Nikon Partners With Black Rapid For New Camera Strap Design

By

Nikon might be content to lose out to its competitors in every field except SLR bodies and lenses, but it beginning a big comeback, starting at the very top – literally. Two new camera straps – the Quick-Draw and the Quick-Draw S – are made in partnership with Black Rapid, and promise to let you never buy a third-party camera strap ever again.

I haven’t unwrapped a strap that came supplied with a camera since forever. They are almost universally terrible, serving only to advertise your camera brand and model all while cutting into your neck and putting a crick in your back. On my Fujifilm X100S I use a Leica strap, which cost me an absurd €50 (almost $70), but is floppy enough to be comfortable, is secure and is long enough to wear across my chest like a messenger back, not around my neck like a necklace.

Nikon’s new Quick-Draws kinda do the same. They’re worn like bandoliers, and they have a loop which slides along this strap and fixes to the camera’s tripod socket. This lets the camera dangle at your hip, but makes it easy to grab it and have it at eye level without the strap moving or catching.

Nikon has made some modifications to the original Black Rapid design with a “safety strap that prevents the camera from falling in the unlikely event the fastener comes loose, and a cover that prevents the carabiner that connects the strap to the camera from scratching the camera body.”

The regular-sized Quick-Draw is for SLRs, and the smaller Quick-Draw-S is for mirrorless cameras like my X100S.

Most interesting though is the fact that Nikon is now effectively endorsing the tripod hole as a strap mount. I always worried that the tripod thread might not be up to the task, but apparently I was wrong. Or mostly wrong – Nikon has added that safety strap after all.

Prices TBA.

Via: Nikon

Newsletters

Daily round-ups or a weekly refresher, straight from Cult of Mac to your inbox.

  • The Weekender

    The week's best Apple news, reviews and how-tos from Cult of Mac, every Saturday morning. Our readers say: "Thank you guys for always posting cool stuff" -- Vaughn Nevins. "Very informative" -- Kenly Xavier.