Looking for the perfect strap - found it in the Cinch 2 from Lumalabs
I've been through quite a few straps - I've never had one that I really liked until today!
Naturally, I started with the standard pentax strap. Serviceable I suppose, but nothing special. (When will camera company figure out that tons of people buy superior after market straps, contract with one of those manufacturers, brand it, and include it with the camera???)
Next, I went to the Kata ergo tech reflex strap. I liked it! Comfy, little pockets, etc. No real cons, except it wasn't great for slinging over the shoulder, which I discovered, was my prefered method of carrying the camera.
Naturally, I then gave up the neck/shoulder strap and switched to a wrist strap from gordy. Now, this thing I love! It is great. Looks good, adds just enough security, doesn't get in the way. Etc. But... of course I realized that I missed having a shoulder/neck strap.
I then obtained the Sigma 100-300 f4. Heavy, big, needs more than a wrist strap. So, I bought a black rapid rs-4. Now I like the black rapid but its main problem is that with a good sized lens, it swings around too much. And the shoulder pad kept working its way around to the my back instead of staying on my shoulder.
Now, when I bought the black rapid, I was aware of Luma Labs. But, they were in the middle of retooling their design after black rapid had sued them for copyright infringement (which, excuse the pun, is patently ridiculous). I waited.
Then, the Cinch became available for pre-order. I missed the Cinch 1 but ended up with the Cinch 2. Just received it today. If you haven't heard of luma labs or the Cinch strap, google it - watch their vimeo videos, etc.
More on the strap - this thing is perfect (at least for me). I mount my mestos L-plate for use with bracket onto the K5, then attach the Cinch to the strap point on the plate and the strap point on the left side of the k5. Now, when shoulder slung, it hangs such that the lenses point straight down! Which means that the weight is centered and that long lenses do not swing around.
The adjuster is great, very fast, very easy. I tried this strap this evening wearing a polar fleece (kind of grippy material against the rubbery interior of the Cinch shoulder pad). No problems, It grips great, you loosen (very fast) and the pad just slides out of the way.
I'm keeping the Gordy's wrist strap on the other side so I've got a second option if I want it... I'm maintaining arca-swiss compatibility... By the way, the Cinch comes with an acra-swiss compatible plate.
Anyways, check it out. I think a lot of pentax people would like this strap. Its different, its low key, it is very practical, it would work well hiking... All pentax shooter traits.
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