Do any of you NOT use your neck strap??

sapearl wrote in post #9827567
I find it pretty essential...... for wedding work, hiking..... anytime that I actually need to free up my ends. Typically I'll be carrying two bodies at a wedding with one around the neck and the other usually on my shoulder.

When I'm hiking, the body/strap is either around my neck, wrapped around the wrist or again toted on an arm/shoulder. Perhaps it's more your technique than anything else? Maybe your strap isn't comfortable?

No doubt, it's my technique, I'm just not sure what i need to change.

silvrr wrote in post #9827799
Take a look at the E-1 hand strip since both your bodies are gripped. I rarely use my neck strap since getting mine.

Actually, I use my 50D 99% of the time while my husband hogs his 7D and I've found that the grip makes my camera too big for my hands with the grip on it, not to mention incredibly heavy coupled with my 70-200mm...meaning I'll probably have a grip for sale soon! How does this hand grip work wihtout a grip? Or, another thought, could it make my grip feel better in my hands or is that something that won't change unless my hand size does?

The hand strap only works with the grip. I just wraps around your hand so you don't have to hold the camera it can kind of hang from your hand. It doesn't work for portrait mode though so if you do a lot of portraits not the best option.

Michelle Brooks Photography wrote in post #9827450
Is it just me or does this thing seem to have as its sole purpose entangling itself around wrists, getting in front of the lens, and creating general frustration? I find myself battling it often, especially when I go to take vertical shots. Should I just chuck it?

Yes it does. I don't have any of my neck straps on the camera. I do have a hand strap though.

I don't. It only got in the way and I never used it much anyway, so I took it off. If I want to give my hand a rest then I put it back in my SlingShot, where I can quickly retrieve it if I need to.

It depends on what i'm shooting. Around the house, portraits, parties, no neck strap. City or country hiking, R Strap. Birding (usually set up in one spot), no strap.

I currently only use a wrist strap on my T1i, although I'm thinking about switching back to a neck strap so that I can have both hands free when I want it.

The few times I've used a neck strap I've done it similar to bohdank described slung across my body. It's the only way I've found it comfortable and useful to use a neck strap.

mostly I use my luma loop, similar to the r strap but a bit more comfy IMO. But if I'm just going for a short walk with my wife I might not take it and just carry camera in hand.

My big **** with the Canon neck strap is---it's too short, because I would LIKE to use it "cross shoulder" and often instead hang it off my right shoulder. With the top of the camera against my side, I can "grab the grip" with my right when needed.

Also, the design of the camera anchors is silly. The camera is DESIGNED to hang with the back of the body against your chest---which is absolutely impossible with any lens other than an 18-55---the anchors should have been designed so the camera can hang straight DOWN.

There are times I'd have dropped mine without a strap. I hate hanging it on my chest, but I often leave it around my neck as a "safety" when shooting.

Are there any hand/wrist straps that are reasonably secure? If I walk around I want to use a Lowepro fastpack. Then I want to pull it out, shoot, then put it back in if needed. I can leave the neckstrap on there but it's be less fussy if a good wrist strap was on it.

Back when I shot weddings I wouldn't use a strap. One camera/flash rig was always in hand and the other body and lenses would be in a quick access shoulder bag - first a no-name, then an early Domke, and ultimately in the Tamracs I still use. These days I'm shooting strictly for my personal pleasure. I'll use a strap maybe 50% of the time.

From the time I picked up my camera, my strap has always been a shoulder strap and never a neck strap. And from the time I started using hand straps (Canon E1), i stopped using straps altogether unless I used the Rstrap. There are times when the hand strap won't do well, like when the environment smells (think barbecue) or when you know you're gonna get soaked with water/rain.

Headshotzx wrote in post #9829966
From the time I picked up my camera, my strap has always been a shoulder strap and never a neck strap. And from the time I started using hand straps (Canon E1), i stopped using straps altogether unless I used the Rstrap. There are times when the hand strap won't do well, like when the environment smells (think barbecue) or when you know you're gonna get soaked with water/rain.

You use the E1 on your larger cam just fine? I noticed it says for Rebel series, And just want to make sure it's capable of carrying a bigger cam.

EDIT: nm, i think all these things require a battery grip right,

The Canon E1 requires a battery grip, 1 series, or a quick release plate that has lugs at the sides like a Markins, Kirk or RRS plate.

Realized, based on my "style", I didn't use the neck strap and it just "got in the way".. Moved to a handstrap and could not be happier..