Peak Design - Innovative Ways To Sling Cameras

Manufacturers are always coming up with new and unusual ways to sling, attach, and deploy our camera equipment. Here in the shop we have at least 4 different independent firms who produce straps and clips, as well as those provided by the camera makers themselves.

Is there a point to it all?

Well, after buying one of darn near everything over the years...a hazard of working in a camera shop...I can report that it does have several points - though the makers may not like what I am going to write.

The camera manufacturers all do provide some form of strap for their cameras - designed for either your neck or your wrist. They are nearly always of good construction and can be relied upon to keep the camera up off the ground. The cameras themselves have different suspension points depending upon their design*, but in their turn these are nearly always well anchored. Very few cameras have ever dropped off their own suspension lugs.

Maker's straps can be leather or woven fabric. If they are thick or have sharp edges they can dig into the neck. They also have the operational disadvantage that they are always on - standard camera straps have no disconnect to allow the camera to sit on a tripod undisturbed - you are always fighting your way through the strap to get to the controls, and if your camera has one of the circuits that allows it to turn off the LCD when you eye approaches the viewfinder...well the strap is always cutting off your picture.

Enter the Peak Design "leash". It is smooth webbing, with unique disconnects that cannot allow the camera to undo and fall. The strap is easily disconnected when the camera is on a tripod, and there is provision to accept a further accessory to allow the camera to be suspended from the tripod screw on the bottom.

Other unique configurations are a belt leash - you use it in conjunction with a camera dock on your waist belt - and a wrist strap.

Note: My experiences with a wrist strap are still under analysis - it lets you keep the camera under control but means that your tea-drinking hand is rather shackled.

* Let us now praise the Leica M5 which had the best lug position of any camera ever. Most of the rest of it was disturbing but the lugs were wonderful.