I need a new camera strap, as evidenced by the wear and tear on my poor strap seen above. I’ve tested a few lately and wanted to share my top three favorites. 

The Joby Pro Sling Strap ($48.97) is a nice option from the new school of shooters that like their strap attached to the bottom of the camera. You can see the tripod screw, which is the main point of contact for this strap. It’s also a nice, wide strap, which was good for my heavy 100-400mm lens when I was photographing the President of China on his recent visit to Washington State.

If you want a big, fat foam pad for your gentle shoulders, well, the Canon CPS strap is a classic. Sorry, Nikon shooters. Members receive this strap when they sign up for the Canon Professional Services network, which is a useful thing to join, anyway. This strap also has a nice little quick-release buckle, which I haven’t seen on a lot of other straps before. 

Finally, there is of course the classic Domke 1″ Gripper (Web Strap) ($17.95). The gripper technology comes from this bag maker’s bag straps. The rubber is woven directly into the strap, which is pretty awesome. The other neat little detail is that each end has a metal swivel, which you can see in the picture above. The production quality is great. These things last forever.