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Sun Sniper perfect camera strap for street shooting

This sling camera strap is perfect whether you use a small point-and-shoot, a full-size megazoom, or an interchangeable lens camera.

Joshua Goldman Managing Editor / Advice
Managing Editor Josh Goldman is a laptop expert and has been writing about and reviewing them since built-in Wi-Fi was an optional feature. He also covers almost anything connected to a PC, including keyboards, mice, USB-C docks and PC gaming accessories. In addition, he writes about cameras, including action cams and drones. And while he doesn't consider himself a gamer, he spends entirely too much time playing them.
Expertise Laptops, desktops and computer and PC gaming accessories including keyboards, mice and controllers, cameras, action cameras and drones Credentials
  • More than two decades experience writing about PCs and accessories, and 15 years writing about cameras of all kinds.
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Joshua Goldman
2 min read

Sun Sniper

Compact cameras pretty much get shafted when it comes to straps and for good reason. Most people don't bother with a strap for small point-and-shoots and larger cameras typically have eyelets for attaching a neck strap. Neither of these are great for street photography, though, where speed and inconspicuousness matter.

The Sun Sniper Compact strap, on the other hand, keeps you from looking like a tourist. It's a sling strap that goes across your body putting the camera on your hip. This also puts it out of the way when you're walking around while still letting you bring it quickly into position for shooting. It's fun to shoot with it down at your side, too, firing off a few snapshots and seeing what you get.

Another bonus: if you primarily use an LCD for framing your shots, having the strap around your body allows you to pull it taut to stabilize your hands out in front of you, reducing hand shake for photos and videos. This was particularly nice when using the long lens of a compact megazoom.

It's a slimmed-down version of the company's Pro sling strap for digital SLRs. The strap itself is about half the width of the Pro's, but it otherwise has all the same features. Those include a padded shoulder rest; a nylon strap reinforced with a steel anti-theft wire and backed with a $500 insurance policy; and a shock absorber to help prevent camera damage while climbing, jumping, or running. Instead of attaching to eyelets on a camera, the stainless steel connector screws into the tripod mount, so it works with just about any camera or camcorder. Plus, the connector is loaded with ball bearings letting it smoothly swivel while you're moving and shooting.

If I had a complaint it would be that there's no quick way to swap cameras off the strap. Having multiple connectors to leave on cameras that could securely clip to the strap would be a nice option. However, this isn't a major problem since all that's required for switching cameras is to unscrew it from the tripod mount.

This thing isn't cheap, either; it sells for just more than $60. That puts it squarely in "hobbyist" territory, but if you do a lot of travel and/or city shooting with compact cameras this strap is well worth the expense.