Review: Joby Ultrafit Slingstrap Camera Strap

Last Updated on 02/26/2013 by Julius Motal

It is always cumbersome to have to deal with your camera strap during a photo walk, especially the traditional ones that hang around your neck. I personally hate having to use a camera strap because most of the time, it just gets in my way and can become quite uncomfortable during an active photo walk or a hot summer day as the rubber grip likes to stick to my skin. I’ve always preferred to just go strap-less to avoid the hassle. However, I never thought to consider a shoulder strap until Joby sent us the Ultrafit Slingstrap for review. After around a week of testing, I have found a lot of good things to say about it but also some bad. Head past the break for the full review.

 

Pros and Cons

Pros

• Very simple and quick adjustable strap
• Easy to attach via tripod mount
• Two versions: one for men and another for women

Cons

• Occupies your tripod mount
• Camera hangs upside down as you walk
• Could have more padding for comfort

Gear Used

Canon T3i

Canon EOS 650

Tech Specs

Via Adorama

Compatibility	DSLRs, CSCs, super zoom cameras
Attachment Interface	Universal 1/4-20″ thumbscrew
Materials	Stainless Steel, Aluminum, Glass-filled Nylon Plastic, EVA Foam

Ergonomics

The Ultrafit Slingstrap is extremely lightweight and as it is a shoulder strap, a lot of the weight from your DSLR is distributed evenly throughout your entire body. This really comes in handy if you’re carrying a larger camera body and lens. A shoulder strap can be more convenient and comfortable compared to a neck strap. With a shoulder strap, you tend to not experience the pesky neck pains that are a result of carrying your camera around all day on your neck. 

 The strap is smooth enough for it to slide along the loops easily without snagging as you bring the camera up to your eye as well as when you want to adjust the overall size. It’s not difficult to adjust as I easily adjusted it to my size. The shoulder strap contoured nicely to my body shape which I found to be very comfortable; I barely noticed it with a thin sweatshirt on.

For our female readers, Joby also has a female version specifically designed to fit your lady-parts better.

Build Quality

The construction of the entire strap seems very to be of a high quality. It has no fraying fibers which tends to happen to nylon after a long period of use. Even after countless times of pulling up and down along the straps, they still looked as they did out of the box.

Something that I would have liked to see more of is padding along the main shoulder strap just for the additional comfort. After prolonged use, I found that the edge of the strap sometimes would rub against my neck. This could become a much bigger problem during the warmer seasons where you’d only want to have a t-shirt on.

The buckles and loops that control and adjust the strap are plastic to keep the weight down, but I have yet to run into any problems with them breaking. The strap lock which keeps your camera in the position that you want is also plastic but as long as you make sure to clamp it down every time, you won’t have any shattered glass to deal with.

The tripod mount is solidly made without showing too much wear and tear even after daily abuse. The stainless steel screw fits your 1/4-20″ mount perfectly and as long as your screw it on tightly, you’ll have no problems. A rubber ring prevents the mount from scratching and putting too much pressure onto the bottom of your camera. The metallic red is also a nice aesthetic touch, in my opinion.

Ease of Use

There’s nothing complicated about the Slingstrap. Simply screw it into your tripod mount and adjust the straps to fit your body by pulling on the back side. The back side is the section with the smaller buckle and loop while the front side has the extra-large D ring.

To quickly move your camera from your side to your shooting position, you just grab your camera and pull up towards your face. The strap loosens itself enough for you to comfortably take your shot and once you’re done, pull the large D ring and your camera away from each other and it’s back to your side.

The best feature–but also its worst–is the tripod mounting capability. After being able to quickly screw the Slingstrap onto my DSLR in a matter of seconds, I don’t want to ever go back to miserably trying to thread my traditional camera straps through the tiny strap loops ever again. However, if you tend to use a tripod often, it could become a bother to consistently unscrew and screw the strap back on.

Conclusion

Taking the Ultrafit Slingstrap with me on photo walks have been an enjoyable experience, and a welcome relief as opposed to the usual annoyance that I have to put up with when I use my Canon neck strap. The simple and lightweight design of the strap makes bringing the camera up to shoot so much easier. Having a shoulder strap  is much more comfortable and natural-feeling in my opinion. Having a camera hanging down your neck just feels wrong to me. The Ultrafit strap is available for $50 and I would strongly recommend it for shooters who typically move around to get their photos as opposed to using a tripod.

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