Lucky Straps Camera Strap Review

As photographers, we often fall into the trap of sticking with the neck strap that came packaged with our camera. But let’s be honest, most of those are thin, boring and bland – plus they look just like everyone else’s kit strap!

What if I told you that there was a way to get a gorgeous, hand-crafted leather camera strap with a huge amount of personalisation? I guarantee yours will be like no-one else’s.

Introducing Lucky Straps, an Australian company based in Bendigo, Victoria. Lucky have been making straps for over 5 years and their products are used by thousands of photographers the world over.

Another element that I love about Lucky Straps is their amazing customer service – just like their products, it’s personalised with a high level of care.

I was lucky (pardon the pun) to be sent pre-release, updated versions of three of their most popular straps. The biggest change is the inclusion of a new quick-release system – but more on that later.

Let’s take a look at what Lucky Straps have been up to and whether their products rank among the best camera straps in terms of quality as well as looks.

Lucky Straps Specs

 

For this review, I was sent three different Lucky Strap products. All of their straps are Australian made and feature a unique webbing with new quick-release clips.

In some cases, not only can you choose the colour of the leather, but you can also select the colour of the stitching – this is the first step in personalising your Lucky Strap.

Let’s take a look at the specs for each individual strap.

Slim 30 Lucky Strap

• 30mm (1.18″) wide
• 145cm (57″)
• Oiled pull-up leather
• ‘Regular Length’ suits up to 170cm or 5’7″ tall,
• ‘Long Length’ has another 25cm (10″) of length.
• Perfect for all mirrorless cameras, 35mm film and mid-sized DSLRs

Standard 53 Lucky Strap

• 53mm (2″) wide
• 145cm (57″)
• Oiled pull-up leather
• ‘Regular Length’ suits up to 170cm or 5’7″ tall,
• ‘Long Length’ has another 25cm (10″) of length.
• Perfect for medium to large-sized mirrorless, DSLR and even medium format cameras

Wrist Strap

• 30mm (1 and 3/16″) wide
• Approx 42cm (17″)
• Nubuck finish for anti-slip
• One size fits all design
• Super soft upholstery leather feels awesome against your skin
• The smooth metal D ring is strong but not abrasive on delicate gear
• Perfect for all camera sizes from mirrorless to DSLR, and even large medium format cameras

Build & Appearance

The clips allow you to quickly place and remove the strap from any camera. If the camera has flat metal loops or uses eye-lugs with split-rings, it will connect simply and quickly.

The straps I received for review – the Slim 30 and Standard 53, both in Chestnut Brown made from an oiled pull-up leather – look and feel stunning! With time the straps will age, soften further and attract all sorts of marks and textures – signs of a life well spent.

The leather section of both is 105cm (41″) plus another 20cm (8″) of nylon webbing at each end. The quick-release clip is both a clip and a buckle so you can adjust the length.

At each end of the leather strap – where the nylon webbing is connected – there’s a double layer of leather with additional stitching. These ends also feature the Lucky Strap logo embossed into the leather.

The Lucky Wrist Strap is made with a nubuck leather finish that’s soft yet strong. The leather section is around 37cm (15″) in length, and the webbing – also adorned with the quick-release clip – is around 9cm (4”).

I mentioned in my introduction that you can personalise these straps like no other – this is not an overstatement.

Not only can you select the style, leather, length and stitching, but you can also have the strap embossed with either text or a logo of your choice. If you run a photography business and have your own logo, what better way to celebrate and promote it than by getting it embossed on your camera strap?

A customised and embossed strap also makes for a brilliant gift for the photographer in your life.

You can have text embossed at one or both ends in a choice of three fonts for a few extra bucks.

Further to this, the embossing can then be filled with a foil colour. There are seven colours to choose from including gold and silver foil. Personally, I elected to have GC blind-embossed on all of my straps – by the way GC stands for Good Chap!

When you pick up a Lucky Strap strap you will instantly know it’s a high quality, handcrafted and durable product. Go on, give it a sniff too.

Ease of Use

Lucky Staps are pure and simple products that do as they’re intended: they provide a highly comfortable and safe way to carry your most precious camera gear.

The Slim 30 and Standard 53 are not intended to be worn around your neck – personally I hate carrying a camera around my neck anyway as it gives me aches and pains.

Instead, you wear the strap either over your should or across your body. Thankfully, the straps are very long (especially if you opt for the longer-length version) so body size is irrelevant.

All of the straps feature the same Australian Made webbing and quick-release clip. The clip doubles as a buckle to adjust the length of the strap to suit your carrying comfort.

The clip itself is made from toughened plastic and has a carabiner-like opening that springs back into place. The nylon webbing passes through either the camera lug or a split ring and the loop formed attaches to the clip.

There’s also a small but strong locking mechanism that prevents the clip-gate from opening.

You can rest assured that your gear is not going anywhere you don’t want it to.

The Wrist Strap is a little different to the long straps in that it doubles over on itself to form a loop to pass your hand and wrist through. The leather is really soft against your skin.

A 30mm D-ring is connected to the end of the strap via rivets for a strong connection. This D-ring allows you to slide the strap closed against your wrist for greater security.

And that’s really all there is to it. Like I said, pure and simple – no need for maintenance or leather-care.

Just let the strap do its thing and age gracefully.

Value for Money + Discount

What price could you possibly put on something so beautiful and personal? That is a rhetorical question so please don’t answer in the comments. ;)

At any time, we as photographers can be carrying thousands, if not tens of thousands of dollars worth of gear. Investing in a carrying solution is paramount to your gear safety but also in your own personal comfort level.

Carrying a camera all day long can be physically draining. However, with a comfortable strap like the Lucky Strap system, you’ll go all day without discomfort.

Further to this, your highly-personalised strap will be the envy of your photography community thanks to your gold foil embossed business logo.

The Slim 30 will set you back around AU$115 and the Standard 53 will cost around AU$120. As mentioned, you can opt for the longer-length strap at no extra cost.

The Wrist Strap will cost around AU$75 and obviously there is only one size to fit all.

You can also use the code SHOTKIT to get a 10% discount off your order.

As for the personalisation options, the choice of stitching colour is no cost, however, it will cost extra for the embossing of your text or logo.

To have your 1-4 characters of text embossed into one end of your strap will be around $20 – to have it at both ends will be a total of $35 – logos will cost $100 however then you have access to that template forever.

Lucky Straps also make guitar straps, leather wallets, card cases and other leather accessories – you could get your logo stamped on a bunch of things.

Longer text will have additional charges depending on how far you go. The foil colour that’s bonded into the embossing is at no extra cost.

I think that for the quality of a hand-crafted product, plus the attention to detail in personalisation, this is incredible value for money. Keep in mind that these straps will last a lifetime and you will likely hand yours down to your child as their first leather belt!

What’s more, it’s great to see that Lucky made some sensible considerations on what to charge extra for and what to offer at no cost.

Lucky Straps Review | Conclusion

Of the three Lucky Straps that I received, I have to say that my favourite is the Wrist Strap… today!

Tomorrow it’s probably going to be the Slim 30 on my Fujifilm X-E3. The next will likely be the Standard 53 on my Fujifilm X-T3.

The point is, they are all amazing and I cannot fault any of them – plus I cannot return them as they have my Good Chap initials embossed on them!

Lucky Straps have excelled at making simple yet beautiful camera straps that do exactly what you need them to do. What’s more, you’re going to be comfortable all day long and know that your gear is safely secured.

Don’t live with sub-standard camera straps right out of the box! Do yourself and your camera a favour and adorn it with a piece of Australian Made delight.