Heads up - strap/ lug warning

[Murchu]

Hi all,

After experiencing a recent issue with my Leica M3 where the strap lugs on the camera had started to wear away, it emerged from my web searching to find an issue to my problem, that some X100 owners have been suffering from the same issue, and just wanted to provide a friendly heads-up, lest such an issue catch you unawares too.

With my M3, I discovered the metal ring on the strap I had been using, had been wearing through the soft brass of the strap lug on my camera, and it appears the lugs of the X100 would appear to be equally as soft.

I'm afraid I did not save the weblinks I found on the issue, nor know if it is an issue that affects X-series cameras other than the X100, but in any case, just a heads-up, should it prove useful to any.

 

[niimo]

Interesting.. there is definitely some wear on the lugs of my M3. Not sure if it's something to worry about in the next decade. Anybody have long term experience with this?

 

[sepiareverb]

MP3 bodies have brass strap lugs also, on mine already rather worn. I've since moved to triangular Nikon strap rings on that camera.

 

[gavinlg]

Use circular strap rings on the x100, not triangular ones. The latter is what wears them out.

 

[Murchu]

Use circular strap rings on the x100, not triangular ones. The latter is what wears them out.

I'm not sure about the X100, but in my own case with my M3, it was circular rings that wore down the strap lugs. I am not sure if the rotation of the ring was responsible, where the openings of the ring wore against the lugs, but for my own M3, will be avoiding such rings in future.

 

[V-12]

All strap lugs will eventually wear out, but it can be made worse by using straps that use a key ring which has 'ends' that cause wear (unlike say a modern Leica strap that uses a smooth round stainless steel ring), or a triangular ring that localises the pressure point by forcing the lug to rest in a corner of the ring.

 

[JRG]

This won't be everyone's solution, but ...

I prefer to carry a camera hanging on my left side, bandolero-style. Instead of using the camera's strap lugs, I get a good side-grip, drill and tap a hole in the right edge of the grip, and mount a standard strap lug in the hole. (You can get such strap lugs from DAG.)

I then hook a Gordy wrist strap to the lug on the grip, and connect the wrist strap to another strap (worn bandolero style) with a small carabiner.

Once adjusted properly for size, everything works like a charm. The left end of the camera body rests slightly inside my left pants pocket, which keeps it from swinging about. I can get the camera out and into position quickly, and it's easy to disconnect from the bandolero strap when I want to carry by the wrist strap alone.

And there's no wear at all on the camera's strap lugs or the area around them. A proper side-grip provides its own tripod socket, so that's not an issue. And every grip I've used is perfectly flat on the bottom, so I can rest the camera on flat surfaces if need be.

So far, it's worked perfectly (to my taste, anyway) with several Leica M bodies, CV R3-M and R4-M bodies, and now with an X-Pro1.

YMMV, naturally.

 

[Murchu]

This won't be everyone's solution, but ...

I prefer to carry a camera hanging on my left side, bandolero-style. Instead of using the camera's strap lugs, I get a good side-grip, drill and tap a hole in the right edge of the grip, and mount a standard strap lug in the hole. (You can get such strap lugs from DAG.)

I then hook a Gordy wrist strap to the lug on the grip, and connect the wrist strap to another strap (worn bandolero style) with a small carabiner.

Once adjusted properly for size, everything works like a charm. The left end of the camera body rests slightly inside my left pants pocket, which keeps it from swinging about. I can get the camera out and into position quickly, and it's easy to disconnect from the bandolero strap when I want to carry by the wrist strap alone.

And there's no wear at all on the camera's strap lugs or the area around them. A proper side-grip provides its own tripod socket, so that's not an issue. And every grip I've used is perfectly flat on the bottom, so I can rest the camera on flat surfaces if need be.

So far, it's worked perfectly (to my taste, anyway) with several Leica M bodies, CV R3-M and R4-M bodies, and now with an X-Pro1.

YMMV, naturally.

Very interesting solution. I prefer carrying a camera bandolier-style myself, and my further consider your preferred solution above. Right now, as a temporary fix, I have simply replaced the ring of the camera strap with some high strength kevlar line, which I've looped through a few times, and knotted sufficiently. Time will tell if it's an effective temporary fix, but in theory, it should do the trick. I like your solution though, and elements of it.