Oftentimes, when I’m at a large event, I can’t carry my bag full of gear around with me. So when I had the chance to try the Vello Rapid Lens Changer for my Nikon, I was excited to see if I could still take all the gear necessary, without having to make arrangements to switch out lenses when necessary.

The Vello Rapid Lens Changer is basically a mount for your lenses, and it comes with a strap that you can wear as a sling or on the shoulder. It comes in three versions — Nikon, Canon and Sony E mounts.

In my tests, attaching the lenses wasn’t as smooth as attaching a lens to your camera — there seemed to be a little bit of grit present (possibly from metal-on-metal). Though once the lenses were attached, they stayed on really well, and I had no concerns about them loosening or falling off.

The Rapid Lens Changer holds up to two lenses, but if you only need it to carry one, there’s a cover for the other side of the mount, used to prevent dust and dirt from getting on the back of your attached lens.

Realistically, I’d use standard size lenses, like a 24-70mm or 50mm on a device like this. But for testing purposes, I attached both my Tamron 70-200mm f/2.8 and Tamron 15-30mm f/2.8 lenses. While it looked absolutely ridiculous, the Rapid Lens Changer held the lenses perfectly.

Swapping lenses with one lens on the Rapid Lens Changer was simple — I attached my camera’s lens onto the open part of the mount, and then hooked up the other lens to my camera. But dealing with two lenses was a bit more problematic, as I needed to set down the lens attached to my camera before putting on one of the lenses attached to the Rapid Lens Changer. With fast-paced events, this may be somewhat impractical.

Despite that, the Vello Rapid Lens Changer is ideal for taking an extra lens (or two) on a photowalk, to a wedding, to a corporate event…you name it. You can leave that heavy roller bag at home, and still have the necessary gear with you.