Strap in for the ride

Strap in for the ride

Car seat belts are about as standardised as a product can be. Black or grey, you’d be hard-pressed to tell one brand from another… There was a little bit of levity in the Eighties – I owned an MG Maestro which had natty red belts to go with the black paintwork (for the sceptics who think that was the only thing that was rapid about the beastie, I have to point out that it matched a modest 115 bhp with massive torque, and was capable of keeping pace with a Golf GTi).



Camera straps are far more varied, especially these days. There are some types I haven’t tried, but I’ve been through a pretty full set of them over the years. The only types I can think of that haven’t stopped my cameras dragging on the ground have been the ones that carry two bodies, including the side-saddle type that screw into the tripod socket.



Let’s start there: one of the basics for any strap is that the camera hangs balanced, and I can’t see how this can ever happen when there’s only one suspension point… The only thing I’ve met that seems as ill-advised is the snake-chain straps that still seems to be available, and offers the next best thing to cheeswire for those wishing to sever body parts with a camera. The only one I own is attached to an elderly light meter…



There was a time when very few people went beyond the camera manufacturers’ own offerings, unless the straps were an integral part of the ever ready case AND they were eccentric enough to want to use the camera without a strap. See the Rolleicord, which uses the lugs on the sides of the camera body to attach the case. Rollei made it easy, though, because the front of the case is fully detachable – it’s much more unwieldy if the part that covers the lens is perpetually flapping around as you shoot!



I’m rather fond of the straps that Pentax used to use: folder leather, with a rubber pad to distribute the weight. It’s an elegant and less showy approach then the short of strap that is now ubiquitous as original equipment, with the camera maker’s name and colours on prominent display. The short-lived Konica Minolta style is subdued by most standards!



For many years, OpTech have made sophisticated straps, suitable for even the heaviest bodies, with a broad neoprene band, and a separate backing piece of stretchy webbing – soft and resilient enough for the heaviest DSLR (I used mine on a Pentax 67 before realising that a studio-only camera needs no strap.

Beware cheap and showy: although this colourful strap is reasonably strong, it’s clunky, and the big, clumsy plastic fittings and separate detachable links make it awkward, and the metal adjustment buckle means it has to be used long if the very rigid pad is to lie in the centre.



Hama used to make nice, soft and strong almost-narrow straps. I used two on my Contaxes for many years, sewing on chamois non-slip pads, and replacing the end fittings with more needlework once I’d established the length I liked.

My favourite strap is unbranded, and was a present from my daughter several years ago. I use it on my main camera – so far, it’s been transferred twice with upgrades. It’s showing signs of wear, but is well made: unlike two one-inch cloth straps I used before buying the Hama straps, and which both broke within a week of each other, dumping two Contax RTS bodies onto the London pavement, each time smashing the pentaprism. Fortunately, in those days Photax did repairs in their York Road premises under Waterloo Station, and Syd Pain turned the second one round overnight…