What Are Your Camera Strap Tricks?

[Nowhere Matt]

I do sometimes take the camera strap off my neck and wrap it around my wrist and thumb tightly and I bought one of those great little cam-corder style hand straps but it seems to me that it cannot be used without removing the neck strap. Does anyone have a hand strap that attaches to the camera in addition to the neck strap?
Has anyone taken their older 1990's Pentax neck straps and attached them to a newer digital camera? Some of the older neck straps like from the ZX-50 / 60 had those tiny snap pockets and if you really had to are the right size to hold emergency SD cards, flash drive, Underdog Super Energy Pill.
If someone fell into the ice nearby, I think I would have to first try to pull them out using a squirel before throwing them the camera strap to grab onto.
What are some of your tricks and good ideas for use with your neck strap?

[vizjerei]

I take the whole strap thing off, the camera strap keep blocking me when I am using the grip. I tried the hand strap thing and don't really like it

[konraDarnok]

Originally Posted by Nowhere Matt

What are some of your tricks and good ideas for use with your neck strap?

Ditch that strap. Get a tripod mount with a D-ring on the bottom. Or just get a screw in D-ring at the hardware/farm store.


Get a good shoulder strap, mine has a pad where it crosses my shoulder, and have it cross your chest. I got my strap from my camera bag.

Take the spring loaded clips at the end of the strap and connect them to the D-ring.

The camera hangs upside down at the hip. Ready to grab and use.


It's so much more comfortable. . and far more functional.

[Ben_Edict]

Originally Posted by Nowhere Matt

I do sometimes take the camera strap off my neck and wrap it around my wrist and thumb tightly and I bought one of those great little cam-corder style hand straps but it seems to me that it cannot be used without removing the neck strap. Does anyone have a hand strap that attaches to the camera in addition to the neck strap?
Has anyone taken their older 1990's Pentax neck straps and attached them to a newer digital camera? Some of the older neck straps like from the ZX-50 / 60 had those tiny snap pockets and if you really had to are the right size to hold emergency SD cards, flash drive, Underdog Super Energy Pill.
If someone fell into the ice nearby, I think I would have to first try to pull them out using a squirel before throwing them the camera strap to grab onto.
What are some of your tricks and good ideas for use with your neck strap?

I used the wrap around the wrist trick in the long and distant past, until Pentax came out with the PZ-1p and the matching grip attachment (FD-P, if I remember correctly). That included for the first and only time a real wrist strap! I use those now on my K10 and K20 bodies and they are great, including their own rings to attach a regular neck strap.

As I use the Lowepro Reporter straps, I have a integrated card pouch right on the neck strap. It is the best camera strap I ever had and I can highly recommend it.

In the attached image, you'll see how the original Pentax wrist strap looks like.
Ben

[bigben91682]

Originally Posted by konraDarnok

Ditch that strap. Get a tripod mount with a D-ring on the bottom. Or just get a screw in D-ring at the hardware/farm store.


Get a good shoulder strap, mine has a pad where it crosses my shoulder, and have it cross your chest. I got my strap from my camera bag.

Take the spring loaded clips at the end of the strap and connect them to the D-ring.

The camera hangs upside down at the hip. Ready to grab and use.


It's so much more comfortable. . and far more functional.

I do the same thing, it works great for lenses with tripod collars as well. They are commercially available, marketed as the "Black Rapid R-Strap" But very simple to produce on your own.

[code4code5]

I keep my strap at a certain length that I prefer, kind of like a tactical sling for a long gun. When the strap isn't around my neck, I put it under the elbow of my right arm and it acts as a little stabilizer. the amount of force against the camera is varied by the angle of the arm and wrist.

[philmorley]

I cant stand it around my neck, I use normal strap as a shoulder strap on one shoulder like shoulder bag. With broad shoulders it never comes off and is always ready when I need it.

didn't like handstrap, found it too restrictive and got rid of it quickly (perhaps I would have got used to it but I didn't give it the chance

[ftpaddict]

Ben, that looks like a nice set-up, but it looks as if use in the vertical position is hampered.

[Peter Zack]

I put a small split O ring on the right side (facing, opposite from the shutter button) strap lug and took the strap from a PZ-1p that both ends are attached to a quick release clip. The PZ-1p strap has pockets for the viewfinder cover and flash cover. Plus they are the perfect size for a couple of spare SD cards. That way the strap is off to one side and can be easily removed anytime it's in the way. I tried a couple of the hand straps and my hand doesn't fit around the grip side comfortably. In portrait mode the hand strap is a real PITA. Plus the QR plate mounts to the strap plate and does not provide a solid connection. If the lens is heavier, the camera will wobble on the tripod.

I would never trust a QR plate D ring with a K10/20D, grip and lens. Too heavy for a ring that was never designed for the weight. A screw in lug would be fine but then the QR plate is not attached and it sort of defeats the purpose of having a QR plate if it has to come on and off all the time.

[marlon]

Neck strap works fine for me, althoug long days it does get annoying. It also hampers "movement" like bending down to tie shoes, or picking stuff up.

But i won't ever take it off, thats asking for a drop.

Just a question for you guys leaving the camera handing on your side, ive read alot of about heavy lenses hanging on the mount, not being a good idea.I always walk with my hand supporting the lens

[Bostjan]

Originally Posted by marlon

Just a question for you guys leaving the camera handing on your side, ive read alot of about heavy lenses hanging on the mount, not being a good idea.I always walk with my hand supporting the lens

Yep, that is what I do, when walking with Super Takumar 300/4 + Teleconverter...
I Was looking for something more comfortable and more usefull that stock Pentax strap, preferably something that also attaches to the lens mount, since I am a bit concerned about the strain put to the bayonet mount in the K100 Body......
Any advices?

Bostjan

[Arjay Bee]

Ditched the neck and gone for the hand strap - even though the tripod mount is then blocked. If I am using a tripod I undo the strap plate and use a remote release anyway.

At first I didn't like the strap but I have grown used to it and prefer it to the neck strap now. I live in the tropics and the hands get very sweaty so I didn't trust myself to use the camera with no safety belt. My fingers are long but not bulky (think Gollum) so having the 1kg Tokina ATX840 on the camera I feel much safer than if I was holding the camera strapless as it would twist forward out of my hands too easily, even with a neck strap. I am busy in crowds and events with lots of people and can quickly shield the camera with my body when about to take a strike from another body - again not comfortably possible with a neck strap.

To further explain, I take lots of pics at my college workplace at sports carnivals and rugby games and so on from finish lines and side lines and have been struck by hurtling bodies and balls quite often. (Amuses the crowd it seems.) I have also had young folk try to wrest the camera from my hand in their eagerness to chimp or even to use the camera themselves so I like the wrist strap as a safety measure for that reason as well. I didn't expect photography to become a full contact sport but it can get that way at times.

[konraDarnok]

Originally Posted by marlon

Neck strap works fine for me, althoug long days it does get annoying. It also hampers "movement" like bending down to tie shoes, or picking stuff up.

But i won't ever take it off, thats asking for a drop.

Just a question for you guys leaving the camera handing on your side, ive read alot of about heavy lenses hanging on the mount, not being a good idea.I always walk with my hand supporting the lens

I don't have any lenses that are heavy -- except my tamron 300mm 2.8. . but it has a tripod collar that balances and hangs very nicely at the hip.

Really, I don't let the lens just hang that much, unless I'm walking a lot. The beauty of "Black Rapid R-Strap" method is the freedom. . as you can hold the camera and lens like you had no strap at all (or at the very least without it chaffing around your neck) -- with the added benefit of being drop proof.

At any rate, if you have a lens that feels too heavy for the mount, you're going to be holding the thing anyway . . I much prefer holding it with the shoulder strap over the neck strap. It's just more comfortable.

Props to BigBen for referencing the "Black Rapid R-Strap", as that was also where I got the idea, but I couldn't remember the brand name. And as he said, any strap of sufficient length with clips at the end will work.

The videos on that site pretty much sum up why it works so well.

BlackRapid: Home

[konraDarnok]

Originally Posted by Peter Zack

I would never trust a QR plate D ring with a K10/20D, grip and lens. Too heavy for a ring that was never designed for the weight. A screw in lug would be fine but then the QR plate is not attached and it sort of defeats the purpose of having a QR plate if it has to come on and off all the time.

It depends on the D-ring. The one on my tripod plate is very robust -- more than sufficient to hang a camera and the heaviest of telephoto lenses.

I'm sure there are chintzy rings that only serve as a thumb screws for the tripod plate. One must, of course, use some measure of judgment with regards to these things. I would think it would be readily apparent if the ring in question is up to the task.

[kerrowdown]

I use my original LX straps on my K10Ds becuse the are longer than the supplied (I'm 6' 4") also they a plain, no red "shouting" logo on them.

Worn wrapped around the hand many times like hand stap, this makes for very secure hold when used with grip D-BG2.