SmugMug camera strap fail
We thought we were doing an awesome thing by giving away 20,000 stretchy comfy grippy camera straps. Until recently, all we heard was how cool the straps are.
But we’ve heard a few disturbing reports of the clips failing on some straps, so we thought we’d better put out an alert. Problem is, we’ve given these away at places like SmugMug user group meetings, so we don’t have a way to contact everyone who received them. Please pass this along to anyone you know with our straps.
We have 15,000 new straps coming this week and we asked the manufacturer to put much bigger clips on the new ones (click to see bigger):
Disclaimer: the fact that we’re hanging a 20 pound weight from the straps does not mean we recommend it! Don’t try it at home.
We’re happy to replace your strap with the new ones coming this week even if you’ve had no clip fail. No worries, they’re free, just like the originals. But we have to ask for patience because we have a backlog of orders.
The reports we’ve heard of failed clips appear to have come from the kinds of big cameras Batman would use:
We know of a few people who heard of the clip fail but love their straps so much they threw away the clip and sewed the strap.
Clip slip & fail
We researched failures on the net and it was a little bit scary to read clip fail reports about straps of just about all makes. Someone sent in a diagram of the way they have secured their straps for years no matter the manufacturer or size of camera. Here’s what they said:
“The idea of the double lock is that it prevents the slippage by binding the nylon against itself and also captures the tail end of the strap inside the slider. This makes slippage virtually impossible. The other advantage is if the clip should fail, the slider with all of this extra material can and usually does bind and catch the item before it falls.”
But big cameras require big straps
I know, the straps say Pro on them… But honestly we can’t be sure even the new straps will be bullet proof on big camera/lens/flash combos. We’ve not been able to do the thousands of hours of testing under all conditions that would make us be sure they’ll never fail under a big load.
How to get new ones
SmugMug subscribers can get new straps at http://www.smugmug.com/free-stuff.mg.
Love the straps but don’t subscribe to SmugMug? If you have one of the old straps, send email with your name and address to help at smugmug dot com. We’ll get one to you if you act fast before this goes viral and we go through all 15,000.
But we can’t tell you how sorry and embarrassed we are that a clip apocalypse happened to some people whose beloved cameras hit the ground.
All the best,
The SmugMug Family
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Thanks for taking such good care of us.
This is reason #1 that I’m a Smugmug customer. Proactive solutions and awesome customer service. You guys are high-class all the way!
That’s reassuring. Is there a huge backlog, though? I’m in the UK & I ordered mine months ago. (Not complaining, I know it’s free – just curious.)
Thanks, guys my strap hasn’t failed yet and I have a heavy 5D and grip with a big lens.
Thank-you so much for addressing. Last July, shortly after purchasing my 18-200mm, my strap let loose and **SMASH** the lens fell lens filter first on concrete. Much to my surprise, the lens, other than a dent remained unharmed. I truly believe in this case, prayers helped
I had saved up 5 years for the lens. Anyway, I have been using my SmugMug strap (because it is cool) but have reinforced it with safety pins. In short Thank-you!
Will the SmugMug Pro straps get new clips too?
So far my hasn’t failed yet.
my strap hasn’t failed yet, but i added a second clip, just in case. i’ve even hung a D700 with a 400mm f/2.8 from it.
Thanks, guys! My SmugStrap broke earlier this year (did not result in a “Crash!!”). Have “applied” for a new one on your website. Feel free to send an extra clip or two, and I can repair the old one, too.
I’ve had my request in for a strap since my first week as a customer. Still haven’t received one, but maybe this time around I’ll be lucky! Keep up the great work
Soo glad to hear that you addressed this problem! I can’t tell you how it felt when $3,000 worth of equipment went crashing to the pavement! The strap is so much more comfortable than the ones that come with the camera too. I do believe I’ll sew it too, just to be sure!
Mine failed at the zoo. I thought I was the only one, all that dropped was my old 20D (on its second shutter) now it is 40% gaffer’s tape…but still works fine. But thanks for getting on top of this.
It’s stellar customer service like this that will keep me with SmugMug till I cash in my chips.
Y’all are simply the best. Thank you for your fantastic customer service.
You guys so rock! I was just looking at my strap thinking it was looking a little ratty and hoping for a SmugMug Pro version to update it with. I realized my SmugMug strap has 25K miles plus airlines miles on it – and hasn’t left the lower 48 Stages!
I love the SmugMug strap… most comfortable one I’ve ever used. When the strap failure happened to me 2 weeks ago, on a trip to New Orleans, I thought that it was just a freak accident. (My 5dmkii along with my 24-105, dropped to the sidewalk.)
Hats off, and 2 thumbs up to SmugMug for being proactive in this. From what I know of you guys, it’s exactly what I’ve come to expect, and I thank you for it.
I’m looking forward to a replacement strap!
Looking forward to the new strap! (wow, out of stock already!?)
I’ve got the old strap and it’s flown across the country half a dozen times, been to a wedding, to the ocean dozens of times… I just love it.
Wing.
You are awesome
I would never even think about another photo site … my current strap has been up 11 x 14k peaks here in Colorado and the clips seem to be holding on at altitude, but I did apply for a new one, I love my strap … better safe than sorry, my camera doesn’t need to drop 1k feet or so 
Now, could this clip problem be the reason the 30mph wind won’t stop long enough for me to get these damn CO wildflowers in focus at F/22 while ascending one of these mountains in the rain?
Paul
Batman’s strap is upside down. What a dork. Keep up the good work, SmugMug.
Still waiting for mine (for months). Good things come to those who wait daily by their mailbox?
My strap broke at a wedding this past winter on my 30d. The lens had a uv filter on it and fell filter first. lucky for me canons built quality is excellent and I was able to keep shooting as I only suffered a bent filter.
You guys are all kinds of epic awesome.
i’ve had 2 smugmug straps fail on me. one while walking with the camera, another while hauling butt on the pit-bike at the racetrack. luckily, i’m pretty much a ninja, so i caught both cameras as soon as i felt them starting to fall.
i’ve since simply cut the clips off of them and tie them in knots on my camera. they’re too rad looking, and too comfy for me to punt. i likes them.
oh..and one of my employees crashed a pit bike while wearing the smugmug strap. 400L, 30D body, and smugmug strap all have battle scars now.
Cool that you’re fixing this!
BTW, nice job outing Batman; now we all know that his secret identity is not Bruce Wayne at all — it’s Bruce Testones, Fashion Photographer!
Thank you for being responsive and doing the right thing here.
Thank you so much for correcting this problem. How do I get on the list to have my strap replaced? I do love the strap and I love the camera the strap is holding.
Thank you,
Barbara
Thanks I just had both of the clips break on my camera. they both have held on even after the breaks occurred. I have just the Smugmug strap not the pro. I’m using a bowline in both ends also known as a water knot.
My strap broke at a wedding. SO happy that the SmugMug Heroes were straightforward, acknowledging the problem — and now they are doing all they can to prevent future failures.
I may never quite completely trust another strap again, relying instead on my old Girl Scout knot skills, but I just want say THANK YOU for doing the right thing.
Thought it was just me when mine broke
Glad to see its not, fortunately I was taking mine out of the bag when it broke and didnt drop it in the sand at the beach!! I tied it in a knot temporarily for that day and then replaced it with a clip from an old 35mm strap for the time being until I get my new one! Uber excited to get it as these are my favorite straps!
SMUGMUG ROCKS!! ◕‿◕
Well done for coming forward with this improvement.
I haven’t had the strap fail, but I appreciate your action to improve.
I promote SmugMug all over the ‘net … but have to warn people about the huge security hole. I hope to be able to promote it without the warning soon.
Keep up the great improvements!
Mine failed during an engagement session and both my customers and I watched in slow motion as my 5D mark II and 70-200 fell to the ground. Luckily the battery grip shattered and the hood on the lens kept the equipment from breaking!
Will you also be addressing the problem with the old Smuggy stickers? The car I put mine on fell apart
Do you receive this strap automatically?
I joined smugmug with a pro acount at the start of this year.
I have’nt received one yet to date
Thank you! Mine failed and I dropped my camera. Luckily no significant damage. I ordered another one but am afraid to put it on! I will definitely use the new one.
How do I get one of the new straps?
Mine failed while on assignment dropping my Nikon D3, 12-24 Lens and SB800 Flash to the ground. It broke the flash and lens but the camera body was ok.
I find it interesting that folks like smugmug so much that breaking their equipment does not seem to bother them very much??
I love smugmug too, but not that much. If you want a really good strap see the following:
http://www.sellnsend.com/c-136-straps.aspx
Ha ha!!!
I got mine but I had to fly to SmugMug HQ:)))just kidding,just kidding.:)))
The new one is better and stronger,thank you.
My Grandsons (well, three of them so far) call me Batman. I had no idea it was because of my SmugMug strap!
That’s good I wish I’d have that one last year when one of my EOS 1D Mark III hit the ground after mine failed… Luckily just the battery got damaged
Mine just failed! I had it on my 300 2.8 but had the backup as the Leica camera strap on my 1d Mkll. The clip snapped and went flying while I brought the camera around to shoot. Thank god for the superior Leica strap! Nothing broke thank goodness. The smugmug strap was awesome for taking the weight off as I walked with camera and lens on it. Looking for the replacement!!!!
Yikes another failure here and shame on me – I got my replacement strap a few weeks ago and hadn’t changed it yet. LUCKILY no crash to the ground, just a scary one-strap swing inches from the ground. My equipment isn’t Batman heavy though – shooting a D300S and consumer level 18-200 lenses.
Completely random, but does anyone know where I can buy extra of these heavy duty clips? Nothing to do w/ the smugmug strap, but I need some for another project…
It’s been almost 4 months since I register for the free strap and was so looking forward to it. I guess it’s just wishful thinking. Oh well, the backlog must be so huge that 4 months are not sufficient to fill.
I’ve been ignoring all those free promotions/giveaways by all businesses all these while. I thought SM is genuine until….hang on…nothing in the mail 4 months after. Maybe Aus is too far down to be worthwhile for the shipping.
Hi. I had a strap that failed, luckily no damage was done, I requested a new strap back in December…I would be SO HAPPY if it came before I leave for a trip I will soon be taking to Belize…really not looking forward to having to use the stiff uncomfortable Canon strap…Thanks!
Have one of these pro straps but now nervous after this recall. Can I get the replacement please? Thanks. Roy Overstreet 3215 Cobblestone Dr. PACE, FL 32571
Canon’s are great, its a shame though they don’t support the 1d classic anymore.