Almost a year ago, I walked into a small camera store in Red Bank, NJ. Their cameras and wares were a bit pricey, but I wanted to support that small shop to do my part in keeping them alive. So I bought a camera strap which lives on my Nikon Zf. Earlier this year, the owner emailed me to let me know that he had been reading my website and found out that I was using the strap that his company makes. Based in Greece, Hyperion is making some of the most beautiful camera straps that are also incredibly reliable and durable. And most of all, they’re insanely affordable for what they are. So Pavlov, the owner, sent me the Hyperion braided flat leather strap. And if you’ve ever had any double as to the durability of leather camera straps, this will absolutely put that to rest.
Lots of braided leather straps are often round and pretty thick. There are, of course, a few that are more flat. However, they’re all pretty pricey. The one from Hyperion is much different in that it’s not only affordable, but also insanely functional. Let’s start by talking about how it connects to your camera. First off,t here are split rings that you can use. If your camera has those already, then just use the quick releases to attach and detatch the camera. One would think that these quick releases would make the process cumbersome and that you’d be afraid that it would let your camera fall. But after several weeks of use, that has never happened to me.
This is incredible because it addresses the needs of all the tech-bros out there who say that they’re using Peak Design or nothing. With Hyperion’s offering, you can support a small company that hasn’t run into issues with patents or anything else.
During my use, I wore standard button down shirts, t-shirts, tank tops, etc. And the braided leather was always comfortable on my skin even with a heavy Leica SL2s. More importantly, the Hyperion strap stayed grippy due to how the design includes both textured and smooth leather. Best of all, even with heavy Sigma and Leica SL Apochromatic lenses attached, it really always felt comfortable despite NYC’s hot weather.
So this strap combines durability, beauty, comfort, and versatility. During part of this review, I wrapped the strap around my wrist to make my camera available to me quicker. At no point did the Hyperion strap feel uncomfortable. Then I switched up how it was wrapped around my hand. I’ve been taking boxing classes, and so I wraped it around my thumb and hand similar to how a boxer would wrap their wrists before putting on boxing gloves. Still, the strap remained comfortable to use.
I truly can’t find a flaw with this strap. It addresses all the concerns that I’ve had for years, and it feels good to be supporting a small company that makes these straps sustainably and ethically, based in Greece. I am personally looking forward to buying more of their wares.
