Let's face it, Camera's can be a bit boring looking? They're mostly black, plastic boxes all, full of buttons and dials. So what do you do if you fancy adding a bit of bling to your camera? Well the range of straps from !Mo are a great starting point! The Hong Kong based company certainly have a very clear focus on fun and all of their products seem to have their own personalities. But are they just for show? I tried a couple on for size.

The first thing that really grabs you, apart from the colours, is the quality and attention to detail. The straps are handmade and the quality really shows. With three ranges of straps, Neoprene, Leather and Cotton Tape, there is something for everyone. The straps come well packaged, further attention to detail and as soon as you take them out of the bag, you can feel the quality of the materials in your hand.

I tried the 'Indian Blanket' and the 'Rustic Brown' - both of which were Neoprene straps with a comfortable padding and quality stitching. The straps featured a 'quick release' system to easily remove the strap from the camera and even swap the straps, depending on how you want your camera to look. The two main advantages of this are the versatility to change the appearance of your camera equipment (you might not want anything too 'bright' when shooting in certain areas) and the ease of removing the strap when shooting Long Exposures etc. when a strap could cause camera shake.

Installing the strap on my Bronica ETRS was very simple. The nylon strap connectors simply looped through the eyelets on the camera and attached reassuringly, so you know your camera isn't going anywhere! Using the straps on the Bronica was ideal, as it has a 'top-down' view for composing, so taking the weight off my arms was ideal, whilst having the freedom to move around and compose my image. 

The straps are certainly very practical and were more than capable of holding my weighty 5D Mkiii & 70-200mm lens, yet bringing a much-needed dash of colour to my camera kit. Overall, I am very impressed with both the quality and the styling and would highly recommend the !Mo Straps for anyone looking to brighten up their gear whilst needing a strong & comfortable strap to hold their prized posessions! 

For more about !Mo Straps and their full range of products, check out their website:

www.imostrap.com