JOBY Wrist Strap Professional Cameras

As small but delicate mechanical items, the strap is an essential part of a camera's design. It's interesting to examine the evolution of methods that camera manufacturers have chosen to allow people to securely grip their cameras. My first camera was an Ansco Shur-Shot from 1948. I assume my mother purchased it shortly before she married my father. This was a box camera, with a small strap on the top allowing one to carry it like a little suitcase. It had no provision for attaching a wrist strap. My next camera was a Minolta 110 compact - it had a proprietary neck strap (really a long cord) with a metal clip designed to attach to a slot on the camera body. This was a unified system intended to work together; you would not be able to attach any other kind of cord, or use the Minolta's cord on any other camera. It also came with a fitted vinyl case, with an opening for the cord, which was too long and had no provision for shortening it to use on your wrist. This was a very small and light camera, so a neck cord made no sense. In 1983 I bought a Pentax ME Super SLR. This had a small metal post on either side with a hole for attaching a D-ring or split ring, to which was attached a neck strap. I never considered a wrist strap, even though this was a small SLR that would have worked well with one. Later, I used an Argoflex twin-lens reflex that had two wire loops for attaching a neckstrap, although I generally kept it in its leather case that had its own neck strap. My final film camera was a Moskva 5, a Zeiss Ikonta knockoff that had a little leather handle on one end, reminiscent of the Ansco. So it came full circle. My subsequent digital cameras had small holes for fitting the typical modern strap, which has a thin, flexible cord at one end. The idea is to slip the cord through the holes, then put the other end of the strap through the exposed loop to attach it with a lark's head knot. The problem is if you want to use a wrist strap on a DSLR or a larger point and shoot camera, such as my current Canon PowerShot G16. These have slots on each side to attach a neck strap, so if you use a conventional wrist strap, the thin cord will be much too small. It will be perfectly secure but inelegant as it will slide back and forth. The Joby strap is the only one I have seen that is a flat strap, like a neckstrap. It fits perfectly through the attachment slot. It's also safer than other straps, as it has an ingenious slider that automatically tightens under tension. If you drop the camera, the strap will cinch onto your wrist with no chance of slipping off. In fact, it's so secure as to require a little time and effort to detach yourself from it. If you don't want to use a neck strap with a camera that takes this kind of attachment, the Joby is the only choice. The charcoal color is obviously not the same as pure black next to the camera, but since it's a different material, it doesn't look out of place.