DIY wrist strap holder for D2H

I needed a wrist strap for my camera and I bought a cheap Mennon Camera Grip Wrist Strap from DealExtreme.com, cost a bit under 5 euros. Actually I only needed the strap part from it because these are mainly designed for smaller cameras without a vertical grip so the part going on the bottom of the camera is usually too thick (the one on Mennon strap is about 16mm thick). I already had this project in mind before getting the strap and few days ago I got the strap and started planning the part going to the bottom of the camera. The material I choose was 40 mm wide and 4 mm thick aluminum.

I started the planning by browsing the internet and finding a bottom photo of the D2H because I don"t have a scanner at the moment. I remembered that DPreview.com might have one and there it was. I opened the photo in Photoshop and did some measuring to get the photo in the right scale and then I draw the aluminum piece (the translucent gray part) and pulled some guide lines so I can draw all the drill points. I did the planning like this because I wanted the aluminum piece to follow the curves of the camera.

After some thinking and drawing I got the part I needed. In case you might want to print it, print it in 150 DPI and 13 cm wide and 4 cm high. The same model works on D2Hs/D2X/D2Xs and maybe on a D3 too. With some modifications it might be good on some battery grips.

I then printed the guide in real scale and taped it on to the aluminum piece so I can start cutting and drilling it.

Rough shape cut out and holes drilled.

Then after an hour of filing and sanding I had the part ready. I got the idea of putting a small spike on the part from the wireless transmitter that is made for the D2H. The spike (on the left) goes in to a small hole in the bottom of the camera and it prevents the part from moving sideways if the screw is loose.

Finished holder attached to the camera. I added the black tape to get more friction because the aluminum part is quite slippery. It works very well and the thickness of 4 mm is practically nothing and doesn"t affect the use of the vertical grip at all.