JOBY 3-way camera strap.

[Quentin]

Anyone had experience, good or bad, of one of these straps?
I have just got one as a freebie from Wex with other equipment. Essentially it is a wrist strap, which opens out through a spring loaded device, into a shoulder strap, and is attached to the tripod bush. The concept looks interesting, but I am a little concerned at the apparent fragility of the expanding part of the strap, which is very thin, and made from "Dyneema The World's Strongest Fiber", according to the box. The camera shown on the box and instructions appears to be a Canon DSLR, but I am wary of entrusting a heavy DSLR to such a strap.
Any thoughts, or preferably knowledgeable experience please?
Quentin

[AndyMulhearn]

Re: JOBY 3-way camera strap.

I don't have this specific model but my wife and I both use another form of Joby strap and we're both happy with the quality and reliability. If that helps in anyway...

[the black fox]

Re: JOBY 3-way camera strap.

if you feel wary then go with your gut feeling ,i have had clips come undone and domed attachments come unscrewed in the past ,luckily only ever had a camera and lens part company once ,luckily i caught the lens and the camera was round my neck

[Quentin]

Re: JOBY 3-way camera strap.

Thanks to both of you for your views.
I am still a bit wary of entrusting the weight of my DSLRs plus lenses to such a thin cord, but as I am taking my EOS M kit on holiday in 3 weeks time I will try it out on the M body, and see how it performs.

[Bhuna]

Re: JOBY 3-way camera strap.

Cant say I have heard of it, or used the straps but doing a quick google and reading a little about it, it may put your mind at rest a little:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultra-high-molecular-weight_polyethylene

http://science.howstuffworks.com/dyneema.htm

It sounds strong stuff.

[Quentin]

Re: JOBY 3-way camera strap.

Thanks for that Andy.
As I said above, I will try it out with the M kit on my forthcoming holiday, and report back.
Quentin

[Quentin]

Re: JOBY 3-way camera strap.

Well, I am back from the holiday (great time in the warmth of a small Caribbean island) and have tested the JOBY 3 way strap with the M outfit I took with me.
Bearing in mind that the strap is marketed at DSLR users, and the M is a slightly different animal, it seemed to work well. However, it was largely redundant as most of the time the camera was 'in the bag', and when it was 'out' I used the JOBY in wrist strap mode, where it was no better than any other wrist strap, including the Canon variety sold for this camera. Indeed, it was less 'user friendly' as the fixed base screwed to the tripod socket was quite bulky, both in bag mode and use mode, and I commented to my dear wife that I wished I had the Canon wrist strap with me!
So, as a 'freebie' it is OK, but I would still be uneasy about using it on the DSLRs, and I would not buy one myself.
As for the camera, with the 2 zooms and the 22mm 'flattie' it performed very well indeed, and did all that I asked of it. It was certainly a lot more portable and 'user friendly' for a holiday than the DSLRs - the only shortcomings being the well known ones of lack of an optical viewfinder in bright light conditions, and the slowness of focussing for moving subjects - I certainly will take this kit on future trips where I do not need the bulk and weight of an SLR. On the assumption that the new M3 will have addressed the focus speed issue I will buy a new body when the price has settled down.
Quentin