Published Reviews

Read the latest published articles about UPstrap: The ULTIMATE NON SLIP camera strap:

The Luminous Landscape

A couple of years ago I published a review of the UPstrap by Sean Reid. UPstrap is simply a camera strap, so what's the big deal?

The big deal is that it's the best damn camera strap in the world. Period. End of story.

The reason for this unequivocal praise is that it's the only camera strap that I know of that won't slip off your shoulder, whether the camera weighs 6 oz or 4 lbs. There are versions available for carrying large and heavy lenses, with quick releases and without. All of the materials used are the finest available, and the thought and engineering that goes into every aspect of their design and manufacture means that they do their simply job simply, and unobtrusiv
[UPstrap is]… a simple invention that is designed primarily to keep cameras, bags and other equipment from sliding off one’s shoulders. The strap has a very simple purpose, but an important one. …the key part of the UPstrap is a thick and very pliant polymer pad with little nubs all over it. The pad is meant to distribute weight over a larger surface area than a thin strap and, more importantly, to grab onto fabric aggressively so that it stays put.

I kept hearing from various photographers about how wonderful these straps were and decided to test a couple of them while photographing a wedding in Lancaster, Pennsylvania last month. I mounted the SLR model strap on our review copy of the Olympus E-1 and the RF/DC model on my trusty Epson R-D1. Usually, the Oly went around my neck and the R-D1 over my shoulder. Did they work? Must be, because I never gave either strap a single thought during the ten hours of, mostly continuous, shooting I did that day. I didn’t have to hunch my shoulder or lean a certain way or go into any kind of contortions to keep either camera from sliding off my shoulder. The straps just stayed where I put them and drew no attention to themselves. In other words, they worked exactly as advertised. In my mind, one of the best things a piece of photographic equipment can do is to stay out my way when I’m working. The less attention the equipment requires, the more attention can go to the subjects… Highly recommended.

Outdoor Photographer - EDITORS PICK

We’ve tried a lot of straps in our careers, but it’s hard to contest that the UPstrap is one of the best. The Upstrap SLR-QR uses a 300-pound, tensile-strength quick-release system along with abrasion-resistant webbing to help you comfortably transport your photo equipment from shoot to shoot. The strap can also be used as a camera neck strap or on camera, laptop or messenger bags. A double-locking adjustment system is attached to the shoulder pad. A quick-release wrist and tripod safety loop are also available.

Steve's Digicams

It Only Took 165 Years

...I guess not quite that long, because in the early days of photography cameras had to go on tripods, and didn't need straps. Still, it took well over 100 years, and the arrival on the planet of a certain Al Stegmeyer, before humanity was able to perfect the humble camera strap.

…Now, I haven't tried every strap ever made. It just feels that way. Well, maybe I have. No, no, I'm sure there are some out there that I've never had on my shoulder. Pretty sure. The point is, how tough do you think it would be to make a strap that really works? Well, it's never happened before. Now it has. The UPstrap is it.

After years of lugging obscene amounts of camera gear around Washington, D.C., most of it usually strung around my neck, my neck just can't take weight any more… Ergo, a shoulder strap is mandatory. [However,]…straps all have one single thing in common: they slip off.

The UPstrap doesn't. I'm not kidding. It really doesn't. I don't know how or why, but you can walk around for hours and the thing won't move. You can reach down to pick something off the floor with the arm your camera is on and it won't fall off. This sounds absurd, I know. I had to walk around the house doing it over and over again before I believed it myself.

For those of us who either have to or want to carry cameras on straps hanging from something other than our necks, this is an invention on the order of, I don't know, fuel injection, or the box spring. Modest, but at the same time crucial.

Digital Outback Photo

Not produced by large corporations with design committees, a single man in Florida has developed a product that will save millions in Chiropractic bills. Photographers can again walk with shoulders horizontal.

The UPstrap just works. Al Stegmeyer has built a better mousetrap.

Al makes and sells straps for different weight cameras, camera bags, tripod bags, pretty much anything you can sling over your shoulder. His testimonial page is a veritable who’s who in photography.

The Gadgeteer

The UPstrap is a brilliant product for those who are sick and tired of having to readjust their straps constantly. While no strap will make a heavy load lighter, the UPstrap can at least make such a load more comfortable to carry. If you have a lot of shoulder-strapped gear that needs lugging, then you should take a look at this product.

A.S.M.P. (American Society of Media Photographers) Bulletin

"Have you ever been bothered by your camera or bag slipping off your shoulder? Have you tried all those fancy straps that are supposed to hug your shoulder only to find that they do not work? Then pay a visit to: http://www.upstrap.com and take a look at a strap that doesn't slip. How do we know? We tried it. One day in New York ASMP member Jay Maisel noticed that ASMP executive director Dick Weisgrau was continually repositioning a camera that he was carrying as it slipped off his shoulder. Maisel handed Weisgrau an UPstrap, insisting that he try it immediately. Much to his amazement, Weisgrau could not get the camera to slip off his shoulder no matter how he tried. End result is that we thought members deserved to know about this wonderful problem-solving device. And it is reasonably priced."

Shutterbug Magazine

“…the readers of Shutterbug ought to know about UPstrap…a shoulder pad which actually grabs on to your shoulder and hold on for dear life!”

Popular Photography Magazine

Picture yourself in a national park, on a bridge over a gorge. As you reach for your camera, the strap falls from your shoulder. You lunge to save your gear from smashing, or worse, plunging into the picturesque abyss. Thanks to the UPstrap, this scenario will never play out in real life.

Made of standard 0.38-inch webbing, with a nonslip rubber pad molded around it, the UPstrap keeps your gear on your shoulder. I tramped all over New York City with one attached to a Canon EOS 20D and 28–135mm zoom lens and couldn’t even get it to slide a quarter inch down my shoulder. And it didn’t leave any black marks on my white shirts.

Rangefinder Magazine

"What could be worse than shooting an assignment only to discover that you had no film in the camera? How about having your camera and expensive lens go sliding off your shoulder and crash to the pavement? A Photographer Al Stegmeyer has found a solution to the latter problem and as a result, his UPstrap is gaining loyal followers from New York to Alaska…Other Photographers, including this reviewer, are glad that photographer/inventor Al Stegmeyer is doing for camera straps what Jim Domke did for camera bags."