For about two months now I've been using Gordon Coale's camera strap with tripod socket mount to hold my Mamiya 645 Pro-TL while out on walks and I've now transferred it to my hulking Polaroid 600SE which needs it even more. If the Pro-TL weighs about a brick, the 600SE is a brick and a half. This is something that you don't want to hold for a long time but really it is more bulk than the weight. Sometimes I just want to put it down to pick up another camera. Some people have asked me about it and so I've written this review.

Oh straps for the Mamiya 645 Pro-TL

I forget how I learned about Gordy's camera straps but I think it was because I had fallen into the same trap that many 645 Pro TL users with the Power Winder fell into which was to buy one of the Optech Super Pro Strap straps that are said to fit the special lugs on the M645. Yes, they do, but when the Power Winder grip is on, they do not. Apparently there is a super special pro spec version that does -- I'm only being a bit sarcastic. I know there is a way but I'm not going that route again.

Gordy's strap -- it fastens onto the tripod socket

After trying in vain to make the Optech Super Pro Strap work I decided to go another route and found Gordy's camera straps. The idea is quite a bit different than the Optech way. Optech tries to make snap fasteners for every weird camera's lugs while this particular Gordy strap fastens onto the part that is common to many cameras and that is the tripod socket. Yes, instead of having two points it fastens onto, the Gordy strap fastens onto one point at the bottom of your camera. Weird? Yes. Does it work? Yes. (by the way, Gordy makes straps that also fit on lugs and other attachment points)

Weird. But does it work?

Well, how does it work? The strap comes with a big fat screw tied to a loop. The loop fits loosely onto the actual leather strap that you are meant to wear cross-wise over your body. (By the way, that's how you're supposed to wear all camera straps, not over your neck because that would cause neck strain. Now, imagine carrying a brick and a half Polaroid 600SE hanging from your neck. Good. Don't do that.)

Back to the Gordy strap. One nice advantage of his strap and the loose loop is that you can slide the loop and the camera it is attached to anywhere you want and not have to shift the entire strap. Very convenient. Also the strap itself is made of leather, is solid, and also looks really good. Not every camera strap has to be made of neoprene; this one looks like it was handmade and it is -- just not by me.

How does it attach? Oh, that tripod screw ...uh

Now the big thing. The way the loop attaches onto my camera is by a big fat screw on the loop that goes into the tripod socket at the bottom of your camera. At first when I screwed it in by hand I came to the conclusion that this does not work. The screw couldn't be tight enough and I exchanged emails with Gordy on whether I could get one with a longer screw. Of course, I was terrified that the screw would work itself loose and my big brick and a half camera (or the Mamiya 645 'brick') would come crashing down on pavement. Gordy did offer a longer screw but I decided that would be too much hassle.

Use a wrench

Before I relegated the Gordy strap to the same part of the shelf that the Optech Super Pro shares I decided to take a wrench or pliers to the screw to see if that would make a difference -- it did! Two twists of the wrench and the screw was now very tight into the socket so that if I tried with my fingers I couldn't unloosen it.

The downside of this approach is that if you want to get it out of your camera -- you will also need a wrench to loosen it. I am one of those weird techies who actually always has a multitool in my bag so for me that is not a huge inconvenience.

So far in about two months of wandering about with the M645 and now the slightly heavier 600SE, I haven't had any accidents and never found that it had become loose on its own. Now, I haven't gone running with it but then I wouldn't go running with any of those cameras either.

It hangs loose

As you can see from the photo above, when you are not holding the camera, the whole assembly just hangs from the strap. Depending on how long the strap is, it could be at your hip or closer. When you order the strap you have to specify how long you want the strap. On Gordy's website, there is a guide to figuring out how long it is -- despite that, I chose one that was probably too long. You can see in the photo that it hangs a bit past my hip so pretty dangly. That means it will swing and knock into things and would not be comfortable just walking with such a big thing whanging about. Now if I could figure out a way to cinch it tighter so that the loop was shorter, then that would be very ideal.

And it hangs upside down

Yes, because the socket goes into the bottom of your camera, that means the whole thing then hangs upside down. I'm struggled with this conceptually in my head and wondered what difference it could possibly make. I think it does make a bit of a difference in that when you go to grab the camera, then you have to twist it right way up. But with these cameras they are not meant to be used for action so in the end I've learned to live with it.

You can put more than one socket attachment

As you can also see from that last photo, I have a second socket attachment on the strap. Yes, that means I can put another camera on the strap which I have found myself doing. I have had my Canon 30D on the strap to use as a 'light meter' for my film cameras. It's not a lot of weight when you just use a manual prime like I often do. I really like that I can have all of my cameras on a chain like that and can perceive having even three at a time. Yes, I would look like an even more gigantic nerd but well, I'm beyond feeling bad about that now.