Peak Design Slide Lite & Cuff: The perfect camera strap combo

Peak Design’s Slide Lite and Cuff Wrist Strap make great upgrades to the conventional camera straps that most photographers are used to.

At first, many of us don’t often think much about our camera strap options — they only need to be durable and comfortable. However, do photography long enough and you’ll realize that having a bunch of useful extra features is worth paying a little more. If you’re often shooting with a medium to small mirrorless camera for your main camera and a more compact one for a secondary camera, you most likely use a neck strap and a wrist strap with them. This is where I found the Peak Design Slide Lite and Cuff Wrist Strap to be an ideal combo.

Before using both straps, I was used to — and sometimes struggled — with stock or third party neck straps with conventional tethers and attachments that practically stay put on your camera. But with this Peak Design combo, I’ve been able to quickly switch the straps between the two cameras whenever I need to. It also made storing both the cameras and the straps easier. For a first-time user of camera straps with quick release connectors, it was a game-changer for me.

Note: Peak Design sent me the Slide Lite and Cuff Wrist Strap to review and keep. However, this is an independent review. All thoughts and feelings about these straps are my own and have not been influenced in any way.

Pros

• Looks and feels premium
• Available in different eye-catching colorways
• Versatile
• Perfectly suited for mirrorless cameras and smaller DSLRs
• Slide Lite comes with dual quick adjusters make reconfiguration quick
• Cuff wrist strap has an auto-cinch feature for extra security
• The unique Anchor Link System allows for quick connection and switching between the two straps

Cons

None that I could think of

Peak Design Slide Lite & Cuff – Technical specifications

All technical specifications have been taken from the Peak Design website.

Slide Lite

• What’s in the box:
  • 1x Slide Lite camera strap
  • 1x 4 mm hex wrench
  • 4x Anchor connectors (Red/Black)
  • 1x Anchor Mount
  • 1x microfiber pouch
• Strap Length: Min length – 99 cm (39″); Max length – 145 cm (57″)
• Strap Width: 32 mm (1.3″)
• Weight: 104 g (3.7 oz)
• Anchor Mount Size: Anchor head diameter – 17 mm (0.67″); Anchor loop length – 43 mm (1.7″); Height (protrusion from camera): 5 mm (0.20”); Strap loops: Fits all generation Peak Design Anchors, plus straps up to 13 mm (0.51”) wide
• Strength rating: Anti-abrasion thermoplastic-corded Anchors can withstand over 200 lbs (90 kg). Safe for use with the largest of professional cameras.
• Strap Materials: Ash, Sage, and Midnight straps contain leather that is gold-rated by the Leather Working Group. Black and Coyote straps contain Hypalon accents (vegan). Premium seatbelt-style nylon webbing, aluminum and glass-filled nylon hardware. Slide Lite webbing is solution dyed to preserve water and energy.
• Connector materials: Glass-reinforced nylon with stainless steel springs, 2-layer anti-abrasion woven thermoplastic Anchor cord, thermoplastic Anchor overmolding

Cuff Camera Wrist Strap

• What’s in the box:
  • 2 x Anchors (V4 Anchor Update Kit included)
  • 1 x Cuff Camera Wrist Strap
  • 1 x Microfiber Pouch
• Strap width: 19 mm (0.75”)
• Wrist loop size: Diameter when open – 9.7 cm (3.82”) but easily fits hands 5+ inches wide; Diameter when cinched – 4.5 cm (1.75”)
• Strength rating: Anti-abrasion thermoplastic-corded Anchors can withstand over 200 lbs (90 kg), making Cuff safe for use with the largest of professional cameras.
• Magnet rating: Adjustable magnetic clasp (for bracelet configuration) is safe for use around electronics.
• Strap materials: Ash, Sage, and Midnight straps contain leather that is gold-rated by the Leather Working Group. Black and Coyote straps contain Hypalon accents (vegan). Premium seatbelt-style nylon webbing, aluminum and glass-filled nylon hardware. Coyote Cuff webbing contains 35% recycled nylon.
• Connector materials: Glass-reinforced nylon with carbon steel springs, 3-layer anti-abrasion woven thermoplastic Anchor cord, thermoplastic Anchor overmolding

Peak Design Slide Lite & Cuff – Ergonomics and build quality

Slide Lite

Since I shoot mostly with mirrorless digital cameras and compact film SLR cameras, the Slide Lite — the smaller version of Peak Design’s flagship Slide strap — came in the perfect size for me. Its seatbelt-style nylon webbing has a pleasant smoothness and thickness to it, which creates the impression of durability in a stylish package.

Slide Lite also has a grippy silicone side designed to prevent the strap from slipping when you’re wearing it over your shoulder. I mostly wore the strap as a sling (as it’s what I’m used to) but didn’t flip the strap so I didn’t get to test if the grip did its job. But wearing it this way, I did notice that the smoothness of the webbing allowed the strap to glide over clothing, as promised.

Unlike conventional camera straps, the Slide Lite also has dual quick-pull adjusters that allow for a wide range of length adjustment. I liked how the tab/handle worked so well with the smoothness of the nylon to make adjusting the strap quick and easy. No more struggling to pry the strap off the buckle!

Cuff

The Cuff wrist strap is also made of the same seatbelt-style nylon webbing and durable plastic hardware as the Slide Lite. As an added stylish touch, the colorway I had (Sage) has a gorgeous leather accent engraved with the Peak Design name. Other colorways that have this leather accent are Ash and Midnight; the Black and Coyote versions have vegan Hypalon accents.

Unlike conventional wrist straps, it can lock in the open position or cinch down around your wrist for extra security. This auto-cinch feature can save your camera in a pinch in case you accidentally drop it. As a bonus, when you’re not using it, you can wrap it around your wrist as a bracelet carry using the magnetic clasp.

I find that Peak Design’s Anchor Link system is the highlight of the Slide Lite and the Cuff (as with the rest of the straps that use it). The connectors easily attach into the strap loops of your camera. This system allows the strap to quickly connect and disconnect from the camera, so you can either stow the strap away, or use it with another camera with the Anchor connectors attached.

Peak Design promises that each connector can carry over 200 lbs (90 kg) of gear, and they are indeed surprisingly light yet durable. That said, both the Slide Lite and Cuff wrist strap can carry both compact cameras and the hefty pro gear.

Peak Design Slide Lite & Cuff – In the field

For this review, I took both straps with me for a quick photowalk. I had the Slide Lite on a Fujifilm X-A7 and the Cuff on a Pentax ME F vintage camera. I also had my partner try on the Slide Lite for some size reference. Originally, I wanted to try the Anchor Mount with the Slide Lite as well, but found the connectors enough for my needs. Maybe with a bigger camera, it would be better to also have the mount ready.

Later in the day, I found myself seamlessly switching the straps between the two cameras. I truly appreciated the convenience of being able to do that so quick. But I could also imagine using just one of the straps for both the cameras and it would still work swimmingly.

I liked how the dual adjusters of the Slide Lite allowed me to quickly configure the Slide Lite for both cameras when needed. But I especially loved the auto-cinch feature of the Cuff; it was great to have the extra security while shooting out in the busy streets.

Lastly, the packages also came with extra connectors, so I could have attached one to another compact/point-and-shoot camera to use with the Cuff. I thought it would look noticeably big on my tiny Olympus PEN Mini, but it actually looked and felt nice. Again, going from being stuck with separate straps all the time to using just one for two or more cameras was a game-changer for me!