You don't always think about the importance of a camera strap. Normally I just throw on the generic strap that comes in the box of whichever camera I've just bought. With my DSLR setup, I was a huge fan of the Black Rapid Double Strap with my 5D Mark ii's swinging around, but recently I've begun carrying only 1 camera around my neck and another on a Spider Holster around my waist. When I attached the generic Leica strap, I knew within minutes that it wasn't going to suffice, so I began asking around for the standard upgrade. It seemed like artist & artisan was a popular choice so I opted for the Kobe strap ($77) in black, it looked discreet and simple. For about 2 years I struggled to enjoy carrying my Leica around, not knowing if it was the weight of the camera, the immense cost/risk of having a Leica dangling around your neck, or just the lame functionality of the M9.

Finally a few months ago I decided that it wasn't a huge risk to upgrade the strap, and I knew this clothing line called Apolis also did leather goods, so I placed an order for their Reportage Camera strap ($149). The best features of this strap are

1) Added shoulder pad to widen point of contact of strap

2) Adjustable length

3) Slight give or bounce in leather

The third one sounds the strangest but is actually the biggest advantage. It means that the weight of the Leica is not felt so abruptly with each step. Although when it came out the Leica M9 was the smallest full frame camera in the world it still had some heft which needed to be distributed evenly.

I would highly recommend this strap to anyone looking to carry a Leica M9 or Leica M240 all day. It's well made, looks great and does the job better than most other straps I've owned. Here are some images after a month or so on camera

Ben Hider - Event Photographer based in New York City and Westchester