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Here is the second short tutorial of doing something useful with your own hands, other than eating potato chips, opening beer bottles and operating remote controls.

Introduction:

This tutorial is not only for the usual Leica camera user. It is intended for everyone, seeking for a low cost, but very effective way, to use your camera of choice in a more free fashion without strangling yourself with neck straps, fighting knots in your camera bag and starting a way of shooting with more freedom, yet less intrusive on your human subjects, being able, to blend your camera out of sight, not giving the impression of being a tourist, photo geek or working for the press.

It is some serious Leica equipment destruction involved, so the usual info below should be taken serious.

Disclaimer:    The documentation, provided by me does only report the steps and procedures, I undertake at my risk on my property. When you work on your equipment by yourself, you do this at your own risk. I can not be held liable for possible damage, you might cause, by working on your equipment. If you have the slightest uncertainty about the described procedures or working on your equipment by yourself, stop reading here and move along to buy an aftermarket wrist strap, fully warrantied by the vendor, which will result in the best possible health for your camera equipment and less handy work plus “I made fire!” feeling - citing Robinson Crusoe on his very own adventure trip.

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We cut directly to the ingredients, you need for this one:

1 x camera body with standard strap eyelet, key ring compatible

1 x Leica neck strap part no. 14 312 ( one piece makes for two straps for two different cameras)

1 x scissor

1 x open fire

recommended additional items:

1 x 3M vinyl electrical tape

1 x metal tweezer

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Q:   Why you want to try a wrist strap instead of your usual neck strap?

A:   You gain instantly more possible shooting angles and perspectives, removing your camera from your neck - it really does not belong there. It is more safe, to use a strong wrist strap, than misusing your neck strap, wrapped around your wrist. You remove any unnecessary items from your body and shooting camera for taking the photo - no more dangling straps in the way, no more thinking of wrapping the strap, no more worries of dropping your camera on the floor. Your camera is now directly attached to your body without ever having to spend time on thinking about taming a strap.

Q:    This all sounds well and promising - what are the downsides then?

A:    There are some negative points in using a wrist strap, which are weighted by each photographers own habits and       preferences. You loose the ability of just hanging your camera around your shoulder, when not in use - you need a bag or pocket for such occasions. Loading of Leica film bodies can be awkward at first usage of the camera attached to your wrist - it is different, not more difficult. You shoot with two cameras parallel - a wrist strap is less practical here. You shoot a heavy camera - lens combo like a Nikon F5 or D3 series body with a heavy zoom - forget the wrist strap.

One word of caution: wrist straps are not designed, to withstand heavy cameras, dangling on just one strap eyelet. I understand a wrist strap as a safety net, that in it’s ideal form does not interfere with using a camera, but safes the camera securely in the case, I would drop it. Use the wrist strap together with some common sense this way and you will be fine.

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1. Step - making the cut

raw material - Leica part number: 14 312

You will destroy your new or used bought Leica neck strap. Using it as a neck strap, I do not like the Leica plastic pad, as I prefer soft, thin straps, that do not get in the way, when being misused as a wrist strap or while packing the camera into a tight bag. The Leica strap though excels in one important point, why I choose it for my home made wrist strap mod:

It has the worlds most innovative and best working quick release connector to the strap lug eye of your camera body. You can remove or attach the Leica connector within seconds without having to deal with key rings, broken fingernails, tools or scratched cameras and alike. It just works the German way - engineered with ingenious ideas, precise fit and superior materials. I like that.

your weapon of choice for this homemade mod,

So - take the scissor and cut the strap right next to the plastic Leica shoulder pad, where the woven strap starts its uniform width. You want to waste as little strap material as possible and just cut off the not needed shoulder pad.

2. Step - light my fire

In this step, a open fire source of your taste is involved. You want to prevent the freshly cut strap end from dissolving itself in use, melting the end just enough to secure it. Do this in a room with good ventilation and do not inhale the fumes from melting the plastic.

3. Step - the hardest part

The last part is the hardest. You need to align the freshly made strap end through the plastic lock, previously made with a tight tolerance, to fit the strap just once.

You must slip in the freshly cut strap end under the original neck strap, going the same way back along where the original strap comes from. This way your strap end is neatly hidden inside your new wrist strap, looking as neat as an out of factory production.

The squeezing of two layers of strap through the tight plastic lock is tricky. I used a 5 cm strip of 3M vinyl electrical tape, cut the same width of the strap to secure the cut strap end to the original first layer and pull it through the lock with the help of a strong metal tweezer.

If you are finished, only one step is left and you are finished.

alignment of strap layers - camera at upper left, wrist sling at bottom right

    

4. Step - what’s your length ?

Attach your new wrist strap to your camera and find your best working length. I suggest, to find two measurements: 1. the total length for comfortable wear and 2. the sling length, to fit your hand through, but not loosing the strap to easy.

As soon, as you are finished, the Leica quick release has the big advantage, that you can take this strap and quickly attach it to any camera, you want to use it with - there is no quicker system. Happy shooting!

finished strap attached to Leica M6

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This concludes my short documentation on the making of a superior wrist strap for your camera for as little money as half the cost of a new or used original Leica neck strap. I hope, I could help one or the other photographer to shorten the long journey of finding the ideal strap. You might have the ingredients sitting around already. go for a scissor and give it a shot.

Please do not contact me, after or before having messed with your equipment - read the disclaimer on top and think before doing this at home.

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18. October 2009

Update, 16. December 2009:

Thanks to a tip from Julien, I have learned, that you can also remove the original Leica gum shoulder pad from the Leica strap. Use the old trick of cutting rubber by stretching the rubber pad on one axis and slightly cut it with a sharp object (a scissor or fairly sharp knife is sufficient). This way, you seperate the rubber from the strap webbing without damage to the webbing.

You have now a very nice strap, you can wrap around your wrist or sling the camera over your shoulder, when unused.

I use now several modified Leica straps in combination with the self made wrist straps for different usage. When I use two cameras, I prefer, to have both cameras with shoulder straps. When going with just one camera, the wrist strap gives a much more natural and free shooting.

The Leica quick connectors allow for such a on the fly change of strap type - great design!

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The original article, 18. October 2009: