Is Your Camera Strap Tied Incorrectly? Here's How It Should Be Done so Your Camera Doesn't Break

There’s a good chance that your camera neck strap is connected to your camera incorrectly. If so, your camera is in danger. Here’s how you should be doing it to stop your camera from falling to its doom.

Can you see the tail of your camera strap sticking out of the buckle and flapping loose? If so, it is at risk of coming undone and your camera falling. It’s the way most people connect their neck straps to their cameras, but there is a better, safer way to do it.

Two Lucky Escapes

Here are two real examples of people I know who have been caught out by having the strap tied incorrectly.

A while ago, a friend of mine borrowed her sister’s camera to visit one of the many magnificent castles along the coast here. What she hadn’t noticed was that the tail of the strap was slipping towards the buckle. It finally fell out and, subsequently, the camera bounced all the way down the stone steps. Luckily, it was an Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mk II, and they were built like tanks. The only damage it sustained was a slight dent in the side of the body.

The second incident happened to a newly employed camera salesman who was demonstrating to a customer a similar camera in a very upmarket department store. The first he knew about it was when the end of the strap slapped him around his face. As the camera hit the floor, there was a smashing sound. Groaning and trying to imagine what his boss would say, he picked the camera up and could see no damage to it. However, when he looked down, the ceramic floor tile was smashed. He got the sale!

Both of those people were very lucky, as it could have been much worse.

It's not that brand of camera that was at fault, it was the way the strap was tied. Over the years, I’ve come across a few people this has happened to with different brands of camera, and they have suffered greater or lesser amounts of damage. Nearly half of my workshop clients have had camera straps where the tails are almost falling out of the buckle. I have shown how to attach their straps properly so they don’t come undone.

How to Properly Attach Your Camera Strap

Step 1: Slide the buckle onto the strap. Most buckles have a bottom and a top, with indented sides on the bottom. That goes facing toward the underside of the strap.

Step 2: Attach the sliding collar to the strap.

Step 3: Put the end of the strap through the D split ring on the camera. Some cameras have a different arrangement, such as a bar embedded into the camera body or extension straps that attach to the anchor points, but the same principle applies: thread it through.

Step 4: Slide the tail back up through the sliding collar.

Step 5: Take the tail beyond and past the buckle away from the camera’s body, but don’t thread it through yet.

Step 6: Reverse the direction of the tail and thread it through the buckle, starting at the far end from the camera. The tail will pass back through the buckle underneath and in the same direction as the strap in step one, i.e. towards the camera. You want at least an inch and a half of the tail.

Step 7: Pull the strap tight from either side of the buckle, adjusting the length of the strap accordingly.

Step 8: Slide the collar up to lock it, so the tail is tightly sandwiched between the two sides of the strap.

Step 9: Make sure there are no twists in the strap, and repeat on the other side.

With the strap connected in this way, and if the camera manufacturers have provided the correct-sized sliding collar, it will lock the three layers of the strap together. Even if it's an incorrectly sized collar – some are too loose and others too tight – when the camera is hanging around your neck, friction will still be applied on either side of the tail end, which will help stop it from coming loose. Furthermore, it is much neater, and the tail ends of the strap are not flapping loosely around.

Alternative to Neck Straps

Most photographers I meet are content with the straps provided with their cameras. However, I am not a fan of neck straps. Many years ago, I ended up with an injured neck after carrying a heavy DSLR and long lens around all day. So, ever since, I’ve experimented with a wide variety of carrying options.

With small camera and lens combinations like the OM-5 fitted with an OM System M.Zuiko 12-45mm f/4 PRO lens or one of the even smaller prime lenses, the neck strap is ideal. But even slightly larger cameras, like my OM System OM-1, need a different arrangement.

I started by buying an elastic neck strap. It was good, but it didn’t relieve the pressure on my neck's bones and muscles. I find a shoulder harness far more convenient and comfortable, not only for my neck, but it doesn't bounce as much when I am walking.

For a few years, I used the cheap copies of the Black Rapid Sport shoulder straps, usually found on Amazon. They worked amazingly well. However, I was never that confident with the connectors, so I always add a safety tether. Also, in the long-term, those cheap copies were a false economy. It didn't take long for them to become tatty.

But I am now trialing a Peak Design Leash strap, which I’ll review here in a few weeks after I have put it through its paces. As a spoiler, much of the time I don’t have a strap attached at all because I am using the camera on a tripod, and I found the strap to be an inconvenience, so the secure quick-release system works well for me.

When I am shooting weddings, I carry two cameras and then I’m using a double harness. On one side, the camera is fitted with a 12-40mm f/2.8 lens and the other has a 40-150mm f/4. It's a perfect combination for me.

I’ve tried various models of harnesses, but this unbranded one had comfortable thick straps, which help when I am carrying a couple of cameras for a whole day. Again, I have retro-fitted safety leads attached to stop the clasps from becoming accidentally undone; it has happened to me, and they have saved me from dropping a camera. With hindsight, I would have been better spending more on the Black Rapid Double Slim Breathe Camera Harness, which has more secure camera attachments.

Have you ever had a camera strap become unfastened from the buckle? If it fell, did it break? What do you find most convenient? It will be great to hear your experiences.