Quick-Release Camera Straps - Buying Guide & Free DIY Alternatives

Jonathan Byers is somewhat annoyed, even with his detachable camera strap.
Wait til you should see him without it...

CAMERAS Anyone who has ever used a regular camera strap would know what pain it is to take on and off. Luckily there are many nifty solutions to this annoyance. In this post we will look at some of the best solutions, ranging from top of the line straps, to smart ways you could convert your standard camera strap to a quick-release one completely free!

Personally, if I make the effort of installing a regular neck strap on a camera, I tend to just leave it on, whether I need it or not. Conversely, when I use a small, pocketable camera, I'm often hesitant about adding any extra bulk in form of a big strap to it, which would then sacrifice much of its portability. But sometimes it might have been handy nonetheless.

Enter quick-release camera straps - designed for you to quickly take the strap on and off your camera without having to fiddle with it for half an hour. Whether you want a brand new strap with this nifty feature already onboard, or if you already own a regular strap and want to convert it to a glorious quick-release version, we've got you covered in this post! I personally fall into the latter category and at the bottom you'll see what solution I eventually opted for.

Quick-Release Equipped Straps

Before going into the cool DIY solutions and conversion kits, let's first take a look at what's available if you want a new strap entirely, with the quick-release feature already installed. For the (until now) strapless shooter, there are plenty of easily detachable straps available.

"Fork hook" connection straps

Amongst the more common solutions are the plastic fork hooks, often seen on school bags etc. These clip on very easily. Here's an example by USA Gear, selling for about $15 on Amazon:

The strap is already available in many different colours. But for a dollar more, you can also add some fancy polka dots to it. Who wouldn't want that?

Also selling at 15 bucks is this similar Movo Photo NS-1 strap. This one's only in black, however:

Pros and cons

+ The fork hook connectors are really simple and quick to use.

+ Made of plastic. Less prone to scratch the camera LCD etc. 

- Questionable reliability. Can you trust a plastic buckle with your expensive gear?

- Leaves two connectors hanging off the camera when the strap is not on.

This looks...so GOOD!

Anchor-Mounted "Sling" Straps

Also worth mentioning are the sling straps that you connect to the anchor mount (a.k.a. tripod connector) on the bottom of the camera. They offer a great deal of versatility, since they can be used in different carrying styles (neck, shoulder or sling style), as the straps can be attached to the anchor mount as well as the regular eyelid connectors you typically attach your strap to.

A great benefit of having the strap connected to the bottom of the camera though, is that the strap is less prone to get in the way of the viewfinder/LCD when you shoot in portrait orientation. This can be rather annoying when you have the strap attached to the eyelid connectors on the sides of the camera.

Peak Design straps

Peak Design makes some anchor mounted straps that are quite popular. The length of them can also be adjusted very easily while wearing the strap.

They do come with a somewhat hefty price tag, however, with their cheapest offering Leash retailing at around $40. Moving up from that you have Slide Lite at $50 and the regular Slide, selling for $65. The straps gradually go up in size as you spend more. While the Leash strap is very slinky and portable, it might be uncomfortable to use for extended periods, especially for the larger DSLR's. The significantly wider Slide strap is probably a better choice for those situations. You can check out all three demoed and explained further in the videos below:

Pros and cons

+ The lollipop connectors appear very simple and quick to use.

+ Connectors made of plastic. Less prone to scratch the camera LCD etc. 

- Questionable reliability. PD themselves claim that their straps can take quite a bit of weight, but it's still just two plastic pieces connected to the camera with a string.

- Leaves two (or more) dodgy looking connectors hanging off the camera when the strap is not on.
- The anchor plate blocks off the anchor nut for use of tripod stands. The plate also pokes out at the base of the camera, making it unstable sitting on flat surface.
- Ergonomics. Zero amount of padding on straps at this price point is rather surprising. The slinky Leash strap looks especially uncomfortable.
- Price.

This doesn't look silly at all.

More affordable sling straps

Significantly cheaper than the Peak Design straps is the Alturo Rapid Fire, which can be yours for $18. It connects to the anchor mount with a carabiner and also has an optional backup tether that can be attached to the eyelid of the camera. This seems the strap bit more fiddly to take off, however. The strap also has a storage compartment built into the shoulder padding.

Even cheaper is the Ocim Quick-Release Sling Strap, currently selling at $11. It lacks the pouch and safety tether of the Alturo strap, but instead has an adjustable underarm strap for additional stability.

Pros and cons

+ Easy release with the carabiner.
+ Sturdy metal connector.
+ Clean installation - no dangling parts left on the camera when the strap is off.
- The anchor plate blocks off the anchor nut for use of tripod stands. The plate also pokes out at the base of the camera, making it unstable sitting on flat surface.
- Only one connection point (disregarding Alturo's backup tether). Could it potentially wear out the threads of the anchor nut of the camera?

Conversion Kits

For those of us who already own a few straps and don't want to buy more, can instead invest in a quick-release conversion kit for less money.

Both the fork hooks mentioned earlier, as well as Peak Design's lollipop styled connectors, can be had separately for installing on any standard camera strap. The Peak ones are again pricier since their proprietary, but you can at least get them for half the price of the cheapest "Leash" strap, at $20 per set.

Peak Design anchor links, compatible with most camera straps.

Coming in way cheaper at $6 on the other hand, are these "fork hook" type connectors. This particular set is made by OP/TECH USA:

Pros and cons are the same as mentioned earlier. My biggest gripe with both these solutions are related to reliability (being made of plastic and only attached to the camera with a string), and lack of elegance when the strap is disconnected. Both solutions leave connectors hanging and dangling off the camera, which just doesn't look very neat.

DIY Solutions

If the above solutions still didn't quite tickle your fancy, here are a few DIY solutions that shouldn't set you back too many dollars, if any.

Earbuds, key rings and carabiners

This is the first of the two DIY solutions that really got me thinking outside the box. The earbud trick is pretty sweet, however I suspect they would fall off quite easily when the strap is not on. I also don't quite fancy the amount of metal parts connecting the strap. These could easily ding into the camera body and scratch the display. Mixing black and chrome metal parts also looks a bit dodgy and tacky in my humble opinion.

Lockable S-Carabiners

We've finally made it to the final solution and the one I eventually opted for.

The video is a bit wordy, but get to the point about 3 minutes into the clip.

There is a lot to like about this solution. I like that there is only one additional part you need; the lockable S-shaped carabiners called Nite Ize S-Biner MicroLock. These will only set you back $4.70 a pair. Unlike the ones shown in the video, they are also available in black, which make them blend in very well with both the camera and the strap. The S-biners are also small enough to not risk bumping into the LCD of the camera.

One thing to keep in mind, though, is that the S-biners are only rated for loads up to 1.4 kg or 3 lbs according to the packaging. More than enough for my Micro 4/3 cameras (my Panasonic GX9, paired with my heaviest lens - the 14-140 mm zoom, still only weight about half of that), but if you're shooting full frame och medium format you might want to have a second thought about using these.

Here are some pictures of my strap setup.

Got two pairs of black S-biners for my two cameras; the Lumix GX9 and the GX800. Will probably only use one camera, and consequently one strap at a time, though. But whatever, as the kids say...

One strap end, nog equipped with an S-biner, here in its open (unlocked) position. You lock the hinges from opening, by twisting the middle part.

DIY quick-release strap here installed on my GX9.

Hope you all found this post interesting and useful!

/ Jonas Gustafsson

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