The right strap for the street

Petapixel banned me, so I can't comment any more there. They ran a story on camera straps.

 

A Guide to Basic Camera Straps: Are You Using Yours Wrong?

 

If you are serious about street work, the last thing you want is a big, bright should or wrist strap.

 

This is how you do it for candid street work. Zone focused, exposure dialed in, camera in hand and ready to go.

 

 

Wrist strap has a 25 pound break limit. Never had had one fail. Love em. These big bulky straps some photogs use call too much attention to the photog. Plus they whip em around and get in the way.

 

If I need a rest support I would not use a strap anyway. Lean up against a building, rest cam on something on the street. Reality is, I can usually handhold for most of my work anyway. Street / doc photogs are trained to get the shot with what they got in-hand.

 

This is the opposite of how I roll. He was in a rush...I think he was late for his Eric Kim seminar?

 

do you photograph your belly button?

 

aka umbilicospection - a contemplative method ;)

Hmmmm. I don't have a strap for my daily driver - I carry my RX100 in my left hand, bottom against palm and thumb/index finger around the lens ring (even when the lens is retracted). This is a habit I developed when I started decades ago so I missed fewer shots. It started with the ratty IIIc I bought as my first "good" camera in the mid to late 1960s and continued with every rangefinder I ever had - Rollei 35, Olympus, etc. While traveling or just feeling more serious, I carry a Sony alpha mirrorless (6500 most often) with its 18-200 cradled in my left hand. A neck strap only serves to hang my bigger cameras securely while I'm eating anywhere a snatch & run could be a problem or when carrying things in both hands.

If someone were to snatch the camera attached to a wrist strap as shown, you could get dragged, or at least be unable to mount a defense. The correct use is to loop it around your thumb, across the back of you hand, into the palm again. That way you retain a firm grip, but can release it instantly if necessary.

Expert opinions about wrist straps: who knew? Nor did I realize there is only one way to use them correctly...

Actually, that wrap is for riot sticks or batons. For me it doesn't work with camera straps at all.

Works for me. Dangling a heavy camera loosely from your wrist doesn't make sense. You need to grasp the strap in some way, and the "baton" method seems to work well. The camera can't fall off your arm, remains secure, and is always ready to use.

I have a neck strap, over the shoulder sling strap and a wrist strap, all from OP-Tech so that they are all interchangeable. I only use the wrist strap to prevent me from dropping the cameras.

I use a strap from Hyperion (there are many similar--this one is inexpensive, many color choices and longer lengths available than others I have seen, but it comes from Greece, so delay is longer).

 

It slides along your body, since it is a smooth cord. Easy to bring up. Hangs comfortably (again because is is round and has slight give). You can also loosely double-wrap it around your wrist if you want it as a wrist strap.

@invisibleflash: Good luck to you. Your style of street photography is not one that appeals to me.

do you photograph your belly button?

 

Perhaps he's attached to the Army Office of Navel Contemplation - Buddah I digress.

 

T