What's wrong with your camera strap?

[David R Munson]

Here's the skinny: I work on product design work in my spare time, one of my primary points of focus being a few kinds of camera strap for various types of camera. What I would like to know is what do you and do you NOT like about the camera straps you have or have used in the past? What features do you want that don't seem to exist? What makes your favorite strap so great?

I would really like as much input as I can get, so that I can design some better options. I'm making progress with my designs, but I can only draw on my own experience without getting the opinions of others. Thanks in advance for your help!

 

[Kevin Caulfield]

I use an Optech strap for my Hasselblad, and I love it. It has a springy feel, which really does seem to make the camera weigh less.

 

[AdamKap]

No idea, if these are actual products already, but I would love to see a camera strap that wasn't so short that the camera hangs around under your armpit, I would love to see a longer camera strap that made the camera hang around the hip. If such a product already exists could someone point me to it?

-Adam

 

[Lopaka]

A camera strap that allows you to EASILY adjust its length. All the ones I have require futzing around with a belt buckle type affair that's a PIA.

Bob

 

[Jerry Thirsty]

I like to wear my camera with the viewfinder at about sternum height. I've got some straps that can't be adjusted that short (the OpTech is an example). When I wear the camera lower, it tends to swing back and forth like a pendulum.

Features I look for are swivels on the ends so I can untwist them easily, and hooks so I can detach the strap if I've got the camera on a tripod and the wind is blowing it around. I've pretty much standardized on the Domke Gripper straps as my default.

 

[removed account4]

i hate metalic serpantine straps.
a bare bones strap, no adjustments for the wrist
is perfect for me - i am talking 35mm stuff ..

thanks dave

john

 

[bdial]

My favorite is my Nikon strap which is around 3/4 inch wide with narrow pieces at the end to attach to the camera. It's wide enough to be comfortable, but not too wide to get in the way. It's flexible, so that it's comfortable and easy to wrap around my wrist if I don't want the camera around my neck or off my shoulder. I use one of these on a Retina as well.
For me the list of desirable attributes would include;

Quality materials throughout - don't want to worry about something breaking or coming loose at a bad time.
Wide enough to help releive the weight
No foam or rubber that's likely to fail before the strap
Flexible
Low profile coloring i.e. black
Strong
Secure fastenings
No bulky buckles
No metal that contacts the camera, aside from perhaps the split rings or attaching device.
I do like the little loops used on the straps that come on the straps included with memory sticks, and I use one of these on a light meter. A camera strap with this style of attachment would be great, though it would need some sort of fastener to split the strap.

Barry

 

[David R Munson]

A camera strap that allows you to EASILY adjust its length. All the ones I have require futzing around with a belt buckle type affair that's a PIA.

Bob

This is actually the core concept of the strap my partner and I are focusing most of our effort on right now. We've gone through a number of rounds of prototypes and in fact I just received shipment of a ton of parts that should get us through the last prototypes and into early production numbers. I don't want to post details about the design itself just yet, as I don't want to give the competition any advance warning , and I also don't want to mislead anyone about the final production model. In any case, though, something that addresses this issue quite elegantly is in the works. Anyone particularly interested should PM me and I'll put you on a notification list.

Note to mods: I am specifically trying to keep this thread non-commercial, so please let me know if I'm bending the rules in any way.

In any case, these are some great replies already. Thanks and I look forward to what else you all might have to say.

 

[eli griggs]

I like the thin type of nylon camera strap that came with my old Canon F1N AE but I'd like a better material on the underside of the rubber cushion that comes with it. If I'm in a tee-shirt, it will stay in place well enough, but when I put on a wool shirt or my wool coat, it will slip off at the worst possible moment.

Last night I was watching a show on the 'sticky' rubber used in rock climbers shoes. it fills the smallest spaces on a surface, sort of like the feet of some lizards and insects. I can't help but think that that material would keep a strap from slipping... ever!

Eli

 

[jd callow]

I'd love a strap that had an extra clip that kept the camera close to my body when I'm climbing around stuff or even jumping on or off busses or in and out of cars. I like the rubberized neck padding that keeps the strapsnug to my neck and shoulders.

 

[Flotsam]

I like the neoprene straps like the optech. I'd like to find a strap that doesn't slip off my shoulder. A grippy rubber where it contacts the shoulder and maybe a curved shape like Lowe uses on some of their bag straps. They work great.

 

[patrickjames]

Lighter cameras I carry on straps I make myself from old belts (leather) that attach to the camera with a quick release (a.k.a. Domke gripper strap). Heavier cameras like the digital crap and Rolleiflex 6000 get carried on Optech straps, but the best one is a neoprene strap that I bought years ago that was made in Germany. I would check to see the manufacturer but I know the sticker fell off long ago. Best strap I've ever had. If I ever saw another I would buy it in a heartbeat without even looking at the price.

Patrick

 

[David R Munson]

Patrick - any chance you could post a shot of the strap in question? I'd be interested to see the design.

 

[Lee Shively]

In a word: leather.

I'm perfectly happy with the Op-Tech neoprene straps on my heavier 35mm and medium format cameras. But I also have several rangefinders that are not big or heavy and don't require weight distribution. Thin nylon straps are not real comfortable to me, even on a lightweight camera. Leather feels better and supports just as well as nylon in my opinion.

I also would like some method of length adjustment and an attachment method that is secure. I've looked at the Gordy leather straps but ruled them out due to lack of adjustment and I'm not confident in the glued-loop attachment points when I take into consideration normal aging, perspiration and use in various weather conditions. Other brands I've looked at are outrageously expensive except for Hama binocular straps which are leather and cheap but have no length adjustments.

 

[Andy K]

The most irritating thing I find with most straps is when you adjust them shorter the excess strap always ends up flapping loose.

 

[David R Munson]

Excellent feedback, all. Please keep it coming!

 

[noblebeast]

To expand on what JD was saying, I think Galen Rowell had a special strap that had an extra piece that went around the torso to hold/secure the camera to the photographer's body while hiking, climbing, jogging, etc... but was easily disengaged with a clip or something when the time came to snap a picture. That would be an attractive feature to me along with many of the suggestions from others in this thread: adjustability, neoprene.

Joe

 

[David R Munson]

Perhaps Dead Link Removed was the thing in question? There's also the Kuban Hitch (more popular for binoculars), but I haven't seen one for sale for at least 15 years.

 

[JBrunner]

What I don't like about many camera straps is the lack of a positive stop on the adjustable parts, esp the skinny part down by the camera, if it loosens and undoes, there goes your camera. You can knot them or wrap a bit of electrical tape around the bit, but that makes it un-adjustable.

 

[nicolai]

For grip, the UPstrap is hard to beat. You put it on your shoulder, and it just doesn't move. Period. However, the attachment mechanism is a royal pain. I'd rather have a modular system that had small, in-line pincher closures (not sure what they're actually called) on pigtails unobtrusive enough that I could leave permanently attached to the camera and take the strap off when I didn't want it.

The rubber pad on the SLR model is huge. I generally carry cameras either straight on a shoulder or across my chest, not hanging directly off the back of my neck. However, when I'm juggling multiple cameras, I sometimes do go straight off my neck, and the massive pad is really annoying. (It may be that the optimal solution for two camera event/PJ set-ups is a chest harness that can hang a cam off of each collarbone area, I don't know.)

The other problem is that because the grippy part is small and centered at the top of the strap arc, it can be annoying if you're bending down a lot to shoot macro or other things on the ground. You have to reposition the grippy part, and it needs to be at different points for standing and squatting/kneeling, so you have to re-adjust every time you make the transition.

I think the answer to that is to keep the UPstrap's nubbed soft rubber surface, but make it thinner and find a durable way to adhere it to the underside of the strap material. You'd eliminate the bulk and could cover more of the strap with it, which would eliminate the need to "aim" the grip surface.

The one benefit that the heavy pad provides is that it's heavy, so it pulls the strap down and keeps it fairly out of the way when you're shooting with it attached but aren't wearing it, as well as on tripods. (It tends to not pile up on the the camera the way lighter straps do.)

I dislike neoprene because it's elastic. Stretching downward when a foot hits the ground when I'm walking is not a problem, but the rebound is: it creates a moment when strap isn't bearing the weight of the camera, which allows it to move around on my shoulder. If I wanted to babysit it all the time, I'd just carry it in my hand(s) or bag. I expect both actual security and a feeling of security from camera support that elastic materials don't provide (for me).

The adjustment lock on Crumpler messenger-style bags is pretty good, but I think some experimentation might be needed to make sure that it wouldn't be accidentally unlocked by an elbow in camera-carrying positions.

I'm a bit of a physical interface/design geek and would be happy to discuss this more if you want to.

 

[Antje]

I like the neoprene straps like the optech. I'd like to find a strap that doesn't slip off my shoulder. A grippy rubber where it contacts the shoulder and maybe a curved shape like Lowe uses on some of their bag straps. They work great.

I absolutely totally agree. That would be very close to paradise.

Antje

 

[Toffle]

A few years ago, I picked up an older Tamrac 777 camera bag at a flea market. (What a bargain!) It's kind of a heavy beast, but I really like one small feature - a set of quick-release backpack connectors. These attach to the shoulder straps of my backpack and allow me to keep my camera handy while hiking, but there isn't so much play that the camera swings around or bumps against things. The quick release clips are compatible with the full range of Tamrac straps. The strap I have is a nice leather and web outfit that is strong and reliable.
I've also got a wide neoprene affair made by Quantaray with clips that match the Tamrac system. As far as I can remember, it has never slipped or caused any trouble whatsoever. This is very comfortable with a larger camera. (but on a hot day, it makes my neck a little itchy. )

Cheers,

Cheers