Wrong Side Strap?

[photogdave]

Does anyone else feel like the strap lugs are on the wrong side of the camera? It's driving me nuts! :bang:
I have the original skinny leather strap (and pouch) that came with the CL but I'd like to find a better solution. Maybe a Gordy that threads into the tripod socket. Any suggestions?

 

[Al Patterson]

I have one of the Luigi half cases on mine, but they are expensive.

 

[photogdave]

I have one of the Luigi half cases on mine, but they are expensive.

I considered that, but I'm more of a wrist strap kinda guy!

 

[simonclivehughe]

Dave,

I'm more a neck strap kinda guy myself, but this trick can work for you too...

I took the strap lug off a beater body, ground a concave surface onto the back of it and then crazy-glued it to the side of my Panny TZ3 (opposite the side that had the single lug). Now I can use a neck strap on it! I'm sure you could find a strap lug for cheap somewhere. The only question then is whether you'd consider gluing it to your CL.

 

[photogdave]

Dave,

I'm more a neck strap kinda guy myself, but this trick can work for you too...

I took the strap lug off a beater body, ground a concave surface onto the back of it and then crazy-glued it to the side of my Panny TZ3 (opposite the side that had the single lug). Now I can use a neck strap on it! I'm sure you could find a strap lug for cheap somewhere. The only question then is whether you'd consider gluing it to your CL.

Hmm...I do have a spare CL back that I can experiment with. Not sure if I trust the crazy glue but if it will hold a construction worker to a steel beam then maybe...

 

[simonclivehughe]

That's the spirit!!

I've had really good results from using Loctite Gel Control SuperGlue. The gel makes it a whole lot easier to manage and doesn't run everywhere. Obviously it's best to get the surfaces to mate as flush as possible (which is why I ground a concave surface into the one I put on the rounded end of my TZ3.)

 

[vrgard]

I use a Luigi half case with an M Classics wrist strap attached to the case on the opposite side from the CL lugs. Avoids the problem of the lugs being on the wrong side of the CL and makes the lightweight CL more solid in feel and handling.

-Randy

edit: Here's a picture of the setup I use. Note that this is not my camera nor the lens I shoot with but does show well the Luigi half case and M Classics wrist strap with a CL. I borrowed this shot from backalley (thanks Joe!). I just find this to be the most elegant setup for the CL. Yeah, it does require removal of the case to reload which means you have the case and the back to keep up with but that has never bothered me.

 

[thomasw_]

I like to use my Ms naked....yes, strapless all the way. The key is to have a manly side bag. The Lyre by Fogg Bags would be my dream side-bag. Until I acquire it, I will keep a good grip on my naked and strapless body.

 

[vrgard]

I like to use my Ms naked....yes, strapless all the way. The key is to have a manly side bag. The Lyre by Fogg Bags would be my dream side-bag. Until I acquire it, I will keep a good grip on my naked and strapless body.

Thomas, it sounds like you're taking gear fondling to a new level... 😉

 

[PCB_RF]

Warning: opinionated ranting follows; some people claim to love the side lugs.

The design stinks, IMHO. Leica recognized this when they changed M5 spec to 3 lugs.

The best answer is to add a strap lug on the right side. Sherry uses a genuine Leica M5 replacement lug, for something under $150 IIRC. Other repair pros should be able to do something similar. DIY at your own risk.

Unmodified, even a plain neckstrap doesn't work well, since the back and body need to be separated to load film, and each strap end attaches to each piece. The body is heavier than the back, so if the camera is hanging around your neck and you don't hold both halves, the body wants to crash to the ground when the back is removed. Oops.

Luigi cases are things of beauty, but with a CL you need four hands to hold the three pieces (body, case and back) and load film. Case cost similar to right lug retrofit.

Gordy straps are great, but the tripod mount strap needs to be removed to load a CL (can't remove the back with tripod socket occupied). If you use the thumbscrew model, the camera profile is 1/2" higher, no longer as compact. If you use a bolt model, you need a tool/coin to remove the strap---inconvenient. A tripod-mount neckstrap would have the camera hanging upside-down, which I don't even want to think about. So you're limited to a wristrap here.

A single-lug Gordy strap, either thread-mount or o-ring, can be attached to the body lug. The body hangs funny/crooked and the back is unattached when removed, but at least the body will safely hang from your neck (or wrist) when loading film. The o-ring would cause considerable paint wear on the body lug.

My favorite cheap solution so far is to connect the two lugs with a nylon/web strap, then attach a single-lug Gordy o-ring neckstrap to the half of the lug strap that attaches to the body (hard to describe, so photos attached). The body strap is just long enough to allow the back/body to separate, and the single-point neckstrap mount keeps the body and back hanging together, even when they're separated. When the back is attached, the camera weight is supported relatively evenly by both lugs, so the camera hangs straight and doesn't sway like it does when the neckstrap is attached directly only to the body lug.

Next time my CL needs a CLA I'll have a right-side lug added. I think I'd still leave the back tethered to the left-side body lug, so it can't get dropped.

YMMV.....

 

[PCB_RF]

Here's a shot of the body/back hanging after the back is removed.

I'm not sure if I've made this clear enough to be understood. Effectively, when the body/back are attached, the camera hangs from both lugs. When the back is removed, the camera hangs by the body, with the back attached to the body.

This might work with the Leitz-Minolta CL case, which has a side flap secured by snaps and might have enough room when open to slide over the body strap. The Leica CL case just has two small slots for the strap ends, and probably wouldn't work well with my strap.

HTH.....

 

[photogdave]

Hey PCB_RF, thanks for the detailed description of your setup. It should be made a sticky at the top of this forum!
I like your idea and I think I will work on putting together something similar.

 

[chikne]

A person mentioned (photo.net I think) that he loved the strap on the side of his M5, because it allowed him to have to camera hanging of his left shoulder and bring the camera to his eye the easy way....
But what if you like to have the camera hanging of your right shoulder????

 

[laptoprob]

On my CLE (sorry) I have a modified M grip which I like a lot on the small camera. To the grip I added a second lug so now the camera has two on the right side.

 

[John Noble]

Funny you should bring up straps. I just went to a local leather store and had them cut five 3/16" X 6' long strips, which I braided into a strap. The clasp-whatchamacallits came from a donor Domke strap, and nothin' says custom like a little duct tape. It works for me.

 

[KoNickon]

I have a spare vinyl Nikon SLR strap that I threaded through the side lugs on my L/M CL. It really needs to be slightly thinner, since it provides resistance when the lugs are slid apart when the back is removed. But generally this works tolerably well.