Review: Peak Design Anchor Links to quick-release your camera strap (posted 2021-10-16)
I've had a few Nikon cameras, and those always come with a perfectly usable strap. The only issue is that putting the strap on a camera and getting the length just right is a rather involved process.
And sometimes I need a strap, but in other situations, it gets in the way. So I asked about straps that are easy to attach and detach in a forum, and one of the suggestions was for a Peak Design strap.
Peak Design as an entire system, with different kinds of straps that all use the same quick release mechanism. Their straps seem pretty good but a bit more than what I need for my non-pro cameras and matching lenses.
So I decided to get the Peak Design Anchor Links. (About $20/€20.)
This is a small set that contains:
- Four anchors
- Two anchor links
- Two rings
If you're into watching Youtube photography channels, you've probably seen the little black discs with a red edge that hang off of the sides of a camera before. The anchors click into the anchor links, which are of course attached to the ends of a strap.
A Nikon strap with anchor links on the ends and the anchors in the middle:
The anchors are quite small, here compared to some coins: 20 South African rand cents, 1 US dollar cent, 1 euro cent and 10 Canadian dollar cents:
The anchor's cord loops attach quite nicely to a Panasonic DMC-TZ70 compact camera:
However, the cord won't go through the holes on most Nikon cameras. I used the included rings with this Z fc:
On the Nikon F65 on the left there are no issues attaching the anchors, and on the D7100 on the right I used the triangles that the Nikon strap normally loops through. Not very elegant, though:
Verdict:
Attaching to many Nikon cameras is not ideal, but being able to take off the camera strap in seconds is really great.
The system is rated for 90 kg. When you start to see the yellow core of the anchor cords, you know it's time to replace the anchors. The anchors definitely won't come out of the links by themselves: you have to push the anchor down and slide it up until it comes out of the anchor link. So this seems like a very secure system.
The anchors are plastic so they won't scratch your camera, but I believe the anchor links are aluminum, so you'll probably want to take off the strap when putting away the camera.
I like the fact that you get four anchors, so you can outfit two cameras with anchors. Also, the anchors themselves are pretty easy to attach/detach, so you can use them with even more cameras without much trouble.
The only thing that could make this better would be "slim anchors" option with thinner cords for lighter cameras.
Highly recommended.