Amazon Leather Camera Strap Reviews

Nikon FA + Gucci Bag + Affordable Leather camera straps from Amazon

Since it’s the Autumn season down here in Georgia I thought I’d change up the look on my small cameras, just by giving them a new fancy leather camera strap!  I went on an ordering spree last week and here are some of the affordable options from Amazon.  The most expensive strap was $25 and the cheapest around $8. (These prices are current as of 10-26-2022)

The world of fancy leather camera neck straps can get out of hand, with a couple of them reaching $150-250 on BnH. While that does sound a bit excessive, I also thought about the option of using luxury handbag straps and rings to attach them to these cameras. Until I went on the Louis Vuitton site and saw that the badged ones go for about $950. 😲

So I think these ones from Amazon will do just fine for my non serious weekend goofing off cameras.  One caveat though, all these straps are probably only for small mirrorless to medium sized (as in light) DSLRs.  I don’t trust the weight of my main work cameras to these neck straps just yet.  I’ll still rely on the default OEM badged straps for now.  Yeah the Nikon/Canon/etc badged ones don’t look that cool or trendy, but they do the job and have served me well for many years now.  I’m pretty sure the big companies spent tons of money on R&D on how to get a vinyl strap to hold heavy bodies and lenses. Plus those straps are always available for $5 or less on the used market in basically unused like-new condition.

On a last more nerdy note, I never realized that a simple nice looking strap can actually make a person want to use a beat up old film camera, and when it comes to the older digital bodies, it kind of elevates any unwanted digital relic to timeless standard!  When I was a kid and played Final Fantasy on the SNES I wondered why equipping a simple hair ribbon on some of the characters would immediately give them buffed stats.  This is the equivalent! So here are the cheap camera straps that can give any old camera sitting on the shelf a +1 to usability and charisma.

The straps in the order of when I ordered/received them.

Left: MegaGear $15 Sierra   Middle: Canpis Oil Skin Brown $25   Right: Soft Cowhide $10

Bottom: MegaGear $15 Sierra Middle: Canpis Oil Skin Brown $25 Top: Padwa Soft Cowhide $10

So I first ordered the MegaGear Sierra for $15, the Canpis Oil Skin Brown for $25, and the Soft Cowhide for $10.

I’ll keep it short and say that the Canpis $25 is the best looking one and not bad for the price, especially when compared to the many other brands that start at double or even triple the price. I’ve found that it looks good with almost every camera! It smells nice like real leather and sturdy enough for maybe a D40 and prime lens, but nothing above that.

Here are photos of the packaging and strap itself.

Before I took off my original straps on the cameras I wanted to see the general look of it, much like laying out a tie on a suit before dressing.

The Canpis definitely looks good with this old classic Nikon FA.

Nikon Df and Canpis $25 Leather strap

It even looks great with my beloved Nikon Df! Again though, I don’t think the weight of my main event work camera and speedlight is practical for this strap. And definitely not any camera with a 70-200. Stick to the normal free OEM camera straps for that.

But it sure does look good for this Autumn season, and carries on the viability of brown shoes and black or dark charcoal suit ensemble!

It looks good with an Olympus E-M1…

…and also a Fujifilm Instax SQ6…

…a modern Canon EOS Rp…

…the original Fujifilm X100 Classic…

…but I think it’s best at home on a Sony A7.  With the kit lens that weights almost nothing, this is a perfect going out on the weekend type of camera.  I never understood the orange trim around the lens mount of the Sony, but that color and the brown leather camera strap really complement each other now.

The next lens strap is the Padwa Lifestyle strap at only $10! It’s a lighter tan color so I think it goes well with silver cameras.  The fraying of the strap might be an issue but it’s light and a bit stretchy.

I’ve been meaning to swap out the OEM Fuji strap on my X100 for quite some time now, something like 10 years.  The strap that comes with the camera is probably the worst out of all the straps I’ve ever used.  It horribly frays and was always itchy on and rough my neck.  The Padwa strap I think matches pretty nicely with the X100.

On the X-E1 I think I’d prefer something a bit darker in tone, which you’ll see later in the post.

The next strap is the MegaGear for $15. It’s a big sturdy strap that has the most in terms of construction.  Notice the X100 that the lady poses with in the product promotion!  At first glance in real life I’ll be honest in that I didn’t think it was suited to be a camera strap.  It looks more like a shoulder strap for a messenger bag or purse, but for $15 why not.  It has a plethora of straps and stitching and the top part is padded, but I don’t understand the smaller lower piece that connects to the D Ring. For heavier rigs I could see that a possible tear point.

It would most definitely hold a light camera like an E-M1 no problem.

For an F100 though, I still think I’d prefer a strap that is connected all the way.  Not only for looks but for a more sense of sturdiness. We’ll see though, right now this strap is actually on my D700, which is just as heavy as the F100.

The next straps I ordered were: OEM Nikon 1 leather straps for $10, Canpix Soft Nylon for $9, LeaTure Leather for $20

Top: OEM Nikon 1 leather strap $10 Middle: Canpix Soft Nylon for $9 Bottom: LeaTure Leather $20

These straps Nikon released with the Nikon 1 series of cameras way back when.  I guess there’s a store on Amazon with a ton of old stock sitting around.  For $10 each I think they are the best deal. They smell like real leather shoes and soft and plush. They also come in White, Pink, Black, Red, and the Dark Brown.

I’ve been using the OEM nylon straps from Nikon for the J1/V1 cameras for quite some time and while perfectly functional, they don’t look as nice as these!

Also ALL the product photos of these straps and cameras were shot with the Nikon J1 or V1.  I’m serious when I say in studio lighting they are the best cameras for product photography.  I haven’t bothered with the bigger DSLRs for photos of stuff in a very long time.  They really had something there when they over engineered the sensor but sadly put it in an expensive (for the time) consumer shell back in 2011.  Maybe I’ll finally do a J1/V1 post, but that might drive up the prices on the used market!

The V1 looks really good with the dark brown leather strap.  Not bad for $10!

This LeaTure $20 strap, I don’t know if I can recommend this.  It’s a bit pricey for what it is, which is a non bending belt basically.  I think if you fully fold it, the strap might break.

It looks good on the Instax Square since it has a more reddish color, but I’ve yet to put the whole thing in a bag yet, so its inflexible nature might make it a problem.

The Canpix $9 strap might actually be the best value.  It’s light, smooth, looks good with the hint of tan leather and goes well with lots of cameras.

I also ordered this Wanby Khaki strap for $7. The material is the softest as opposed to all the other straps. Plus it comes with a little camera pin!  I think it would go well with an old film camera and much more low key than the bright flowery patterned ones that seem to be the default outfit for vintage SLRs. Reversing it to get the corduroy like color is a plus too.

So here are some photos of these cameras all dressed up and ready to go in the nice fall lighting.  I look forward to using them all the remainder of this colorful season.

Canpis Leather Strap on Sony A7

Canpix Vinyl strap on Fuji X-E1

Again, special shout outs to the littlest interchangeable lens cameras featured here, the Nikon J1/V1 cameras! Truly the best product shot cameras when used in good lighting.

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