New: Limited Edition Henri Chroma Wrist Straps

What is the Best Camera Strap For You?

New: Limited Edition Henri Chroma Wrist Straps
New: Limited Edition Henri Chroma Wrist Straps

There are a billion camera straps out there — how do you know which is best for you?

HAPTIC INDUSTRIES: Creative Tools to Empower You

Why have a camera strap?

CINDY X HENRI WRIST STRAP

To start, I think the purpose of a camera strap is:

To carry your camera more often, to make more pictures.

Generally, a camera strap should be:

  1. Comfortable: You can carry your camera for longer periods of time, with less fatigue, which means you can see more photo opportunities, and make more pictures.
  2. Aesthetics: Ideally, you want to like the way your camera strap looks like. Aesthetics (style) is important. You want your strap to look cool, and to complement the look and color of your camera. Some of us like leather, some of us prefer more synthetic materials. Some of us prefer black, others brown, some of us prefer matte (some of us like shiny), some of us prefer brighter colors like red. There are no “right” or “wrong” in terms of aesthetics — you just want to master your own aesthetics for yourself. For myself, I prefer “all black everything”— I wear all black clothes, and prefer a black camera (RICOH GR II) and an all-black strap (ERICKIM WRIST STRAP),
  3. Neck or wrist? How do you prefer to carry your camera? On your neck, strapped across your chest/shoulder, or attached on your wrist? Generally with heavier cameras (like heavy DSLR) a chest/shoulder strap is best— where you carry your camera diagonally across your chest. For lighter cameras (mirrorless cameras, Fujifilm cameras, Leica cameras) a neck strap is ideal— because your camera is always ready to shoot before the “decisive moment”. A wrist strap is ideal for smaller cameras, if you use a smaller compact camera, the HENRI WRIST STRAP is ideal.

How to make more pictures

ERICKIM x RICOH GR II x ERICKIMSTRAP
ERICKIM x RICOH GR II x ERIC KIM WRIST STRAP

Honestly, you don’t need a strap. The ideal strap is no camera strap. The ideal is that your camera is always with you, always somehow attached to you, so you never miss any photo opportunities.

A thought occurred to me,

Wear your camera like a necklace or bracelet.

The basic idea: a lot of people wear necklaces and bracelets for purely aesthetic purposes. But the great thing about cameras: they are functional. You make visual art and pictures with your camera.

You want your camera to be look aesthetically “cool”, and you want to encourage yourself to **SHOOT MORE!”

JUST SHOOT IT.

JUST SHOOT IT. ERIC KIM

I love NIKE— they encourage you to “Just do it.” Simple and to the point.

My encouragement to you:

JUST SHOOT IT!

Anything that can simplify your photography process is good… anything that encourages you to SHOOT MORE is good.

For example, I just use my camera in autofocus (center point), and program (p mode), I just shoot JPEG, ISO 1600, and I just “set it and forget it.” I am in favor of “optimal and elegant simplicity”.

Color combinations

HENRI WRIST STRAP CHROMA
HENRI WRIST STRAP CHROMA

Camera color combinations that look good to me:

  1. All black everything: Black camera, black lens, black strap. For the “murdered out” look— which is super stealth. Good for street photographers, people who like rock and roll and punk culture (all black clothing), and for the bold, and smooth look.
  2. Black and red: A very bold and more powerful look— imagine the black widow (black body with red accents). So a black camera and a red strap looks dangerous (HENRI CHROMA CRIMSON). Or an all-black clothing outfit, with red shoes —or red as a “pop of color”.
  3. Classic dark-brown cognac leather: Brown leather is classic. A black or silver camera will always look good with a dark brown, cognac colored leather. I prefer leather over synthetic materials, because the more you use it… the better it looks. It is like the Japanese concept of “wabi-sabi”— the leather looks more distressed and fashionable with more use. I use the cognac HENRI NECK STRAP with my black paint film Leica MP for the timeless look.

Always with you

A camera is useless if you don’t have it with you. A camera is also generally useless if it lives in your bag.

Therefore, whenever possible, even when going to the grocery store, going on errands, commuting to work, always carry your camera with you.

The more you shoot, the happier you will be.

ERIC KIM x HENRI NECK STRAP
ERIC KIM x HENRI NECK STRAP

My theory:

Your first million pictures are your worst.

Always stay hungry to make new pictures. Never settle with your visual artistry. Keep shooting. You got this.

BE STRONG,
ERIC

HAPTIC INDUSTRIES: Creative Tools to Empower You