I am just wondering how many Leica M photographers use a wrist strap.I am referring to the one that comes with the soft leather camera case but it can pe purchased separately. I am wondering how many photographers find this strap useful in everyday shooting situations.

Thanks TG

-- Tom Gallagher (tgallagher10@yahoo.com), January 30, 2001

Answers

I go back and forth, Tom. I find the wrist strap useful in conjunction with the M Grip when I'm just wandering with camera in-hand. Most of the time I use a regular neck/shoulder strap, which can be wrapped around the wrist. The thing about the wrist strap is that it has a comfortable leather band that you don't have with the neck strap. On the flip-side, with the wrist strap you can't use both hands when needed without putting the camera down (hazardous to say the least).

-- Ken Shipman (kennyshipman@aol.com), January 30, 2001.

When doing the mechanics of things like lens changing and film changing, it is nice to just let your camera hang while you juggle the caps, film cassettes and camera bottom... the neck strap effectively gives you another hand.

You can always wind the neck strap around the right wrist for quick shooting, but you can't stretch the wrist strap around your neck... at least if you want to keep on breathing :-)

-- Al Smith (smith58@msn.com), January 30, 2001.

Hi Tom; I used to use it a lot even after the lether piece came apart; it is comfortable if youīre shooting all the time you have the camera out of itīs case; but you can always use the regular neck strap and tide it to youīr wrist as the wrist strap. If youīre using the soft lether case is a must other way you canīt get the camera in the soft case with a regular neck strap. Sorry I didnīt mention it before.

-- Roberto Watson-Garcia (al1231234@hotmail.com), January 30, 2001.

I have the wrist strap but find it to be almost unusable. Pivoting off the neckstrap lug the way it does, it gets in the way of my hand on the shutter release all the time. Also, it's putting a load on the neckstrap lug (which is just a press fit into the body casting) that it wasn't designed to take.

A proper wrist strap should mount at the bottom right corner of the camera body. I'm trying to get someone to make up a mount for me that does this. If it works the way I think it will, it will make a nice piece for sale to other Leica owners.

-- Godfrey DiGiorgi (ramarren@bayarea.net), January 31, 2001.

The wrist strap is discontinued by the way. I have a couple and they are useful at times but I mainly use the neck strap.

Cheers

-- John Collier (jbcollier@home.com), January 31, 2001.

Hello-

I have tried the finger "sling" from konermann.com, but I found it to be a bit restrictive. It attaches to the right strap lug and I think it puts too much stress on the lug. I just double up the neck strap around my right wrist (I don't use the handgrip) My original Leica strap is still in the box as I find it cumbersome: big plastic connectors and the molded shoulder grip are too much for me. I made up a very plain strap from another camera: it is just the basic 3/8" black standard strap, sewn to a fixed length and I use the standard leather protectors between the body and split ring. It's very secure and very tidy. It wraps easily around my wrist a couple of times and I still have a place to hang the camera during reloads.

Best regards,

Jeff

-- Jeff Voorhees (debontekou@yahoo.com), January 31, 2001.

Does any one of you know the Sling, it is a pice of material that you twist and lock to one of the strap holders (rigth side), and then you insert two fingers on it and leave the shooting finger free, itīs like a camera glove, you hold the camera with two fingers and keep it in hand all the time; there is a page in the net by Lutz Konerman; he designed it and sells it, but you can actually make one very easily.

-- R. Watson (al1231234@hotmail.com), February 01, 2001.

Hi! I had the same question a few weeks back and I decided, following some advice from others on this list, that the neck strap was the best. With the neck strap you can keep the camera handy at all times without having to hold it in your hand all day. I also have the soft case and I just put the camera in the case as normal but leave the neck strap hanging out of the case at the end of the zip.

Jason London, England

-- Jason Vicinanza (jcvicinanza@btinternet.com), February 03, 2001.

Here's the SLING gadget that R. Watson was referring to: SLING for Leica M"; I have tried a wrist strap from an old Rollei 35 on my M4-P but that it wasn't very convenient for lens changing. I think a neckstrap is still the best.

-- Hoyin Lee (leehoyin@hutchcity.com), March 04, 2001.

Oops! Couple of typos in my post above. Besides the more obvious typos, "Rollei 35" should be "Minox 35" instead.

-- Hoyin Lee (leehoyin@hutchcity.com), March 04, 2001.

Whatever happened to the wrist straps that screwed into the tripod socket? They work perfectly on a Leica, with its socket at the end of the foot plate. I was in San Francisco recently and decided that I wanted one, but the clerks at all the downtown stores (including Brooks) said "Huh?" when I asked for one. Jeez....

-- Bill (bmitch@home.com), March 04, 2001.

Bill, I don't sknow about S.F. but I saw generic wrist straps at a (generic) camera store in NYC in October.

-- Mani Sitaraman (bindumani@pacific.net.sg), March 06, 2001.