Camera-Bitch sessions (new blog idea?)

There's also this ridiculous trend to buy a "vintage" camera strap to replace the ugly ones that come with cameras, especially DSLRs, these days. Truth be told, this blog is in response to this post on Uncrate:

"Classic Camera Strap

It's really rather irritating: you pay hundreds — if not thousands — for a new DSLR, only to find yourself becoming a walking billboard thanks to the gaudy included strap. Fix this problem for relatively little green with a Classic Camera Strap ($30). This simple, stylish strap features a striped solid color design that will complement, not clash with, your attire, and is adjustable out to 36 inches, attaching to nearly any camera with a handy quick release swivel snap."

I'm not entirely opposed to this idea. My SLR has a fancy vintage strap that has decorative stitching on one side and velvet on the other (best rummage sale find EVER & it was free). It's chic, and replaced a crappy unadjustable 2mm wide strap with a plastic neck pad that was falling apart. It's probably that it came with the camera when my mom bought it back in the early 80s. I replaced partially for the aesthetic, but also for function. The new strap is way more comfortable to wear and I am better assured it's not going to suddenly give way and send my camera tumbling to the ground.

Funny thing about the vintage camera straps is that they are in themselves a statement. It seems kind of high-brow to me to switch out the camera strap for fashion purposes. Oh, and replacing the "walking billboard" strap suddenly makes the user appear to be a more serious photographer? Yea, if only. I guess this just gives me an eye-twitch because it feels so hipster and fake (My personal biases are showing, oops)

Your camera strap should be a helpful tool and not scream, "I'm a tool"

The kit-strap is a statement too, though. Nikon and Canon at least emblazon their own logo on it, as well as the model ID for the camera it came with. That seems less like free advertisement to me and more of a, "look at the badass camera I have!" (visualize that "I" underlined twice too). My Nikon's strap is perfectly functional and comfortable as well, but it's also four years old. I saw the D3000's strap and it's not designed quite as well. For the extra megapixels, bells, and whistles you're dishing out dough for, I guess it's ok for manufacturers to sacrifice a decent strap (that's my way of saying that I won't judge people who want to replace the shitty strap you've gotten stuck with)

All that said, I think there have been some clever redesigns for camera straps over the past couple of years.

HIPSTER Camera Strap: Found this one on Etsy and I think it's quite practical and looks sturdy. I like the plastic claw buckle (whatever those things are called) feature. Kind of uncertain as to how adjustable it is though. Oh, and the name for the product does make me laugh.

And then you have others that strike me as unnecessary and stupid. such things like the sun-sniper:

While i'm sure the design of this is meant to be very functional and useful, the idea of having my camera suspended from one buckle on a strap makes me really nervous, so I personally couldn't do it.

Anyway, there are a lot of options out there, and some of them are good. You would never think that such a little thing as a camera strap could make such a big statement about your skills or seriousness in photography. If you want to get a new strap, then you should.

Just remember to never judge a photographer by the looks of their strap.