Nerve Endings Firing Away

One of my pet peeves about SLR cameras is the awkward manner in which the camera dangles from your neck. The flimsy straps even if they are those broad Nikon-branded ones are too short to sling across your shoulders. I prefer to carry my camera across my shoulders on the side but then I have to always ‘un-sling’ it to take photos. That is mighty uncomfortable and inconvenient. A search for a sling strap yielded this amazing product called the R-Strap (see video below).

Although it is a tad pricey (starts at $55), good products always are. I received the strap in the mail yesterday and I instantly liked it. I bought the R-Strap 5 that has additional storage in the strap for your iPhone and change. It sits snug on your shoulder and doesn’t move when you lift up the camera to shoot and drop it back when you are done. The camera doesn’t sit on your paunch but rather hangs on the side near your hips with the lens facing back. the position is especially good when you are using a longer lens. You may feel unsafe but trust me, it is much better than knocking into people and poking them in the back with your lens.

I can’t wait to try it out in the field and with the First Friday coming up in Downtown Bryan, I have the perfect opportunity. The snow forecast is not going to stop me.

Update: LumaLoop has a similarly-priced side sling strap. But I still prefer R-Strap because of its steel carbiner lock unlike the flimsy plastic lock on LumaLoop strap. I want to dangle my SLR at my hips without worrying too much about it falling off.