25 Sep Review: The Cotton Carrier G3 Harness Carrying Solution for Macro Photography in the field
Doing macro photography in the field often requires to have your hands free while searching for specimens and also to have quick access to your setup.
This often includes having both a flash and a diffuser on your camera, which makes your setup somewhat bulky.
Disassembling between walking and search phases does not make much sense.
A carrying solution that enables you to have your hands free, but also to quickly have your pre-setup camera ready to start photographing is a great benefit.
The Cotton Carrier G3 harness is promising to give you all of that aforementioned freedom and offer both a great concept and quality.
Being a family-owned business, the Cotton Carrier team is personally invested in keeping up the high standards it is known for.
But how good is the Cotton Camera Carrier G3 Harness as a hands-free carrying solution for macro photography in the field?
Let´s find out in the review below.
First impression and specifications
The requirements for an effective carrying solution for macro photography in the field are primarily stability, accessibility, comfort and reliability.
Camera gear in general is expensive, so any carrying solution should be reliable and secure.
At the same time, carrying your setup should also be comfortable and allow for quick access, as in macro photography, we often find subjects “out of the blue” and often in the most awkward places.
Getting our camera in hand quickly can make or break some of the most interesting scenes we possibly encounter.
The G3 harness comes in a simple cardboard box, together with a round mount hub made from hard-anodized aluminum, a safety tether to prevent the camera from accidental drops, and a rain cover (for your camera, not the harness).
For more detailed instructions and info, there is a QR code provided in the box.
As I have 2 setups, I ordered a second camera mounting base, so I don´t have to interchange those between the 2 cameras, even if I keep one camera setup in the backpack.
There is also an option to add a side holster, but I did not get that (yet).
The camera is attached via a simple yet effective patented twist and lock mount system.
You slide the camera in, angled at 90°, twist back 90° and it is secured.
The aluminum hub features a threaded hole and is thus compatible with a tripod, for example.
Putting on the G3 harness takes no time and the many mesh parts make it breathable to a degree.
Small additional features are always a big plus, hence why I was happy to find two small pockets on the G3.
The pricing seems fair to me – if you want your setup, worth several hundreds and even thousands of euros or dollars, to be safe and secured, then it is worth to invest in quality gear.
For the standard G3 harness Cotton Carrier asks 149,00 Euro (129 USD), for the G3 with an additional side holster for a second camera you´ll play 179,00 Euro (179 USD).
There´s also a smaller sling style harness, called Skout G2 for 99 Euro (99 USD).
Cotton Camera Carrier – a US family owned business
The Cotton Carrier brand is run by the Cotton Chamberlayne family – and they are truly a proud family owned, generation-spanning business, which totally shows on the brand´s website.
Andy Cotton states he has been working in the film industry for over 26 years – as a special effects supervisor.
Transferring his work´s trademarks, functionality and reliability, into the new product seemed only logical.
As the carrying solutions on the market did not satisfy his needs as a professional landscape photographer, he came up with his own design concept.
It was a priority that nothing should fail, jam or break – which absolutely makes sense, does it not?
As if that didn´t sound great already, the small company also relies on environmentally-friendly practices like using 53% post-consumer recycled fiber in the packagings or donating to non-profit environmental organizations.
Their confidence in their products´ quality reflects in the 3-year technical warranty.
It is that background story that really sold me in the end – knowing there´s someone who knows first hand about the challenges of a reliable carrying system and having transparency regarding who designed and built it and why.
It also feels good supporting family owned businesses, right?
The Cotton Carrier harness G3 macro photography experience in the field
My intention with the G3 was to have my camera in front of my chest for quick access and having both hands free while not photographing.
I was not disappointed – the G3 harness is innovative and a quality product.
Since my tours usually take several hours, up to a full day, I alternate a lot between walking on changing terrain, searching (often in crouching position) and then the actual shooting.
That´s where I really enjoyed to have my macro setup fixed directly to the harness, and hence my chest, instead of having it dangling around on my side with a classic strap.
It also let me access and unlock my camera quickly – which is exactly what I wanted.
So far the G3 offered me great accessibility and comfort at the same time in almost every situation.
It really shows, that a lot of thought went into the design.
The only minor thing really, which I don´t like, is the connector hub, which is being screwed into the camera body base.
It is very button-like and causes the camera to wobble, when placed onto the ground.
In the field that´s not a big problem though, as I rarely have a real flat surface, but it may get annoying depending on your preferences.
I would prefer a broader, flat base instead but understand, that the knob-like round design was chosen for the patented twist and lock mechanism.
Another thing I liked was, that I was directly facing my back LCD screen and controls, when grabbing the camera from the G3.
Somehow this felt very natural – having it always in your field of view.
Alternatives to carry your macro photography equipment in the field
Personally, I have 4-5 options to attach and carry my macro photography gear.
Which one I use depends on the scenario and I definitely have my favorites.
Let me explain.
For comparison, we assume I use my standard setup, which means a body, macro lens, flash and a diffuser (mostly OM-1 II, M.Zuiko 90mm IS PRO, Godox V860III).
The first, and simplest option is the standard camera carrying neck strap.
It will have the camera setup dangle in front of my chest.
It is easily and quickly accessible but there is no stability and it will keep swinging when I walk longer distances.
The strap is not very comfortable on the neck and tends to cut in.
For a field trip the standard strap will never be my choice.
Option 2 is a blackrapid camera strap, which I bought years ago, when I was shooting weddings.
It is a great improvement to the classic neck strap and moves the camera from the front of your chest to your side.
This is a lot more comfortable and allows for quick access, while having it out of the way while walking.
My only gripe would be, that the camera is hanging upside down and I feel that the diffuser is not as secure from gravitation as I would want it to be.
However, I rarely use the blackrapid strap, as I own another, which works better for me and offers considerably more flexibility:
The Peak Design Capture Clip V3 with the Slide Lite strap (read my review here).
Before I tried the Cotton Carrier harness, the Capture Clip was my favorite attachment solution: super compact, reliable, practical and giving easy and quick access.
I had it attached to my backpack shoulder strap and, other than with the blackrapid strap, I had the camera hanging down in 90° (instead of 180°), which gave me the best access and also prevented the diffuser from falling down.
If I went on without the backpack though, I would lose my attachment base, or I had to unscrew it and switch it over onto my belt (it makes sense to have 2 clips therefor).
Usually I have the Slide Lite strap with me and use this one instead, when leaving the backpack behind.
Still a pretty good solution for field work.
Then we have the Cotton Carrier G3 harness
– offering me the same benefits like the Capture Clip, but bringing the camera setup back in front of the chest, which I consider the best position to have my hands free, grab the camera as fast as possible and also support the camera´s weight while carrying it.
The Cotton Carrier G3 was also the best of all solutions when it came to really operating one-handed.
No need to press any buttons or unlock anything – just grab your camera and quickly twist and remove from the holder.
Easy as that!
Product Details
Conclusion
I have tried the G3 Harness with various setups and it carries whatever I “fed” it, from a super compact macro setup with a tiny M.Zuiko 3omm, to a Birding setup with 2x Teleconverter and M.Zuiko 300mm IS PRO.
No matter the focal length, it always felt comfortable and secure.
Note: there is no different mens and womens sizes, the G3 is a one-fits-all. It can be size-adjusted via 6 points.
It would be great if there was a universal system mount, to combine all the different choices from Cotton Carrier, Peak Design and so on, but I get that everyone gotta do their own system from an economic and competetive perspective.
The only, minor gripe (aside from the base knob) I had with the G3, is that sometimes the upper edge from the front cut into my throat when I was crouching, kneeling and reaching down to shoot a subject very low on the ground.
However, that did not happen often.
Aside from that, wearing the G3 harness was comfortable, even under a jacket and with the backpack over it.
It distributed the weight evenly – no backpain after a 6 hour long field trip.
Yes, you might sweat a bit more under the G3 compared to not using it, but the mesh design makes it breathable.
Get your Cotton Carrier here, if you want to try it out – if you use the following link and enter the Code WILDMACRO10 at checkout this will give you 10% off your purchase:
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