Like camera bags, many photographers are always on a quest for the perfect camera strap. For a photographer like me, that usually means finding a strap that is aesthetically pleasing yet still offers a ton of flexibility. Lomography recently released two new Lomo Explorer Camera Straps – one minimalist, thin, black leather strap, and one nylon strap with a quick-release system – that offer photographers style, substance, and an ethical alternative to Peak Design’s quick-release straps.
Lomography Lomo Explorer Series
The newest edition to the Lomo Explorer series of straps includes a 110 cm (43-inch) black leather neck strap with metal loop-ring attachments and an adjustable (90-144 cm) nylon neck strap with two magnetic quick-detach connectors that make it easy to snap on and off as needed. The Lomo Explorer in Black Leather is a clean, minimalist strap that would easily complement a variety of compact bodies (I could easily see this living comfortably on my X-Pro 3 or even my Camp Snap Pro). Lomography also added some colorful stitching detail for a nice, elegant pop of color on an otherwise all-black strap. It’s truly an eye-catching design that would appeal to the minimalist photographer.
But what really caught our attention was the announcement of the Lomo Explorer Camera Strap Quick-Release. This camera strap is reminiscent of the Peak Design quick-release strap system with some notable exceptions. For one, the strap’s quick-release buckles are magnetically secured and rated to hold up to 55lbs. Combined with integrated distance markers on the strap itself, this is a system that blends comfort and confidence into its design.
Lomography Provides an Ethical Alternative
The second biggest draw for this strap is that it now gives photographers an ethical alternative to the Peak Design quick-release system. At The Phoblographer, we’ve made it known that we’ve long opposed some of Peak Design’s business practices – specifically, their support of Unsplash which they have failed to really own up. Whenever we’ve reviewed Peak Design’s bags and accessories, we’ve given them their due, but have also directed photographers to brands that are not actively finding ways to not pay photographers for their photography but claim to support photography.
In the long run, Unsplash made photography much more difficult for us by being something that AI fed off of.
At the same time, we fully recognize that in the years since, there has been a seemingly never-ending deluge of Peak Design clones and knockoffs appearing on platforms like Amazon, Temu, and others. While Peak Design’s anti-photographer stance on things like stock photography is reprehensible for a site dedicated to photographers and their work, the theft of patented work is no better. For years, I’ve personally looked for an ethical alternative to Peak Design’s quick-release strap system (I have owned their quick-release neck and wrist straps). I could not, in good conscience, toss the Peak Design straps and replace them with a gray-market imitation.
The Lomo Explore quick-release strap provides me, for the first time, an opportunity to purchase a strap system without compromising my own beliefs and ethics. Is this a “first-world problem?” I’m sure it is, but as photographers, journalists, and consumers, it’s important to remember that our buying/recommendation choices do have an impact beyond a company’s bottom line, and just imagine where photography would be today if we exercised these choices before AI slop took over our timelines.