I’ve decided that I can’t stand camera straps. Or perhaps that I have a love/hate relationship with them. I love them when I don’t want to have to carry my camera in my hands, but I can’t stand them the rest of the time. Luckily I don’t carry my camera around too much or this would drive me nuts.

I never use the straps that come with the camera. Partly because of the ostentatious branding, partly so that it’s nice and new when I end up selling the camera to upgrade, but mostly because it’s semi-permanently attached to the camera with the same system that’s been around for years. Seriously, can you people not come up with a better design than to have to snake the strap through the slot and then weave it back onto itself? Leica’s and Hasselblad have had a clip-on systems for decades. Why not steal one of those?

Speaking of straps that detach, for awhile I was really into the Op/Tech brand because the neoprene made them more comfortable on your shoulder. In their system you can remove the strap from the two anchors attached to the camera, but the anchors are still connect the way the OEM straps do. So you’re left with these two little pigtails flailing about and getting in your way.

Then last year I was so frustrated that I decided to go in with the sling style strap which screw into the cameras tripod mounting hole on the bottom. I found this LensLoop strap which is made from recycled seatbelt material and started as a Kickstarter project. That part is great. It’ll never break and it looks cool. The problems however are numerous. First the camera keeps bouncing and spinning around on your hip as you walk. Secondly, the camera is upside down, which is great when you lift it up from your side and it’s right side up, but means that the most fragile parts of your camera are the most exposed and again, bouncing around and knocking into stuff. I lost a lens cap I had for 10 years to the DC Metro because of this. The camera spun around and lens rubbed against me enough to dislodge it and send it rolling over the edge and onto the track. Finally there’s the problem of putting the camera down now that it’s got a big stick up it’s virtual butt.

Seriously, is there really no better way? I’ve gone back to just carrying the camera in my little Crumpler backpack even when it’s just the body and a single lens. Does anyone have a better solution?