Posted by Paul DeCesare on August 30, 2009 at 12:29 AM
Just wondering, what does everyone keep attached to their camera strap-wise? I kind of got tired of the long shoulder strap, so I've been using this for a while... actually I only use the holder/bracket that screws into the tripod hole because the leather strap part was cheap. I got the real Canon E-1 hand strap to mount on it (you guessed it, I have no vertical grip).
Anyway, the problem is that I use my tripod a LOT, so I always have to unscrew the handstrap holder which leaves it swinging freely. If I walk around with the tripod the holder bangs against everything. PLUS, my hands are big so I can't keep my hand actually IN the strap when shooting. So I'm just thinking of going back to a good ol' shoulder strap, but the one that comes with the camera has "Canon 5D Mark II" printed huge, so I don't really want to advertise a very stealable DSLR.
What do you guys use? Are there really nice after market straps out there, maybe leather or something? I do NOT want one with the plastic quick-release clips, I had a LowePro with those and the clips bang and scratch the LCDs when stuffing it into a holster bag. Plus I do NOT trust those clips, keep waiting to bump the clip and watch four grand hit the sidewalk.
Anyway, thanks for letting me whine. Any straps ideas are most welcome.
============== Update
I came across this strap and it might be what I'm after: non-slip, no quick-disconnects, and best of all, made in the USA (ha, like any of our cameras are). BUT, I'd still be interested in hearing what y'all like using.
I'm hooked on longer than standard straps, sufficient that the camera hangs down around waist level. But rather than just looping it over my neck, I stick my head and one arm through the strap. That leaves the camera at my side where it's out of the way and relieves weight from around my neck. In tough conditions I can also slide it around so it's behind me. Not affecting most photographers here, but the further advantage is the ability to carry two at once in our work- one on each side, even with strobes.
As a side note, I started doing this for security. I had been slinging cameras over my neck as "usual" for photographers. I was doing a shoot on an airport runway and asked that the plane be repositioned. The pilot started it and reved the engine to spin it as I was standing right behind it. Liking the angle but wanting a different lens, I dropped the camera I was using so it would hang while I lifted the other. Problem was, the prop draft had lifted the strap up and over my head. Yup. Camera, lens and strobe hit the cement after the drop from eye level....
We also do door-off aerial photography, another place where you definitely want your head and one arm through each strap for security.
We buy Tamrac's longest straps, which also have snaps so we can easily remove them from the camera. I don't remember the model number, but they're long, well made, and highly functional for our needs.
Posted by Fred Stearns on August 30, 2009 at 1:10 AM
I changed my manufacturer's printed strap with a Lowepro Speedster strap. Besides not having any advertisement printed in white, it has one side coated with a rubber type compound that is less slippery on the jacket I use. It is not perfect. It still slides too much, though less than the manufacturer's strap, and it could use more padding so that it doesn't dig into my shoulder so much. It could also be more flexible so that it doesn't dig into my neck either. All in all, it is better than the one supplied with the camera.
Posted by Jim DeWitt on August 30, 2009 at 2:34 AM
Depending on how much weight is involved, you might want to look at the chest straps that are used for binoculars. They distribute the weight to your shoulders, so long as the weight isn't too great or the lens too long.
Posted by Bill Woolf on August 30, 2009 at 6:07 AM
I have been a member for a few years but usually by the time I get to read the posts the responses leave little to add, but with this I wanted to give my two cents (This is my first, but hopefully not last post). I shoot with a D300 and hated the Nikon strap with its glaring advertising (On any item with advertising I want be paid to use it), as well as being too short. I also agree with Hank that the longer, over the head and across the chest strap works much better then the typical over the head strap. I use an OP/Tech USA strap and find their performance excellent. I use black, but the straps also come in colors for those who want to brighten up their wardrobe!
"Does anyone have suggestions about a really non-slip "pad" that would go on a regular nylon-webbing strap? (for monopod & lightweight tripod) "
I just sew on my own, cut from soft leather with the rough side out. It works remarkably well against most clothing, even when wet.
Posted by Buck Ward on August 30, 2009 at 12:14 PM
I use Op/Tech straps. They have reinforced neoprene neck pads that are soft, stretchy, and comfortable. They also have non-skid bumpy thingies on them so they don't slip. I almost always use a tripod, so mostly the neck strap just hangs there, but I use it for security when changing tripod-mounted lenses or whenever the body is off the tripod. I have one also on my 300 f2.8 for totage and/or whenever the lens is not mounted on the tripod. I carry the lens with sidekick mounted, with the strap on my shoulder, usually not around neck and shoulder. It has never slipped.
Posted by Kent Staubus on August 30, 2009 at 12:17 PM
I too like the Op Tech neoprene. I don't normally use a strap though, as it catches on brush as I'm walking in the dark. I do use them when taking shots from open helicopters, on high cat walks, and other places where a falling camera would be dangerous.
Kent in SD
Posted by Colin Smale on August 30, 2009 at 12:33 PM
I hadn't realised there was such a problem with staps. I hate em, when picking the camera up the (normal) strap often loops around something such as the gear lever of the car but aside from this, gotta have em. If I am using the body with a shortish lens I just loop it over my shoulder, never been comfortable with it round my neck. If I have to put it onto a tripod I just wind the strap around the top of the tripod so it doesn't flap about. Looked at these others you suggested, I think they would very soon finish up in that box of 'bits' I might use again, 'one day' and in fact will never see the light of day again.
Posted by John Mumaw on August 30, 2009 at 12:41 PM
Does anyone have suggestions about a really non-slip "pad" that would go on a regular nylon-webbing strap? (for monopod & lightweight tripod).
The OpTech tripod strap works well, though I prefer to just leave the tripod strapped onto my pack.
Posted by Jack Graham on August 30, 2009 at 1:41 PM
Check out the UP Strap
Posted by Jim Bullard on August 30, 2009 at 5:00 PM
I use a Tamrac neoprene strap that has some quick disconnects for when I don't want the strap. It leaves a 5-6" section on each side but they are not a problem. My one complaint against the strap is that they put female connect on both of the sections that stay on the camera and male on both ends of the center section. Had they alternated them I could snap the two short sections together for a short hand strap. I have an Op-Tech strap that works that way which I bought many years ago and I use on my Fugi GS 645. I've looked in recent years for another but can't find one like it.
Posted by Bill Stice on August 30, 2009 at 9:47 PM
I use the Tamrac strap as well and like the quick disconnects. This leaves just a short piece on either side of the camera. When I'm using the body on a tripod I just leave the strap off. If I plan to hand hold or carry the camera around for a while on my neck for candids of family or friends I attach the strap.
Posted by Kent Staubus on August 31, 2009 at 9:37 AM
I too use the quick release style Op Tech strap, since I rarely have a strap on the camera.
Kent in SD
Posted by Steve Foss on August 31, 2009 at 10:20 AM
I'm in the camp that is irritated by straps at times (catching on the wrong thing at the wrong time) but doesn't see a more effective option to get that needed combination of mobility and security.
I recently hung $10,000 worth of gear on a rock solid tripod and head and extended the gear out over the railing of an overlook to better photograph a river gorge. Insured or not, I'd not have done that without a long neck strap, and that strap stayed around my neck the whole time. Needed the neck strap to hike into and out from the overlook, too.
I use two straps most. One is neoprene, brand-unknown, the other a Canon Professional Services strap. Both have shoulder portions that are ergonomically designed and have a no-slide side. Both straps are effective at no-slip. Both have quick-connects that also allow them to be used as hand straps in case I need that. Both are extended to their full length because, like some others, I need to thread my head/neck through them when hiking rough wooded country with two cameras out, or on certain wedding and commercial/magazine shoots when I have to switch from one camera/lens combo to another to quickly get various captures. I'd prefer not to have Canon and CPS festooned all over that particular strap, but it's the best one I've found so far.
It can be a hassle with straps in tripod land, as already mentioned, but when I'm working on a static landscape scene or other work with an extended tripod, I generally hang a second body with a telephoto off the center-post crank handle so it's right there so I can grab it in case it's needed. And it also adds weight to stabilize the tripod, not that the monster Manfrotto 375B I'm using now needs it. So that's another case where a strap is a good thing.
In the end, IMO, a strap is a strap, and as long as its long enough and padded, it's plenty of strap for me. Just the way it's worked so far for me.
Posted by Mel Ladewig on August 31, 2009 at 8:39 PM
I use the domke gripper straps with rings and Think Tank's camera support straps to hook it to my backpack harness. The gripper straps stay on the shoulder well when needed and breathes well around the neck if needed. But I prefer to hang the camera from a pack shoulder harness whenever possible.
Posted by Paul DeCesare on August 31, 2009 at 9:06 PM
Wow, this became a decent-sized thread for a strap, huh? And it's all been good info. The Up Strap looks promising because of how it stays in place, as does the Op/Tech USA Super Classic Bino (Bino has no QD clips), but there are several other good suggestions on here also. I think it was easier to decide which Canon 70-200/2.8 to buy (IS vs. non-IS) than it is which strap to get.
Posted by Steve Foss on August 31, 2009 at 9:11 PM
Heck, Paul, with the lens you only had two options. Easy choice -- pick the expensive one if you can afford it. If not, pick the less expensive one.
Straps? Now that's a WHOLE other ballgame.
Posted by Paul DeCesare on August 31, 2009 at 9:36 PM
LOL! Right!
The lens WAS easy... non-IS is a pound lighter, $500 cheaper, doesn't whirr or klunk, and I use it mostly on a tripod or monopod. Man, that lens is sharp, too (my copy anyway). The one drawback: not weather-sealed, but I prefer the 16-35mm for neat weather events anyway.
Wait a minute! This is a STRAP thread! (I'll hush).
Discussion
19 repliesAnyway, the problem is that I use my tripod a LOT, so I always have to unscrew the handstrap holder which leaves it swinging freely. If I walk around with the tripod the holder bangs against everything. PLUS, my hands are big so I can't keep my hand actually IN the strap when shooting. So I'm just thinking of going back to a good ol' shoulder strap, but the one that comes with the camera has "Canon 5D Mark II" printed huge, so I don't really want to advertise a very stealable DSLR.
What do you guys use? Are there really nice after market straps out there, maybe leather or something? I do NOT want one with the plastic quick-release clips, I had a LowePro with those and the clips bang and scratch the LCDs when stuffing it into a holster bag. Plus I do NOT trust those clips, keep waiting to bump the clip and watch four grand hit the sidewalk.
Anyway, thanks for letting me whine.
==============
Update
I came across this strap and it might be what I'm after: non-slip, no quick-disconnects, and best of all, made in the USA (ha, like any of our cameras are). BUT, I'd still be interested in hearing what y'all like using.
As a side note, I started doing this for security. I had been slinging cameras over my neck as "usual" for photographers. I was doing a shoot on an airport runway and asked that the plane be repositioned. The pilot started it and reved the engine to spin it as I was standing right behind it. Liking the angle but wanting a different lens, I dropped the camera I was using so it would hang while I lifted the other. Problem was, the prop draft had lifted the strap up and over my head. Yup. Camera, lens and strobe hit the cement after the drop from eye level....
We also do door-off aerial photography, another place where you definitely want your head and one arm through each strap for security.
We buy Tamrac's longest straps, which also have snaps so we can easily remove them from the camera. I don't remember the model number, but they're long, well made, and highly functional for our needs.
Does anyone have suggestions about a really non-slip "pad" that would go on a regular nylon-webbing strap? (for monopod & lightweight tripod)
I just sew on my own, cut from soft leather with the rough side out. It works remarkably well against most clothing, even when wet.
Kent in SD
The OpTech tripod strap works well, though I prefer to just leave the tripod strapped onto my pack.
Kent in SD
I recently hung $10,000 worth of gear on a rock solid tripod and head and extended the gear out over the railing of an overlook to better photograph a river gorge. Insured or not, I'd not have done that without a long neck strap, and that strap stayed around my neck the whole time. Needed the neck strap to hike into and out from the overlook, too.
I use two straps most. One is neoprene, brand-unknown, the other a Canon Professional Services strap. Both have shoulder portions that are ergonomically designed and have a no-slide side. Both straps are effective at no-slip. Both have quick-connects that also allow them to be used as hand straps in case I need that. Both are extended to their full length because, like some others, I need to thread my head/neck through them when hiking rough wooded country with two cameras out, or on certain wedding and commercial/magazine shoots when I have to switch from one camera/lens combo to another to quickly get various captures. I'd prefer not to have Canon and CPS festooned all over that particular strap, but it's the best one I've found so far.
It can be a hassle with straps in tripod land, as already mentioned, but when I'm working on a static landscape scene or other work with an extended tripod, I generally hang a second body with a telephoto off the center-post crank handle so it's right there so I can grab it in case it's needed. And it also adds weight to stabilize the tripod, not that the monster Manfrotto 375B I'm using now needs it. So that's another case where a strap is a good thing.
In the end, IMO, a strap is a strap, and as long as its long enough and padded, it's plenty of strap for me. Just the way it's worked so far for me.
Straps? Now that's a WHOLE other ballgame.
The lens WAS easy... non-IS is a pound lighter, $500 cheaper, doesn't whirr or klunk, and I use it mostly on a tripod or monopod. Man, that lens is sharp, too (my copy anyway). The one drawback: not weather-sealed, but I prefer the 16-35mm for neat weather events anyway.
Wait a minute! This is a STRAP thread! (I'll hush).