M4cr0s
Back In Black
Posting this to give people ideas of how to carry your camera and alternative strap solutions. Not saying this would float your boat 
For my DSLRs I prefer the quick-draw variety of camera straps. Regardless of brand, these are basically a strap that goes over your head and shoulder, hanging down to one side with the camera fastened to a carabiner or similar that slides freely up and down along the strap. The camera will basically be cushioned by your butt and out of the way
This video illustrates the principle.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XnAyPMdJKC8
I think the original was the BlackRapid straps which are good but kind of expensive. I use a Chinese knockoff called "Quick Strap" which is readily available on eBay and of very good quality.
http://shop.ebay.co.uk/i.html?_from...13&_nkw=quick+strap&_sacat=See-All-Categories
However, this strap is a bit massive for the X100, and the mounting plate that screws into the tripod socket is more suited to a thicker, heavier DSLR. Also the shoulder pad is large to help distribute the weight and it's sort of angled, if you hang the camra just over one shoulder and not across your chest, it doesn't really hang well due to the curved shape of the pad. Still, I wanted a similar solution for my X100 so I had to get down to business.
As "base" I used a standard Quiick Strap (have several, since I often carry two bodies on the job). I removed the strap itself because the crucial thing here is something that will slide up and down the strap, hence I wanted the original carabiner thingy. I then found an old shoulder pad from a camera bag that's not in use and slid it onto the original strap, fastened the strap to it by the help of needle and thread to prevent it sliding.
On the camera I used a high-quality key-ring with a piece of leather protecting the camera somewhat from the motion of the ring. The ring is more than solid enough to hold the measly 450 grams or so of the X100. It could probably take up to a couple of kilos or more without breaking apart.
The strap is adjustable through the buckle of the original Quick Strap. Note that you don't really have to sew or glue the strap itself to a shoulder pad, there's enough resistance in this buckle to prevent it from unraveling by itself. I just prefer to do it that way. You can also skip the shoulder pad entirely, it's not really needed to take the weight of the X100, but I'll be using it with other cameras too.
The minimum requirements for me when walking about is to have a Lens Pen with me, since I'm very good at smudging the lens. While it goes in a pocket, it's more convenient to have it on the strap, so I glued a piece off leather onto the strap, making a convenient way of attaching the Lens Pen.
In practical use this solution works just as I planned and I find it much more convenient than a traditional camera strap. It's not as sexy or stylish as a nice leather strap though, but something like this could easily be made of leather too. The big plus in my book is the easy and quick detaching of the camera from the strap, I always find a traditional strap gets in the way one way or the other.
Hope this gives someone ideas for convenient strap solutions.
Mac
For my DSLRs I prefer the quick-draw variety of camera straps. Regardless of brand, these are basically a strap that goes over your head and shoulder, hanging down to one side with the camera fastened to a carabiner or similar that slides freely up and down along the strap. The camera will basically be cushioned by your butt and out of the way
This video illustrates the principle.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XnAyPMdJKC8
I think the original was the BlackRapid straps which are good but kind of expensive. I use a Chinese knockoff called "Quick Strap" which is readily available on eBay and of very good quality.
http://shop.ebay.co.uk/i.html?_from...13&_nkw=quick+strap&_sacat=See-All-Categories
However, this strap is a bit massive for the X100, and the mounting plate that screws into the tripod socket is more suited to a thicker, heavier DSLR. Also the shoulder pad is large to help distribute the weight and it's sort of angled, if you hang the camra just over one shoulder and not across your chest, it doesn't really hang well due to the curved shape of the pad. Still, I wanted a similar solution for my X100 so I had to get down to business.
As "base" I used a standard Quiick Strap (have several, since I often carry two bodies on the job). I removed the strap itself because the crucial thing here is something that will slide up and down the strap, hence I wanted the original carabiner thingy. I then found an old shoulder pad from a camera bag that's not in use and slid it onto the original strap, fastened the strap to it by the help of needle and thread to prevent it sliding.
On the camera I used a high-quality key-ring with a piece of leather protecting the camera somewhat from the motion of the ring. The ring is more than solid enough to hold the measly 450 grams or so of the X100. It could probably take up to a couple of kilos or more without breaking apart.
The strap is adjustable through the buckle of the original Quick Strap. Note that you don't really have to sew or glue the strap itself to a shoulder pad, there's enough resistance in this buckle to prevent it from unraveling by itself. I just prefer to do it that way. You can also skip the shoulder pad entirely, it's not really needed to take the weight of the X100, but I'll be using it with other cameras too.
The minimum requirements for me when walking about is to have a Lens Pen with me, since I'm very good at smudging the lens. While it goes in a pocket, it's more convenient to have it on the strap, so I glued a piece off leather onto the strap, making a convenient way of attaching the Lens Pen.
In practical use this solution works just as I planned and I find it much more convenient than a traditional camera strap. It's not as sexy or stylish as a nice leather strap though, but something like this could easily be made of leather too. The big plus in my book is the easy and quick detaching of the camera from the strap, I always find a traditional strap gets in the way one way or the other.
Hope this gives someone ideas for convenient strap solutions.
Mac
Last edited:
M4cr0s
Back In Black
Improved the design somewhat.
Used an old tripod mount plate screw that I drilled a hole through, used some washers (the threads don't go all the way to the head of the screw, sort of empty space) and an o-ring. Going to make the last washer out of nylon type plastic rater than a rubber o-ring, just need to make it tight enough so that all the washers stay together when it's not mounted. Anyway, looks pretty good I think and a decent home-made solution when you can't get hold of a suitable screw and don't want to buy a whole new strap system.
Mac
PS! Hood is just a temporary solution untill I get a vented rangefinder-style one. It comes from a Voigtländer 58 1.4 for SLRs.
Used an old tripod mount plate screw that I drilled a hole through, used some washers (the threads don't go all the way to the head of the screw, sort of empty space) and an o-ring. Going to make the last washer out of nylon type plastic rater than a rubber o-ring, just need to make it tight enough so that all the washers stay together when it's not mounted. Anyway, looks pretty good I think and a decent home-made solution when you can't get hold of a suitable screw and don't want to buy a whole new strap system.
Mac
PS! Hood is just a temporary solution untill I get a vented rangefinder-style one. It comes from a Voigtländer 58 1.4 for SLRs.
agoglanian
Reconnected.
So in essence you made your own Black Rapid strap
Clever though!
Clever though!
ChrisN
Striving
I think Lutz Konerman's SLING pre-dated the Black Rapids version: probably there were plenty of other home-made versions before that.
One of my favourite strap configurations for a reasonably light and compact camera is a simple nylon strap, 10mm wide, with no pads or buckles, and long enough to wear the camera diagonally, with the camera on my right hip. It then rides under my jacket, yet the whole strap easily slides around when I bring the camera up.
One of my favourite strap configurations for a reasonably light and compact camera is a simple nylon strap, 10mm wide, with no pads or buckles, and long enough to wear the camera diagonally, with the camera on my right hip. It then rides under my jacket, yet the whole strap easily slides around when I bring the camera up.