Review: 4V Design ALA Strap

4V Design is a company that not only tries to design beautiful straps, but is doing something a bit different by attempting to innovate on the way that the basic functionality performs. Take the 4V Design ALA leather and canvas strap for example: it provides enough ergonomic comfort for use with a DSLR but also enough for use with a smaller camera. Then there’s the signature 4V Design shoulder pad and how incredibly comfortable it is.

Tech Specs

Specs taken from the B&H Photo listing for $119.95

Holds a DSLR Camera with Attached Lens
Comfortable Ergonomic Shape
Canvas and Leather with Suede Lining
Adjustable 41.3 – 52.8″ Cross-Body Strap
Universal Fit Camera Attachment
Leather Fold with Snap for Storage
Made in Italy

Ergonomics

The 4V Design ALA strap is designed much like the Lusso Slim, but this is a thicker strap designed for DSLR cameras and embraces a more modern look vs the classic style of the Lusso. Across the shoulder pad is 4V’s signature logo, leather, a brass button, and padding of course.

On the underside of this padding is the blue plush material. Unlike the Lusso Slim, this material feels more like a pillow around my shoulder or wrist. However, if you really push down on it and move your finger across you’ll feel the leather slip around your wrist and the textures of this underside grip onto your skin or shirt. 4V says that this is suede, but it doesn’t really feel like it.

This strap is mostly designed with emphasis on the shoulder pad, but the rest of it features leather, canvas and brass hardware. This makes it beautiful–though at the same time its design lacks pretentiousness.

To connect to the camera, the strap uses these cloth sections that are a bit like shoe laces. However, these are much more simple to connect to the strap quickly and make disconnecting simple enough while providing security.

To be honest, these could be me favorite part of 4V’s design here.

Build Quality

Italian leather has always been held in high regard, and you’ll be very happy to know that this strap surely performs up to par with the reputation of the fine material its made from. The ALA is comfortable, designed well, attaches to your camera quickly, and overall nothing feels cheap about the strap.

Though the blue, semi-grippy underside of the strap takes some getting used to visually, you start to understand and appreciate its design after some use. The 4V Design ALA strap provides excellent gripping support while providing comfort. Though it’s the most visually standout part of the strap, I’ve come to appreciate it.

Where this design really comes in handy is when the strap is wrapped around my wrist. The semi-grippy material and texture isn’t enough to rip the hairs off my arm but it surely is enough to grip onto my hand while not cutting off circulation.

Ease of Use

As said earlier, my favorite part of the strap is how easily it connects to your camera but without causing too many problems to disconnect the strap if you need to. It’s simple, efficient and more strap manufacturers should be using this method.

During my tests, this strap absolutely did its job when it came to being a shoulder/body strap. But where it really started to shine–as stated earlier–is wrapping it around my wrist. The semi-grippy material is comfortable with lots of padding; the strap wraps around easily and provides lots of comfort with enough security to give me confidence in the product. The padding is significantly more comfortable than what most other straps provide.

Again, it feels a bit like a pillow–which really came in handy when I tested it with the Canon 6D and my medium format Bronica ETRS.

Conclusions

The 4V Design ALA strap is beautiful, comfortable, versatile, and simply works. If you’re not a fan of the glossy underside of the Lusso slim, then this will better suit your tastes. It’s thin enough to work with a smaller camera but wide enough to also work with larger cameras. For that versatility combined with comfort, this strap surely earns a place amongst the site’s favorites.