Strap Recommendations

weepete · Jan 15, 2021

smoke665 said:
Lots of good responses that seem pretty much divided between Peak Design and Black Rapid. Guess I need to look harder at these two.

I've got both Black Rapid and Peak Designs, the BR is on my old camera and the PD on the new one

I find the PD is much easier to use, and much nicer when carring a camera.

adamhiram · Jan 15, 2021

weepete said:
I've got both Black Rapid and Peak Designs, the BR is on my old camera and the PD on the new one I find the PD is much easier to use, and much nicer when carring a camera.

I'm curious how solid the Peak Design connectors feel. BlackRapid uses all metal parts, with a metal carabiner on a metal swivel connecting to a metal lug that screws into the tripod socket. The PD connectors always looked like thin cords with plastic connectors, although countless people swear by them. Do they feel solid enough? Again, I will mention that an L-bracket with a QD socket on it is my connector of choice now, although it can be hard to find compatible straps (but easy enough to adapt with a $12 part).

Jeff15 · Jan 15, 2021

I tried all major makes (over some years) before deciding that the Peak Design strap met all my requirements.

ac12 · Jan 15, 2021

adamhiram said:
weepete said:

I've got both Black Rapid and Peak Designs, the BR is on my old camera and the PD on the new one I find the PD is much easier to use, and much nicer when carring a camera.

Click to expand...

I'm curious how solid the Peak Design connectors feel. BlackRapid uses all metal parts, with a metal carabiner on a metal swivel connecting to a metal lug that screws into the tripod socket. The PD connectors always looked like thin cords with plastic connectors, although countless people swear by them. Do they feel solid enough? Again, I will mention that an L-bracket with a QD socket on it is my connector of choice now, although it can be hard to find compatible straps (but easy enough to adapt with a $12 part).

Been using mine for a couple of years, with no problem.
Heaviest normal load is a D7200 + 70-200/4. Using a flash on a bracket is heavier, but I don't do much flash work any more.

PD did have a recall of one version of the connector. The cord material was wearing through faster than expected.
Mine were OK, but just to be be safe, I replaced the connector.

It is a relatively thin cord, compared to a strap, so you should check it periodically as part of general maintenance. Takes less than 10 seconds.
And because the cord is thin, whatever you put it on should be rounded, and not have sharp edges.

What is also nice is that PD has different width straps, that I can match to the gear.
I use the wide Slide on my D7200, the medium wide Slide Lite on my Olympus EM1, and the narrow strap on my Olympus EM10.

ac12 · Jan 15, 2021

As a slight tangent.
When I went on vacation, I got the Optech Urban Sling. It has a stainless steel cable inside the strap, to prevent a "cut and grab."
It worked OK, and did the job. My only issue was that the plastic sliders did not slide easily on the strap. When I lifted the camera, sometimes it would not slide up the strap, and instead pulled the strap up. When I got home, I did not follow up and work the problem, since I switched to PD for my home straps.

weepete · Jan 16, 2021

adamhiram said:
I'm curious how solid the Peak Design connectors feel. BlackRapid uses all metal parts, with a metal carabiner on a metal swivel connecting to a metal lug that screws into the tripod socket. The PD connectors always looked like thin cords with plastic connectors, although countless people swear by them. Do they feel solid enough? Again, I will mention that an L-bracket with a QD socket on it is my connector of choice now, although it can be hard to find compatible straps (but easy enough to adapt with a $12 part).

The PD connectors look thin, but are a plastic coated steel core that are rated for 200lbs, So I've no worries about hanging 5 grand of camera gear off them. There's been a couple of horror stories about the BR design, as the tripod mount on your camera is a steel plate that's set in a plastic surround, and it's designed to be used in compression (ie on a tripod with the weight bearing down on it) as opposed to the tension and shock loading that can happen when carrying a camera. I use my camera with an Arca Swiss L plate too, and one of the things that's good about the PD is you have a choice with conection points, so can use the connectors on the camera body or the L plate to connect and it leaves the mount free enough so you don't need to detach the strap from the plate to mount it on a tripod.

When carring my camera gear on a hike, through woods, on a rocky shoreline, or up a mountain I feel that the PD is actually more secure than the BR, doesn't bounce or swing as much and doesn't ride up like the BR. The BR has style and looks better, but the PD is more practical and just all round easier to use if you are active with your camera.

It's a bit difficult to describe, but I used a BR for 7-8 years and was happy with it, then I got the PD and hadn't realised what I'd been missing. It's simpy better a designed solution IMO