Retro Camera straps
Digital photography goes retro with the style of wide tapestry straps.
Remember those beautiful tapestry style camera straps that were so popular in the 70’s? Well they are back. The epic software group just released seven retro designs for both film and digital photographers. Vic Cherubini the company founder, began his career as a photographer in 1974. Several years ago Cherubini bought a new camera which came with a narrow uninspired camera strap. He wanted something more colorful and tried to find a Tapestry Style camera strap “the kind of straps that the Hippies made popular in the 70’s”, but all he could find were old dried out straps, or low quality knock offs.
He talked to his photographer friends who agreed they would buy a tapestry strap if it were available. Cherubini looked for a source and found a textile company in Asia that would make the straps to his specifications. To get the price down to a reasonable level, he had to buy thousands of straps. He did, and his hunch paid off.
Initially he thought most of the orders would come from photographers of his vintage but was surprised to see the majority of sales were from “20 something photographers who like himself were looking to add a little flair to their new digital cameras”.
“The “Express Yourself” straps are available in a variety of popular patterns inspired by Native American art (see examples below), and are made with the best hardware available. Each strap has 3 traditional “film loops” for 35 mm film canisters. The “Express Yourself” straps represent the ultimate in camera carrying comfort due to the thick wide design that evenly distributes the weight of your camera, and allows you to carry it for longer periods of time. The straps measure 2" wide by 46" long, when fully extended. One thing I never liked about the straps of the 70's was the metal buckle, so I have replaced it with a plastic one that will not scratch your camera.”
Today epic offers seven styles of straps which they sell from the stores section of their web site. Prices start at $9.95
You can check them out at: http://www.epicsoftware.com/news.php?news_id=21