Why a shoulder strap review?
On my latest trip to Israel, one of the bloggers had a special shoulder strap for his camera.In contrast to the camera straps that go around your neck and that are usually provided with your Canon, Nikon or Sony camera, these camera shoulder straps (or sling straps) are much more ergonomic and make it easier to carry your camera around while keeping it handy for taking pictures.
In contrast to the camera straps that go around your neck and that are usually provided with your Canon, Nikon or Sony camera, these camera shoulder straps (or sling straps) are much more ergonomic and make it easier to carry your camera around while keeping it handy for taking pictures.
Photographers traveling without a bag, for example, require increased protection and comfort while walking around, especially when you have a more expensive camera and work with large, heavy lenses.
I got my hands on a Rotaball-pro strap from Germany-based Sun-Sniper and took it for a test!
A camera shoulder strap with Theft protection!
The Rotaball camera shoulder strap is actually a safety strap system with an integrated steel cable that protects your valuable camera not only from damage but also from cutting, burning or melting the straps.
The steel cable is invisibly woven into five of the ROTABALL models (PRO, TRAVELER, DPH, TPH and BPS). It runs completely through the rubbery SHOCK ABSORBER as well. But if despite these precautions a thief manages to cut the steel wire-protected SUN-SNIPER strap, the SUN-SNIPER insurance will cover up to 1000.00 EURO of the loss.
How Cool is that!
Conditions apply, so make sure you check the Sun Sniper website for all the details.
A unique benefit of the strap is the 1000 Euro insurance policy.
The Connector
What makes the Sun-Sniper straps unique is the stainless steel Rotaball connector component.
Thanks to a special connector, Rotaball straps are designed to hold cameras weighing up to 11 pounds (5 kg) so that’s more then enough for my new Sony A7ii.
The Rotaball connector allows the camera to swing around its bearing, reducing stress on the tripod socket attachment point.
The Rotaball Connector (see exploded view, above) uses a single large, metal ball-bearing that rotates within 32 smaller ball-bearings to achieve incredibly smooth camera rotation.
I’ve seen other straps that don’t have this bal-bearing and then the camera isn’t hanging as freely around your body.
One thing I don’t like about this kind of system, is how it connects directly to the bottom of your camera body.
Why?!
Well, when I’m using a tripod I normally have a mounting plate connected there already and so I can’t use the Rotaball-Pro when I’m using a tripod, which kinda sucks… I’ve been testing with attaching the top of an old ball head to the Rotaball connector so I could attach my camera with the mounting plate but that’s just not secure I think.
So if anyone know a better solution for this, please let me know!
Conclusion
THE GOOD / I really like this type of camera straps. The Rotaball-pro is really well made and the ergonomic shoulder pad helps make this one of the most comfortable straps I’ve used.
THE BAD / see my problem with using this together with a mounting plate.
THE BOTTOM LINE / I used to carry my camera around my neck all the time, but after using this shoulder strap I’m totally convinced that this is the better way to go. I can honestly recommend the camera shoulder straps from Sun Sniper. They are great quality and well build. I only need to figure out a good way to use this together with a mounting plate so I can also use this on trips where I’m working with a tripod.
