an elegant solution to the problem of welding two cameras without looking like a Navy Seal. My jaw did drop when I saw the $200-300 price tag though, since it’s basically TWO BELTS. The portrait sliders are extra, and will set you back another $50… if you want to be able to shoot vertically, that is.
I’m sure the Moneymaker is well made and worth every penny, but it looked too easy to make. I’ve never worked with leather before, but I’ve done plenty of other projects, and punching a few holes didn’t seem beyond my skill level, so I set forth learning a few basic leather making skills.
Here is a great DIY belt project I found by Mr Lentz. The tools he uses there will greatly help you make this camera harness, but I will show you alternative tools you can use. Actual materials used in this project only cost me $70 shipped ($40 leather, $25 brass hardware, $5 snaps.) After buying tools and bulk packs of snaps the price goes up slightly, but you will have some materials left over for another project.
Tools
- Leather hole punch (Probably the only tool you need to buy!)
- Leather skiver (Or use a double-edge shaving razor, belt sander, dremel with sanding wheel, $2 hand rasp.)
- Strap cutter (I used a hobby knife. You could use any type of razor or even heavy scissors.)
- Straight edge, ruler, or tape measure
- Anvil + Setters for rivets and snaps (included with packs of rivets and snaps below!)
- Hammer
Materials
- Leather straps of your choice (I used 1 1/2″ Black Water Buffalo from Springfield Leather.)
- 2 buckles (1 1/2″ or same as your straps.)
- 2 D rings (1 1/2″ or same as your straps.)
- 2 swivel trigger snaps (I used 1″, I wanted the slider to be thinner than the strap. 1″ sits in the curved part of the D ring better too.)
- Snaps* (“Line 24″ is the size I used. This only has 10 nickel and 10 brass colored snaps, I ran out of nickel snaps and had to use a few brass colored ones.)
- Rivets* (you need at least 2x small rivets for the belt keepers, or you can use heavy thread.)
- 2 stainless steel screws for Quick Release Strap (You can also use some tripod plates that have a ring on the bottom.)
*Note: I used 13 large snaps and NO rivets on this project. You can use all rivets and no snaps, or a combination of snaps and rivets if you want a more permanent build. I ruined a few of my snaps when I was setting them… so make sure you have extras!
I started off with the buckle ends. I didn’t want to cut the leather straps until I could do a test fitting on myself. If you build your harness this way you are less likely to make a mistake and ruin a piece of leather.
Step 1: Make your buckle ends. Start by making the ends pretty and folding the end of the strap over itself about 3 1/2″. At the fold, you will need to cut a slot about 3/4″ long for the buckle. Just punch two holes with your hole punch, then use a razor to remove the material between the holes. Then punch your 4 rivet/snap holes. I spaced mine about 1 1/2″ from the fold, and 1 1/2″ apart. To make sure the holes will line up it helps to punch through both layers of the strap at once. After you make your first one, use it as a template for the second one.
Step 2: Set your snaps/rivets. I recommend using snaps for the buckle ends. You can change the buckle out very easily later. You also have more control over where the belt keeper sits. If you are using rivets make sure you install your buckle and belt keeper now! (Skip ahead to step 8) If you are using snaps you can install everything later. Try to find something heavy and solid to work on. A heavy work bench, a chunk of metal or wood, or if all else fails, use the ground. I used a chunk of metal from a jack stand and a couple of yoga blocks to dampen the noise.
Step 3: Decide Where you want to connect your two straps. I placed mine about 10″ from the end of the strap. Have a friend help you test fit the straps and see where you want it to sit. Rivet the two straps together. I used a snap because it’s all I had, but a rivet makes more sense here.
Step 4: Test fit & cut! Decide where you want to cut your straps. Holdfast states that the best position is for the buckles to sit 4″ under the arm pits. Make sure to leave 6″-7″ of extra material on the ends of your straps for adjustability! You can always cut the straps shorter, but you can’t re-join cut leather easily, so err on the long side.
Step 5: After you’ve decided where to cut the leather, make the ends pretty and punch holes for the buckles. I left about 7″ of extra strap, and made holes every 1″. This will be great if I’m wearing a bulky jacket or something.
Step 6: Now we’re going to start on the sliders. Use the leftover leather that you cut off your straps and cut them to 1″ in width. You can use a special strap cutter, or you can use a razor or heavy-duty scissors and work very carefully. I wanted my slider straps to be 7 1/2″ long when finished. I started with a piece that was 1″ x 14″ and folded the ends over about 2 3/4″. This length is working very well for me and I can shoot vertically with no problem. The Camera sits on my hip, right where I want it. *You may need to thin the leather with your skiver/razor to get it to bend well. Try removing half the thickness where the leather bends. Water buffalo is pretty supple, so I was able to skip this step. Other types of leather maybe stiffer.
Step 7: Set all your snaps/rivets. If you are using rivets, make sure you install your D rings and swivel clips before setting your rivets. I used snaps for this also. You can see I ran out of nickel colored snaps, and had to resort to using brass colored ones on the back side of my sliders. From the front only nickel snaps are visible. OCD reminder – I can drill out these brass snaps later and replace them with matching ones.
Step 8: Use the leftover 1/2″ strips of leather to make your belt keepers. The leather I used was too thick to fold over easily, so you need to shave about 1/2 of the thickness off. You are supposed to use a leather skiver for this, but I used my double edge shaving razor, which worked ok (but I don’t recommend it.) You could also buy a $2 hand rasp from Harbor Freight. Wrap the finished piece around two straps to find out how short to cut it.
Step 9: punch a small hole through both layers of leather. Set your small rivet here if you are going that route. I tied mine up with nylon upholstery thread I had on hand because I forgot to order small rivets. Rivets are better!
Step 10: Put her together!
And finally, my humble & cluttered work shop/living room:
Before attaching $6,000 worth of cameras and lenses to your creation, please test it first. Attach sand bags, dumbbells, or some kind of weight and jump up and down to make sure everything is secure. If one of your rivets or snaps wasn’t set properly, find out now, before you take it out on the job. The large line-24 snaps I used on this project seem very secure, and take quite a bit of force to un-snap. The way this is designed means that the snaps mostly deal with lateral forces, and do not get pulled apart, so I’m not too worried about my snaps coming undone.
Here are photos of me wearing this harness. I brought two bodies with me for this shoot, but I failed to realize that I would need one to take the picture :/ I only have one camera attached, so it’s sitting 1/2″~1″ lower on one side, but it is actually quite comfortable to wear with only one body. Photo credit to my wife, Christie Matherne, for taking these.
Version 1 came out much better than I expected! I’m already designing version 2 with better hardware!
About the author: Josh Hall is a photographer based in Denver, Colorado. Visit his website here. This article originally appeared here.
Pretty cool!
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