[MRRiley]

I've had my K110D for several months now and am enjoying it immensely, however I do have one gripe.

Am I the only one who hates the camera strap lugs?

The way they are designed the camera wants to hang flat and this works fine with short or light weight lenses. However, with longer lenses or ones which weigh substantually more than the body, the strap gets twisted downward awkwardly and it gets pretty uncomfortable.

I'd like to see Pentax restore the old style lugs that use the triangular rings and perhaps move the one on the grip side down a tad to allow for better balance.

[kmccanta]

Yeah, I don t like em. the grip side one is in the way of my trigger finger.

I would prefer if the camera would hang lens facing down, not lens forward.

-k

[klopus]

For sure you aren't the only one. For my shooting style I hate neck straps in principle. Now I use the hand strap - Hakuba LH (Hakuba Camera Grip LH). There're better ones from Op/Tech USA, Nikon, Camdapter(TM) | Hand Strap Solutions for DSLR cameras | Made in the USA!, etc. but LH is simple, cheap and convinient. Hand strap allows you to keep the camera secure but always ready in your hand. When not needed for a long time I just put the camera back into my KATA T-240 sling bag.

[nosnoop]

Yes, Hand Strap is an alternative. There is a review of the Camdapter here:

https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/43387-post1.html

It also comes with extra lug so that you can use the neck strap at the same time (camera would hang sideways - still not much better with long lens). The neck strap is also a nightmare with a flash such as 540FGZ attached - in this case, it wants to hang upside down

[robsphoto]

for the neck strap, that usually stays in the original package,...
used a tamrac handstrap n15 I think, that was straped diagonal,
to the camera body grip canon, what had a loop on the grip,
and a hand grip. easy to carry/hold. works also great in tight spots with lots of people, where you can hold the camera out of the way,...
the other way is, with a camera west, eather large pocket or a strap/loop on the west, where you stick the lens in the loop, no neck strap.
for the pentax K10D, have not gotten around it, to order a handstrap, with a loop where the tripod socket is, to duplicate my old setup.
do dispise the tripod plastic clamp for the grip, since it throws off the vertical grip position.
Robert

[klopus]

Yes, Hand Strap is an alternative. There is a review of the Camdapter here:

https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/43387-post1.html

It also comes with extra lug so that you can use the neck strap at the same time (camera would hang sideways - still not much better with long lens). The neck strap is also a nightmare with a flash such as 540FGZ attached - in this case, it wants to hang upside down

To be fair Hakuba LH also has this extra lug for the neck strap. Compared to Camdapter Hakuba has only one advantage - it's like 3-4x cheaper. It also has a lip on a long side of the mounting plate that makes it more secure and easier to align. Camdapter has a Plus version that also features this lip but as with Hakuba the Plus version blocks battery door on K10D.

[GaryML]

Am I the only one who hates the camera strap lugs?

The way they are designed the camera wants to hang flat and this works fine with short or light weight lenses. However, with longer lenses or ones which weigh substantually more than the body, the strap gets twisted downward awkwardly and it gets pretty uncomfortable.

I'd like to see Pentax restore the old style lugs that use the triangular rings and perhaps move the one on the grip side down a tad to allow for better balance.

I don't like the strap lug arrangements but for a different reason.

When I'm actively using my camera it is either on the tripod or in both my hands, and when I'm not actively using it it goes right into the bag. So the comfort of the neck strap is not an issue, and I have no use for wrist straps or some sort of video cam hand strap gizmo. But I do use the neck strap lightly draped around the back of my neck when the camera is in my hands to prevent an accidental fall, and as a third hand while changing lenses out of the bag. I can then devote both hands to handling the lenses and lens caps and avoid an unpleasant accident.

On my Pentax LX, there are three lug mounting points. You can use the mounts on the top left and right for conventional strap mounting. Or you can put a grip on the right side (from the user's perspective) and put the lugs on the left top and bottom of the camera. This way the camera hangs vertically instead of horizontally. IMHO, this gives a much more convenient angle for mounting and dismounting lenses (since I can easily cradle the camera body in my right hand and rotate it without the straps interfering). When using the camera, both straps conveniently fall below the left forearm completely out of the way. And this strap mounting corrects your imbalance issue with a long lens, since the camera balances much better on the long axis and there is enough length on the right side of the camera body to balance the lens weight against your chest and stomach. The "vertical" strap arrangement was also used on the Leica M5 (and probably other cameras).

Unfortunately, I seem to be in a small minority in liking this arrangement since Leica was compelled to add a third lug on the M5, and no Pentax SLR since the LX has had the option for the "vertical" strap mount. But I would love to see the LX strap mounting system adopted on a Pentax DSLR. And, for the video cam hand strap crowd, Pentax could add a fourth lug mounting point on the bottom right, permitting the use of the hand strap without interfering with the tripod mount or battery compartment.

[WMBP]

... But I do use the neck strap lightly draped around the back of my neck when the camera is in my hands to prevent an accidental fall, and as a third hand while changing lenses out of the bag. I can then devote both hands to handling the lenses and lens caps and avoid an unpleasant accident.....

I also keep the camera strap around my neck at nearly all times, and for the same reason: to guard against dropping the camera accidentally. Very occasionally I will hang the camera off just one shoulder - but I don't do this often, especially not since a couple of months ago when the bag slipped off my shoulder, slid down my arm, and hit the concrete before I could react and catch it. Fortunately, the camera was in the bag and the bag is decently padded, so no harm was done. If it had been the camera alone, well, I shudder to think.

On the rare occasions when I carry the camera without putting it around my neck, I invariably wrap the strap around my hand two or three times, for the same reason.

I carry the camera everywhere and have carried it on a number of 10 mile walks. I'm certainly no strongman, but I just don't find it much of a problem. Perhaps I remind myself that I really need the exercise.

Will

[nosnoop]

To be fair Hakuba LH also has this extra lug for the neck strap. Compared to Camdapter Hakuba has only one advantage - it's like 3-4x cheaper. It also has a lip on a long side of the mounting plate that makes it more secure and easier to align.

Hakuba's lip is of limited use, whereas Camdapter's Plus version's is for the QR plate for tripod mounting, and it could be critical in heavier or longer lenses.

Camdapter has a Plus version that also features this lip but as with Hakuba the Plus version blocks battery door on K10D.

Really? I don't even know it is available, at least not from their web site. But I just checked the specs, and the plate size is identical to the regular Manfrotto adapter... unless the specs was wrong.

[MRRiley]

I don't carry the camera around on the nec strap for hours on end but like the rest of you I use it as a "security" measure. However, there are the enevitable times when we all have to let go for a minute and it doesnt make sense to put it away just to get it right back out. It'd just be nice if it could hang comfortably while doing this.

I do remember the great strap lugs on the LX. They were so versatile. Thats what we need on the next model DSLRs.

I'll have to try out the Camdapter and Hakuba hand straps. I've tried one (not sure what brand but it was real basic) but it put my trigger finger at a real awkward angle.

Thanks for the feedback.

[klopus]

Really? I don't even know it is available, at least not from their web site. But I just checked the specs, and the plate size is identical to the regular Manfrotto adapter... unless the specs was wrong.

Camdapter still doesn't have the Plus (with a lip) version of the Manfrotto plate. The regular Plus plate and the Arca Swiss one are blocking the battery door on K10D according to the thread on DPR and correspondence with a Camdapter guy.

[Lance B]

I've had my K110D for several months now and am enjoying it immensely, however I do have one gripe.

Am I the only one who hates the camera strap lugs?

I'm not keen on them either. There has to be a better method

The way they are designed the camera wants to hang flat and this works fine with short or light weight lenses. However, with longer lenses or ones which weigh substantually more than the body, the strap gets twisted downward awkwardly and it gets pretty uncomfortable.

I'd like to see Pentax restore the old style lugs that use the triangular rings and perhaps move the one on the grip side down a tad to allow for better balance.
I am not so sure this is the best solution either as they have the tendency for the rectangular rings to wear away at the body. They did work well as a strap location though.

I think there could be a better solution than the original strap location. Maybe the rectangualr rings better designed so as not to wear away the body would be better.

[MikeH]

I also dislike the strap lugs, but for yet another reason.

I don't like having a strap permanently mounted on my camera. My camera normally resides in a shoulder bag (Domke F-803), not around my neck (I hate that!). Often, I don't need a strap (for instance, on a tripod, shooting around the house), so it's a pain to remove. If i leave the strap on, it gets in the way of my hands.

Here's my solution: I borrowed a couple of keyrings (part of it, actually, is from my Canonet GIII QL17 rangefinder!), and put them on the lugs. Then i took the strap from my LowePro TLZ1 bag (which doesn't see a lot of use), and use that for my camera strap. It's long, it's grippy, and has a quick release to attach and remove from the camera.

Pics:

[detlef]

Do any of these wrist straps work with the K10D plus Battery grip?

[FotoPete]

I'm sure those handstraps would because on the bottom, the hand hooks onto a plate extends under the camera and is secured into the tripod mount.