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Hate the M style strap, and found one solution


wudai_e

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I hated the strap that came with my M8.2 M9 since day one, the design is so weird and go against M's simplicity.

 

The Leica leather strap is over 100 bucks, I paid over 10k for these two bodies combined and they can't throw in a leather strap???

 

I do have several SLR bodies and 3rd party straps I like very much, so today I did the following DIY:

 

Nothing complicated and very easy to do, I can even put on the Dlux-4 strap on the camera if I want to, now I guess Nikon can charge people 80 bucks for a pair of that clip :p

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To each their own. I love the simplicity of the Leica strap mount, and hate those D-rings with plastic bits that are used by Nikon, Olympus and no doubt a few others besides. They have cost me more than one fingernail over the years, whereas the Leica fitment is intuitive and secure.

 

 

 

Regards,

 

Bill

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I like the standard strap with the wire "hangers".

 

The problem with freely rotating split rings is that the sharp ends can damage the strap eyelets - Leica's own wide strap does just this while the metal length adjusting studs are busy scratching the body. The spring steel they are made of is much harder than the eyelet material. The strap eyelets are unbelievably expensive to replace, requiring the whole camera to be dismantled.

 

As for the Nikon rings, they are triangular to prevent rotation but are very difficult to remove without damaging their own strap eyelets. I recently wanted to remove them to use a wrist strap on my P7000 P&S, quite difficult.

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Nikon can charge people 80 bucks for a pair of that clip :p

 

I can offer these at only €50 a pair, including shipping. If you order more than 250 pairs at one time, I will deliver them in person anywhere in the world. :D

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I think you're a bit tough on the Leica strap which IMHO is very soft, grips the shoulder well, and is very comfortable wound around the wrist.

 

Having said that I bought a black Artisan & Artist ACAM-250 strap (to go with my black A&A half case) which has small leather pads where the split-rings go through the camera eyelets to protect the camera body. It was initially quite rigid but after a few weeks of heavy use when travelling in Europe it is as soft and pliable as glove leather, and has a bit of stretch and spring in it. The strap is thin and unobtrusive, and the small padded shoulder strap grips very well. Highly recommended.

 

The only problem was that in some of the very wet weather on the trip I needed to go back to the synthetic Leica strap. I enjoy using both and I agree with the other posts that the Leica system for attaching the strap to the camera is far superior to split rings, etc.

 

Mark

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The triangular Nikon split rings are the cause of many worn and ugly eyelets. They do keep the strap in a good position, but put a lot of pressure on the sides of the eyelet leading to premature wear. Of course Nikon's aren't meant to last very long, so this only shows up really badly on older models like the F and F2. Conventional round rings aren't far behind as they gouge the eyelet every time they rotate. Basically either of these types are the reason for the terrible eyelets you see on a used M3, M2 right up to M6 in some cases. Its one of the first things I check if Ebay browsing.

 

So I like the standard strap, its good precisely because its not fancy, its strong, and can be removed in seconds if you want to use a wrist strap, or for quickly packing the camera for sending back to Solms....:D

 

But it doesn't take much effort to take the quick release Leica strap ends off and use them on any other strap material of the same width. I have an UpStrap that I put some on from a spare Leica strap and it works great if I want a strap that sticks on the shoulder of a waterproof jacket (otherwise the UpStrap is a bit heavy).

 

Steve

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I think you're a bit tough on the Leica strap which IMHO is very soft, grips the shoulder well, and is very comfortable wound around the wrist.

 

I think my M8 must have shipped with a different strap in that case - my strap has a fat, nasty, uncomfortably glob of knobbly plastic masquerading as a shoulder grip.

 

I dug out an old ThinkTank strap which, like most of their gear is all about functionality so is slim, soft, comfortable and yet grippy, so that is used instead.

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While I like the leica strap and appreciate the engineering of the design, I find I want to change back and forth between the neck strap and wrist strap. (Maybe it is just me :D). I did make a wrist strap out of a extra Leica neck strap, but found a better solution.

 

I went with Luigi's "D" fastener for both the necks strap and the wrist strap, and it takes just seconds to change. Been using them for close to a year and am quite happy with them.

 

WristFasteners4xM9steelGrayFront.jpg

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I mostly use the A&A wrist strap but have a couple of their longer straps as well and like them too. For the smaller cameras I use Gordy straps. They are sure built to last :)

 

I would be very curious to hear feedback on the sniper types in real life use. My concern is that it is not obvious to the untrained eye how safe they are. So I suppose they could attract pickpockets who'd give it a good try?

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...

I would be very curious to hear feedback on the sniper types in real life use. ...

 

I have one on my Nikon - it works but is not perfect. You are welcome to try it if you want to meet up one afternoon.

 

For the Leica's I prefer a wrist strap. With the Op-tech straps, I can remove the long neck piece and clip the shorter ones together for a wrist strap - best of both worlds.

 

+1 A&A straps

+1 Gordy strap too.

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I would be very curious to hear feedback on the sniper types in real life use. My concern is that it is not obvious to the untrained eye how safe they are. So I suppose they could attract pickpockets who'd give it a good try?

 

The link posted above addresses this - apparently that one has a steel core to the strap to prevent casual theft.

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The link posted above addresses this - apparently that one has a steel core to the strap to prevent casual theft.

 

...but does not prevent being casually dragged along the road by your neck when the chap on the scooter grabs your camera and opens the throttle...:rolleyes:;)

 

Regards,

 

Bill

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...but does not prevent being casually dragged along the road by your neck when the chap on the scooter grabs your camera and opens the throttle...:rolleyes:;)

 

Regards,

 

Bill

 

Precisely. That is what I mean that while the strap is safe it may look unsafe and thereby get you into all sorts of trouble. :(

 

Per.

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I sure wouldn't want a piece of steel cable in my camera strap, that is stuff you put on a winch :) Any deceit quality leather isn't all that easy to cut with a pocket knife. On the split rings I found if you get high quality ones they are quite smooth and don't have any sharp ends and also hold there shape. The cheap ones will open up and can come undone, probably because they haven't been tempered like they are supposed to be.

 

Peter

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The link posted above addresses this - apparently that one has a steel core to the strap to prevent casual theft.

 

I suppose that this strap could be useful if you were an international assassin with an interest in photography. :D

 

But besides the risk of being garrotted by a camera toting assassin, there is very real chance these days that if the weapons potential of this device comes to the attention of 'The authorities', that camera straps may soon join the ever growing list of banned items on aircraft etc. :(

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