The Cecilia Gallery might be the most international camera strap maker we’ve come to know recently. While the company is based here in New York, it makes straps using the best materials from around the world including alpaca wool from Peru, leather made of Argentinian cowhides, and nylon from mills here in the United States. All of these combined together create the Bohemian straps that you see here.
Cecilia Gallery has been making stylish, patterned camera straps for DSLRs for a while and now the company is moving into the mirrorless space with a new set of thinner neck straps. Cecilia’s latest creations are certainly less ornate than their bigger, patterned brethren and this might be the perfect solution photographers looking for a simple strap that’s made with some real quality leather.
Pros and Cons
Pros
- A very plain and simple leather neck strap
- Soft, soft leather
- An almost imperceptible, finely pebbled texture
Cons
- Stiff neck pad makes it hard to wrap this strap on your wrist if you choose to do so
- Split rings catch easily on the soft leather bumpers
Gear Used
We used the Cecilia Leather Neck Strap with the Sony A5100, Fujfilm X-T1, and Nikon D750.
Tech Specs
Specs taken from the Cecilia 2.5cm black leather neck strap product page.
- Leather: full-grain Argentinian cowhide
- Interior: nylon (175lb tensile strength)/polyester
- Hardware: nickel-plated tempered steel ring, zinc-alloy slider & keeper
- Adjustable length: 37 in. – 54 in. (94 cm – 137 cm)
- Neck length and width: 14.5 in. x 1 in. (37 cm x 2.5 cm)
Ergonomics
The Cecilia 2.5cm neck strap is a very understated leather camera accessory that almost looks like the strap that comes included in the box with Olympus and Fujifilm cameras. In this way it pairs perfectly with the discreet nature of mirrorless cameras. There aren’t any extra flourishes of colored stitching or metal other than the split rings on either side. Photographers who don’t want to attract too much attention to themselves will like the strap’s conservative styling.
The strap has a finely pebbled texture, which you’ll only really notice if you’re staring intently at the strap. Otherwise Cecilia uses some of the softest leather I’ve ever felt.
As for adjustability, there are two sliders that you can use to lengthen the strap up to 54-inches or shorten it down to 37-inches. Unfortunately the neck pad does not move at all, but it should be wide enough to cover your bases while toting the camera around.
Build Quality
Don’t mistake this little strap for a weakling as it’s rated to handle up to 175 pounds of weight. We didn’t have enough camera gear on hand to call Cecilia’s bluff, but the strap easily handled the full weight of a Nikon D750 even with a gargantuan lens like the Sigma 18-35mm f1.8 mounted on it.
That said, carrying so much gear with such a small strap does indeed dig into your neck, but there’s extra polyester cushion inside the strap to help distribute the weight.
Ease of Use
The split rings that come with the Cecilia leather neck strap are small and flexible, yet are strong enough to handle any camera gear tugging on them. One small annoyance you’ll encounter while putting on the strap is that the rings easily dig into the bumpers because they are thick pads of soft leather. When you put the strap on the camera, you’ll have to angle the ring upwards and away from the bumper so it does not drag against the leather. It’s just a small annoyance and honestly it won’t really bother you unless you’re putting it and taking it off three different cameras like I did.
The neck pad is also very stiff when you first get the strap, which becomes a problem if you like turning it into a makeshift hand strap. However with a bit of teasing, twisting, and generally beating, the strap becomes pliable enough for you to wrap it around your wrist.
Conclusions
Likes
- Some of the softest you’ll ever feel
- Nylon webbing makes this strap extremely strong
- Polyester adds a nice bit of padding for your neck
- One of the more affordable leather neck straps
Dislikes
- Not a personal fan of the round leather bumpers
- Neck pad comes a little stiffer than I would like
The Cecilia leather neck strap is a very fair looking accessory, yet low-key accessory for your mirrorless camera. It does not have all the shiny bells and whistles like a Tap and Dye strap or an accessory from Holdfast Gear, but it also noticeably less expensive at $68. It’s also one of the few small straps you can expect to stand up to the weight of an ungainly amount of camera equipment.
I had a few handling quibbles with the strap between the round soft leather bumpers and the inflexible neck pad. However, these are both negligible issues that can be resolved with a bit of time and wear.
We give Cecilia’s 2.5cm Leather Neck Strap gets a four out of five star rating. The strap is available from Cecilia for $68 or you could get one with Alpaca wool for $74.
Recommended Cameras
- Samsung NX300: Samsung’s mirrorless cameras have a leather wrapped bodies that will go with the smooth finish of this strap.
- Canon SL1/Nikon D3300: These small straps will also work great with smaller DSLR cameras