Magnets line it up. A spring lock holds it. The magnets are not carrying the camera.
WANDRD started shipping its magnetic camera straps this month, and the interesting part is the bit most coverage skips over. The magnets don’t hold the camera. They only guide the connector into place, and then a spring loaded mechanism locks it.
That distinction matters if you have ever watched a purely magnetic mount let go of something expensive.
What you actually get
The connector is called a Torus Link, and each one is rated to hold up to 90 kilograms. That number is for the individual link rather than the whole strap, which is worth reading carefully, but it is a long way clear of any camera and lens combination you are likely to own.
There are three straps. The full Magnetic Camera Strap at 30mm for larger bodies, a Lite version at 15mm aimed at smaller mirrorless cameras, and a self tightening wrist strap that closes on your hand if the camera slips. Webbing is liquid nylon with rolled edges, and both full length straps give four carrying positions.
Release is one handed and works in gloves, which in November is not a small thing. The links carry a three stage wear indicator that changes colour as they age, so you can see when one needs replacing instead of finding out the hard way.
Prices
The 30mm strap is $69, the Lite is $49 and the wrist strap is $39, in black, Wasatch Green or WANDRD Red. All three come with a lifetime warranty.
The better value is probably the DIY Magnetic Camera Kit at $29, which puts the same locking system onto a strap you already own and like. A four pack of spare Torus Links is $13.
Whether it is worth it
Quick release plates have existed for years and most of them are fine. What a system like this changes is the cost of taking the strap off, and that is a real cost if you work on a tripod, or hand the camera to somebody, or keep switching between a neck strap and a wrist strap depending on where you are standing.
If you carry one body and one lens and the strap never comes off, none of this solves a problem you have. That is most of us most of the time, and there is no shame in it. But if your strap is one of the things that never comes out of the bag because fitting it is a nuisance, this is the category of fix worth knowing about.