I have decided to buy a new camera strap because I wasn’t a fan of the strap that came with the camera. After all, the strap that came with the camera, the Nikon strap were narrow, and it was nothing special about the strap. The strap that came with the camera hurts my neck because it is narrow. It isn’t padded or has anything that would lessen the pain on the neck, so that was the reason that I felt that there had to be an aftermarket strap that would do a better job of not hurting my neck, so I decided to go shopping for one.
After doing some search, reading some blogs, some reviews as well, and whatnot, I have finally decided on which camera’s strap that I am after. The camera’s strap that I brought seems to be the most popular choice for professional and hobbyist photographers. That camera strap is Slide by Peak Design; if we want to be more specific, some of them call it slide pro because they have two versions, such as slide and slide lite. I went for slide one (not lite). The Peak Design Slide camera strap is a bit high-end, I admit, but does it deserve to be? In my review, I will tell you as I will share my review on the Peak Design Slide camera strap!
As I said above, the strap that came with the camera is pretty much a basic strap for its camera, and it is nothing special about them. The strap that came with the camera felt heavier than it should be, and it is more narrow, which translates to more pain. Being a person who has a severe back injury since birth, I cannot allow continuing using it and was needing to find something out that would ease the pain that the strap would inflict on me if worn for a long period of time. Before I started looking for a camera strap online, I had never thought as such as aftermarket camera strap because I didn’t think that a strap for a camera is important enough for any of other company to make them besides the manufacturers who make cameras and as well sell them as an extra part to the camera if lost or need a replacement. I found out that I was wrong, it is such as aftermarket camera straps, and I was glad to find out that some companies specialize in manufacturing the camera straps for different reasons such as having them to ease the pain, for luxury or different features that the straps that the camera’s manufacturers make does not have. There are a few camera straps that we can choose; as I said above that, I went for the straps that are made by Peak Design after finding out that there are one of the most popular aftermarket straps in the photographers’ community because of the features that the strap has such as ease of wearing it, padded section, non-slip part on it so that the strap would grip onto you well but not too much of hold onto you so that you can still move it around and also that it is easier to disconnect the camera from the strap. There were often that I was worn the factory-made strap in different places where I wished that I could quickly disconnect the camera so that I can capture a certain angle that I believed would be a great shot but didn’t make it in time because it would have been too much of hassle to try to disconnect the camera from a factory-made camera strap. Luckily, the Peak Design strap does just that and more. Peak Design makes different straps such as Slide, Slide Lite, or others, but I went for the Slide one (some call it Slide Pro) because I figure that the wider that the strap is, the better relief it would bring to my neck or my shoulder, and I was right about that. The Peak Design Slide has all of the features that a photographer would need, I think, and to be honest with you, I believe that this Peak Design camera strap is the only strap that you would need for all of your cameras.
Peak Design camera straps have all of the features that a photographer looks for. It comes with an anchor link, which is a feature that allows you to quickly connect and disconnect your camera at any moment that you need without any hassle. Peak Design’s anchor link on their strap is where you can just put a small button and then slide them right in, which would then lock them in. When you need to disconnect the camera, you can press on that button then push it out to have the camera disconnected from the strap itself. As I mention about strap gripping, Peak Design straps have webbing on a padded part on the center of the strap, which it can grip onto your neck or shoulder well, but at the same time, it will not take too much of a hold on you to where that you would struggle to move the camera around to take some pictures. Peak Design straps have three different ways of using it with that in mind, so you can configure whichever you prefer to use the strap for, such as a sling strap, a neck strap, or a shoulder strap as it has two quick-pull adjusters on them. You know these straps where you would have a hard time making them shorter or longer, pushing the strap inside and then pulling the strap on the other end out trying to figure out as you would in an algebra class – these quick-pull adjusters is just where you unlock then pull or push then lock.
With Peak Design straps, it feels lighter or feels like the same weight as the camera does rather than feeling like it is heavier than a camera itself, like with factory-made camera straps. I can see why the photographers talk so highly of these straps; even I am doing just that because it is that good and not only that it brings big relief to my neck, especially for a disabled person who has a long history of back injury since birth. Also, even though Peak Design straps are great for many photographers, I don’t think that Peak Design themselves realize that these straps they made are actually great for disabled photographers. For example, what I am frustrated with most factory-made straps or any other straps is that it has somewhat a limitation on how short or how long I would want the strap to be, but this Peak Design has almost no limit as it can go all the way to the center of the strap even though you will go over the padded part, but still it works with no problem. Also, it is much easier for me to connect the camera and then disconnect the camera at any moment without struggling to do so, especially as a disabled person. By now that you realized I am disabled, I started to mention that more above; I think it is just a happy accident by Peak Design. I am a wheelchair-bound, a little person (some call it dwarf but I am just a little bit taller than that but close enough) and have a long history of back injury (long history of surgeries) since birth, so when I use the factory-made strap, it severely limited my creativity in photography. With Peak Design straps, there is no limit thanks to these features where I can just easily press the button to slide out to disconnect the camera to take a picture at a different angle or to disconnect the camera to take it off me instead of struggling to get the factory-made factory above my head to get it off me, the webbing padded on the strap makes it feel like it takes half of the camera’s weight off my neck and as a short person I can easily adjust the strap short as possible without any limitation, so that is a win in every area for me in my opinion.
With that being said, the question is, does it worth the price that they set for the Peak Design’s Slide camera strap? Absolutely yes! Their camera straps are more than just an ordinary camera strap because it comes with the features that the factory-made camera straps never will have or at least not right now. Their anchor link where you can easily connect and disconnect the camera by pressing the button to slide out of the anchor or to slide it back in which can be used at different points such as the top side of the camera or at the bottom of the camera or both to make it easier for you to use your camera. Their quick-pull adjusters (hyper adjustable) are where you can change the length of the strap itself on the fly without having to tackle manually configure the length for the strap. It has a webbing padded at the center of the strap that feels very comfortable while having it on, as it does a great job of gripping onto you, but when you are ready to shoot, they easily slide without feeling that it tugs you when you try to slide the strap. Using the anchor links at different points comes with an anchor mount for your camera’s bottom, as it is useful for a shoulder or sling strap. It does not matter how small or large your camera (mirrorless/DSLR/point and shoot) because they are tested to hold 200lbs (90 kg) which is plentiful.
This Peak Design Slide camera strap is the most comfortable camera strap that I ever tested. I was immediately in awe of it after setting it up. Thanks to them, it is easier on my neck or my back than any factory-made camera straps. They have a lite version of the slide, which is $15 lower than their pro slide camera strap; it is a bit narrower than their Slide (pro) one and has everything that the Peak Design Slide (pro) does. If I were you, I would go for the Peak Design Slide (pro) one even though it is $15 more, but it maximizes comfortability thanks to the wider strap. For anyone who needs a strap for a camera or binocular, whether you do them professionally or as a hobby, I highly recommend you buy a Peak Design Slide camera strap! Be sure you get the newest one because they have different visions, so look for SL-BK-3 for black or SL-AS-3 for ash, which you can often find in their SKU under specifications or elsewhere. I am rating Peak Design Slide (pro) a 4.5, which translates really great.
Joshua “Joshie” Sullivan.
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