I’m sort of throwing this one out there in hopes maybe someone has something helpful to share.

I have a love hate relationship with camera straps, one that borders more on hate than love. When I first started the whole photography thing, I used the straps Canon shipped with their cameras. They’re thick and stiff, but the rubberized grip material holds on virtually every shirt I’ve put under them. Though like any fixed strap, I found them getting in the way whenever they weren’t simply around my neck.

I switched from the stock straps to a Lowepro strap that use quick release disconnects on the ends. Talk about worst of all worlds. When the strap was released from the quick release bits, the short straps that were left attached to the camera got in the way as much or more than when I had a whole strap on the camera. Never mind the rubberized material on the shoulder pad was so slick that my camera was constantly sliding off my shoulders. The experience with the Lowepro strap quickly sent me back to the stock Canon straps and looking for something better.

I tried the straps Optech USA sells, but I found their padding way too wide and uncomfortable, not my thing.

I finally ended up with one of ThinkTank Photo’s straps. It’s thin, but it holds well, and the rubber is on both sides of the strap. On top of that, it works with their Camera Support Straps and bags, which makes it a real joy to care 1 or 2 bodies with one of their bags. I would say their straps are probably my favorite, at least so far. However, as good as the ThinkTank straps are, they suffer from the same problem everything else does, they get in the way when they aren’t around your neck.

The real problem seems to be that I want a strap that’s quick release, but without having dangly bits on the camera. If I were a Nikon user, this would be a non-issue. Nikon’s bodies, at least the higher end ones, use split rings on studs to attach the straps instead of just a solid metal “loop”. It’s easy enough to put just about any solid carabineer or quick release hook on the end of a strap and run with it.

Unfortunately, the situation isn’t quite so nice in Canon land, which brings me to my current conundrum.

On one hand, Optech USA makes Adapt-its^{(Affiliate Link)} ; little plastic loops that can be pressed though the strap loops to provide a place to clip on a larger quick release system. OpTech claims they can hold up to 15 pounds, but I haven’t tested that, and it’s hard for me to put a lot of confidence in a little plastic tab with a knob on the end when thousands of dollars of camera gear are hanging from it.

The other alternative I’ve been looking at is Really Right Stuff’s Mini-Clamp with strap bosses. I can run that with either my normal strap or an R-Strap and still have the ability to quickly add and release it from my camera. It’s also slotted so to can be clamped in any of really right stuff’s clamps without having to take it off the camera. On the other hand, it’s a simple screw clamp with no apparently locking mechanism, and that too gives me pause when it’s the biggest point of failure stopping camera gear from plunging to the ground.

Which just leaves me with the question, what do you use, and how do you like it? Drop a comment below and let me know.