Camera Geekery: Lance camera straps

I recently was lucky enough to receive some straps that I think are very good. Lance camera straps are handmade in the USA and are an up and coming strap maker. Lance Straps are now Japancamerahunter.com’s newest sponsor. Check them out!

Lance camera straps are made by photographers and that is one of the things about them that really appeals to me. So many products on the market now seem to be made by a faceless corporation and they have not thought things out properly. But these straps have really been put together nicely. Apparently Lance wanted to create a strap that would be comfortable during long photo walks. I have actually tested this myself and I can safely say that it is true, they are very comfortable during a long day and they don’t dig in to the neck.

The strap itself is a woven design and looks quite similar to the Artisan & Artist silk braid straps, although they are about a third of the price (which is nice). There are a few colours available but I was testing the black straps. The strap is made from polyester, so it has a bit of flex and elasticity in the strap, which seems to dampen the movement of the camera when out walking. Because of the material this strap is insanely durable and will probably be around long after I have gone. I decided that I was going to test them hard, so I pulled, tugged and twisted the straps and there was no change, in fact I was worried I was going to pull the lugs off my Leica if I pulled too hard. I have only been testing the strap for a month, but there has been no noticeable degradation in the quality. The colour has not faded and there is no fraying. It is really hot here at the moment too, so a leather strap tends to get a bit stinky after a few days of walking, but these straps have managed to resist my man musk so far. Jolly good.

The metal connector ring is a good size and this is important to me, I hate those little fiddly rings that you cannot get on your camera without ripping off a nail. This ones are very easy to fit, without any fuss at all.
The rings are very tough and look pretty cool too, quite chunky. If I have one minor issue it is that they might be a bit too large in some situations and I found that it sometimes got in the way of the film advance lever. But this is not going to be an issue for the people with digital cameras. these straps can be fitted to a number of different cameras, not just rangefinders. The universal ring loops mean that they can be fitted to just about any camera. They also have loop straps which will work on compact cameras.
One of the cool things about the rings is that they are customizable through the website, so you can have a number of different colour combinations on the rings. That is a pretty nifty idea.

I like the fact that they are a small family company and they are really thinking about their products. These are the sort of companies that I really want to see flourish. Lance makes a number of different styles of strap, I was testing the non-adjustable neck strap, but I like the look of the wrist strap, so I might have to get my hands on one of them too. I think we are going to see a lot more in the future from this interesting little company and I hope that they do really well.

I am very happy to announce that Lance Straps are the newest sponsor of JCH. Click the advert on the right side of the page and you will be able to get yourself a strap.

Or

You can get your hands on one of the straps through their website www.lancecamerastraps.com
Go and support them, we need more little companies like this.

Thanks
Japanacamerahunter