Hiking with Peak Design’s Rugged Camera Strap & Capture Pro Clip

Peak Design Slide Straps & Capture Clips: Reviewing my new favorite camera accessories

Like almost all reviews on this website, this one is unsolicited.  My only incentive is a very small commission if you end up purchasing anything.

You know those sponsored ads you see on Facebook?  The ones that come up every time you hop on there to see what’s happening?  I noticed Peak Design’s ads every time I logged on but never clicked on them.  I eventually caved and I’m glad I did.  I found a new favorite camera strap & mounting system.

Camera Straps

Here’s an accessory that photographers have love-hate relationships with.

For years I’ve used the BlackRapid Sport strap.  This was one of those heavy duty straps that let the camera freely slide up and down the strap.  However, the shoulder padding didn’t stay in place unless you placed another strap under your armpit.  It also didn’t fold up easily in my minimalist camera bags, and worse yet, you had to remove the strap from the camera to use a tripod.

Peak Design Slide

Enter the Peak Design Slide straps.  These wide, soft nylon straps (they look kinda like seatbelts) are much more conventional in appearance but with some really cool additions.

• Internal padding makes it comfortable on your shoulder
• A grippy rubber surface on one side will keep it in place
• Aluminum adjustment buckles are quick and easy to use with a flick up to adjust and a flick down to lock

The straps do a great job of keeping the camera close to your body and are comfortable with a heavy load over long periods of time.

The identifying feature of Peak Design straps is the Anchor Link quick-connect buttons.

These little non-intrusive buttons serve as semi-permanent anchors used to quickly connect many Peak Design accessories (I just started hiking with the Hand Clutch also).  A Dyneema (almost as strong as Kevlar) loop attached to a button can be girth-hitched around strap lugs and tripod plates.  You can connect & disconnect straps to them with one hand.

Each Peak Design Slide strap also comes with an Arca-type 1/4″-mount tripod plate.  The plates have holes in the corners to attach Anchor Link buttons.  This lets you attach the strap to the tripod plate without interfering with tripod mounting.

Four Anchor Links are included with each strap to give you options.

Peak Design Slide models

I bought two of these straps.

One is the Tallac Slide strap, a specialty vibrant blue sturdy strap for my Sony a7II.  I just thought it’d be cool to buy this designer variant of the standard black Slide because I can walk to its namesake mountain from my house!

The other strap I purchased was the SlideLITE for my Sony a6300, a slightly slimmer version of the Slide.

The picture below shows the versatility of the Slide straps.  I normally use these straps as sling straps, with one end connected to the normal camera strap lug and the other end connected to the tripod plate.

But with a telephoto lens, I want one end of the strap connected to the lens to support the weight.  So I have an extra plate & Anchor Link button attached to the lens collar.  When it’s time to put this lens on, I quickly disconnect one end of the strap and attach it to the telephoto lens collar.  Done in a matter of seconds.

And none of this interferes with tripod operation!

They have amazing features, but are they sturdy?

I’ve only hiked a little over 100 miles so far using these straps but haven’t seen any indication of weakness yet.  The materials all appear to be of a very high quality and the stitching looks bulletproof.  Only time will tell but I’m not worried.

A Manfrotto adapter is available to convert the Arca-style plates for those of you with the Manfrotto RC-2 tripods.

CHECK CURRENT PEAK DESIGN SLIDE PRICES AT AMAZON

Peak Design Capture Pro Clip

What really prodded me to check out Peak Design were pictures of their Capture Pro Clip.  This is a camera mounting plate you can secure to your backpack strap or belt; your camera clips into it using the provided Arca-type tripod plate.

This is the end of your camera banging around your hips as you’re hiking!

I attached this plate to my backpack shoulder strap.  The back of the plate loosens with thumbscrews.  Then you can sandwich any strap or belt up to 3″ wide and 1/2″ thick in there and retighten the thumbscrews.

Like the Anchor Links, the camera can be removed with one hand by pressing the lockable red button and lifting the camera up.  After a little practice, you can even secure the camera back in its cradle without looking.

This clip can be easily swapped between bags; the picture here is the Capture Pro Clip on my Gossamer Gear Mariposa pack I take backpacking.  I transferred it over from my camera bag in a matter of seconds before going on an overnighter.

CHECK CURRENT CAPTURE PRO CLIP PRICES AT AMAZON

The Capture Pro Clip with Slide Strap

The combination of all these things is what makes me love this setup so much.  The interoperability between all of Peak Design’s systems and third-party systems.

I keep the Slide strap attached to the camera and over my shoulder all the time for extra security, but it’s cradled in the Capture Pro Clip on my right shoulder while I’m moving.  It’s a quick one-handed operation to move it up to my face for the photo and then back in the mount.  The camera doesn’t interfere with my stride at all when it’s mounted on my shoulder.

I’ve run, jumped over logs, through creeks, and crawled over boulders without the camera ever feeling like it was going to fall off or bang into something.

When it’s time to use the tripod, I again quickly remove the camera from the Capture Clip and attach it to the tripod – all without the need to remove any straps.

I’m really impressed with Peak Design’s continual updating of old products and innovation with new products – I’ll keep you posted!