The first Noël, the angels did sing - but that was a long time ago. Today, the angels might note instead that it's Day 9 of Pogue's 12 Days of sub-$100 Gadgets for the holidays.
Kickstarter.com, as almost everyone knows by now, is a Web site where inventors present their brainstorms to the public, in hopes of raising enough money to move forward with production. Sometimes truly great new products are born. Sometimes they flop.
The Leash is in the first category. It's exactly the sort of thing Kickstarter projects are so good at: updating or revisiting some mundane object in our lives that hasn't been redesigned since 1723.
In this case, it's the camera strap.
An single-lens reflex takes beautiful photos, but you pay the price in weight, bulk and awkwardness. The Leash ($40) is designed to help.
The first thing it does is spare you the nightmare of attaching a camera strap - usually a 20-minute procedure involving crochet needles and reading glasses. Instead, you fasten the Leash's tiny black plastic anchors to your camera's camera-strap loops.
Then there's the nylon strap itself, which hooks onto these anchors quickly and simply and holds 200 pounds. It starts out as a regular neck strap, but it can expand to twice its original length when you want to use it as a sling strap, where the camera hangs at your hip instead of your sternum.
In another configuration, you can clip an anchor to your belt, turning the Leash into a handy improvised tripod. (You pull it tight against the strap; the tension helps keep it steady.)
The company also sells the Cuff, a wrist strap for your S.L.R., which is something you probably never had before. It attaches to the same anchors you've already put on your camera.
And you know the best part? This is a fresh Kickstarter invention. If there are S.L.R. owners among your loved ones, you can be pretty sure they don't already have one of these.
