UpStrap - UpStrap RF
Price: $23.00
www.UpStrap-Pro.com

Camera straps are a market that tend to be very much about personal preference and what you like in your daily use. Some may like a strap targeted at neck use, others like to sling their camera over their shoulder, and still more have their own unique carrying technique. Many end up just using the included Canon or Nikon strap, but to get a custom solution to fit your needs better many companies have provided solutions to the strap problem.

Intro

One such company is UpStrap-Pro. They make a very unique rubber type strap that is super grippy and relatively low profile. The strap is all black with black web and the grip is black as well. Included with the strap are very detailed and visual instructions that make setup a snap.

The grippy shoulder pad has some pretty good mass to it and is very sturdy, yet very flexible to mold to your shoulder or neck. The webbing is 60" long which makes it just a bit longer than the stock Canon SLR strap.

The Pad itself is about the same width across as the stock canon strap.

The UpStrap shoulder pad is quite a bit thicker than the Canon strap though.

The build quality is excellent and the finish looks great. The webbing is very secure to the shoulder pad and the finish on the shoulder pad was smooth and well formed. The webbing itself is just a bit thinner than the stock Canon strap (which is to be expected as the RF model we are reviewing is meant for lighter cameras).

Setup

Setting up the UpStrap on your camera is a very easy process with the included instructions. It is pretty similar to the stock camera strap, except UpStrap recommends routing the webbing back through the keeper which keeps you from having a hanging loose end of the strap.

The only draw back of this way of doing it is that you lack a bit of the flexibility in changing the length on the fly and if you do decide on a new length, you really should cut the webbing to make it all fit properly. That is why I also tried out the standard way that Canon and other straps use with the hanging ends. This works fine with the keeper UpStrap supplies and still stays plenty tight and secure in my usage (although doubling back through the keeper as UpStrap recommends probably is the safest way overall to do it).

I setup the UpStrap RF on our Canon 30D which is a bit on the high end for this strap (it is meant more for smaller cameras like the XTI/XT series and Point and Shoot Cameras), but it still performed very well with light lenses attached to the 30D.

Usage

In using the UpStrap for a few weeks of shooting and various tasks with my camera I found it quite nice to use. Because the UpStrap pad did not extend as far as straps like the Canon stock strap you have to be a bit more weary of wear the pad is and it can slip down where you have to readjust it a bit to get it back on your shoulder. The pad also has a bit of weight to it which makes it want to hang down a lot of time, a minor annoyance. Because of how grippy the shoulder pad is, the UpStrap stuck on my shoulder with just about any material I was wearing. From coats to t-shirts, the UpStrap just stayed put and did not want to slip at all. A very big improvement over the stock Canon strap that tends to slide around quite a bit.

Personally I like to use the strap as a sort of brace by pulling the strap against my shoulder and steadying the camera that way. The UpStrap worked very well for this and allowed me to shorten up the webbing to allow for the perfect fit.

The biggest issue for me personally was that the UpStrap loved to hang down when disengaged and this tended to put more pressure on the webbing and make it more taunt and in your face. Also since the shoulder pad was somewhat small, it required a lot of pulling it back in place on my shoulder to get it into carrying position. This is just a fact of life with the nice rubber shoulder pad, but annoying none the less.

Conclusion

Overall I feel the UpStrap RF is a good strap for lightweight SLRs and Point and Shoot cameras depending on your shooting style. It stays put like no other and is very low profile which is nice for when you have to pack it away in your bag. The pad can be a bit small though at times and since it does weigh a bit, it tended to want to hang down when disengaged for shooting. Overall I really liked the UpStrap, but for my style it required too much repositioning when moving from shooting to carrying. For many though, I can see it will be the perfect strap!

Pros:

• Low Profile makes storage and managing the strap easy
• Super grippy makes it stay put on your shoulder when camera is hanging from it

Cons:

• Pad itself being so small can sometimes slip off from where you actually want it while engaging and disengaging the camera
• Pad weight pulls on the straps and makes them a bit taunt and in your face.

Thanks to UpStrap for the Review Sample!