weight of telephoto lenses?

[trothwell]

Potentially silly question, but please don't laugh at my noviceness

(at least not too much)... :-)

 

I'm planning to buy one of the 70-200/2.8 lenses. Would either of

these put so much weight on the camera body that the lens itself must

be supported at all times? (Either on a tripod, or holding the lens

itself?)

 

With all of my lenses so far, there has been no problem wearing the

camera around my neck and providing any additional support while not

holding the camera... I just want to find out if I will be able to do

the same with these lenses. (I would venture to guess that at some

point the lens becomes sufficiently heavy that the camera doesn't

support it very well.)

 

I have a 5D and EOS-3.

 

Thanks!

[brad_w]

Hi Trevis, your concerns are well-founded, but the 70-200/2.8's are light enough not to be a

problem The issues start with the 300/2.8 size lenses. Big glass is equipped with strap lugs

near the middle of the lens. Best to carry the big glass from there.

 

The tripod mount on the 70-2's is just for convenience; most PJ's remove them for daily use

since the lenes are easily hand-holdable.-B

[mark u]

No problem - except for the strain on your neck:

 

http://www.pbase.com/dadas115/image/31795237

 

(600 f/4 on a Digital Rebel)

[oceanphysics]

On a tripod, you mount the lens, not the camera body. Mounting the camera would be extremely unstable, and may very well damage the consumer bodies in time.

[KenPapai]

With a 70-200 2.8L you hold the lens with your left hand and snap the shutter with your right. With a 70-200 4L you can nearly get away with solely holding the camera body and snapping away. But the 2.8's are bazooka-like or mortar-launching-capable monsters.

[jon_austin]

Just as a point of observation, Canon recommends that when hand-holding, you always cradle the lens (regardless of its weight) with your left hand, and hold the camera's grip with your right.

[KenPapai]

Canon also recommends you not use their newest camera -- the 30D -- below the freezing point of water nor above the 7 o'clock PM temperature of Las Vegas (40 degrees C). Sometimes you are forced to be bad (a Rebel!) and grab the shot with one hand and shoot outdoors in humid, 42-degree © weather.

[oceanphysics]

I can't conceive of any situation where it would be necessary to hand-hold a 3-pound lens using one hand. Nor would it be advantageous in any situation, or the least bit comfortable or desirable. I don't know why Canon would even bother recommending cradling the lens, since you'd need to be mentally retarded to hold it any other way. Manufacturers are funny that way, though. I remember an Atari game console that came with instructions not to pour liquids into the cartridge slot.

[thomas_sullivan]

I just bought a 70-200 f/2.8 for my 20D. It's the heaviest lens I own. I tend to pretty much always have my right hand on the grip, raising it to shoot, and even with short lenses, cradle the lens (or both lens and body depending on where the center of weight is) to shoot. First, the 2.8 zoom is heavy enough that I personally don't think I'd get a sharp pic one handed unless I was way up in shutter speed..........but, the bigger issue I noticed is that for the very first time ever I felt concerned over the pressure that bears down on the memory card door when my left had hadn't reached position to hold the lens yet. I actually felt the door shift a little.

 

Don't know how the 5D mem card door is, but I believe that cam is physically identical to the 20D (by purpose on Canon's part)......but I would definitely be wary of this situation.

[andrew robertson]

"Just as a point of observation, Canon recommends that when hand-holding, you always

cradle the lens (regardless of its weight) with your left hand, and hold the camera's grip with

your right."

 

This has been a standard recommendation of SLR camera manufacturers from the start. It is

a good habit to get into, as you support the weight of the lens and are also prepared to

manually focus at all times.

[erin.e]

Would not worry to much about the CF card door Thomas, it cannot be a precisely fitted unit to enable it to function easily. I have used a 70-200 on a D60 for three years and a 10 D for two and the CF doors haven't failed yet.

You are right in that the 70-200 2.8 creates a bit of downward leverage by extending forward a reasonable amount from the body, which is a little tiring on the wrist if used on a body without a battery grip .

 

So my suggestion is to buy the battery grip for your particular camera at the same time as your 70-200 2.8, to make life a little easier for yourself, and the E1 handstrap which will give great grip security to the camera unit in use, and save your poor old neck from a drubbing, by having that fast medium tele zoom suspened from it.

[trothwell]

Thanks, all! I think I worded by original question a little oddly, now that I re-read it 12 hours later, but I believe my intended question was answered. :-)

[lester_wareham]

The 70-200 f2.8 are good lenses (there are IS and nonIS versions). The f4 version is more manageable but the loss of a stop at 200mm is a major issue from previous experience.

 

However for me the size and weight of the thing was a put off (again from previous experience) so I have gone the prime route with a 200 f2.8 and 100 f2.8 macro; Lighter cheaper smaller and sharper plus I have a real macro lens. One day I may add a 85/1.8 or 135/2 but to be honest I don't miss them for the photography I do.