Paris Hanson

I picked up one of these today, I attached it to my 7D and took a couple of test shots, the guy who sold it to me said I should support the weight of the lens because it is a heavy lens and without support the lens could pull away from the body and lose contact with the body, I have not heard of this, anyone run into this problem? Thanks in advance for any experience with this.

Haydon

Hand hold shooting shouldn't be an issue whatsoever. That is often the lens of choice for event photography for the Canon genre. That lens should also have a tripod ring included. Where it becomes crucial to use the tripod ring is support when mounted to a tripod. It could cause undue stress to the camera body under those conditions.

Paris Hanson

Did come with the ring, thanks for the feedback

Paris Hanson

Did come with the ring, thanks for the feedback

mwsilvers Loc: Central New Jersey

Are you sure he did not mean support with your left hand while shooting? That would be the way to support it if you're not using a tripod.

Paris Hanson

Yes, that's what I meant, using the left hand helps with keeper rate so I don't mind doing that anyway but have you heard of losing connection with the body by not supporting the lens?

mwsilvers Loc: Central New Jersey

Well, a heavy lens should always be supported by hand or by a tripod collar on a tripod to avoid undue stress on the camera mount. A mount can take just so much weight hanging off it. Whether a 70-200 f/2.8 qualifies as being too heavy to be unsupported, I can't say.

Dan Downie Loc: Rochester, NY

What the seller was advising you to do is to support the camera/lens combo by the lens instead of the camera body. The reason is that the lens weighs considerably more than camere body; as such, carrying the gear by the camera body would stress the mount considerably more than if you carried the combo by the lens. The length of the lens combined with its weight exacerbates the stress placed on the mount. To put his advice into action you can do what I and others with this or similar long, heavy lenses do - carry the gear using a strap attached to the lens shoe instead of the strap mounting points on either side of the camera. When hand carrying, either hold the gear by the lens barrel or shoe mount. When actually shooting, support the weight of the lense with your left hand while holding the camera body with your right. I rotate the shoe mount to a position that makes it more comfortable to hold. What was probably obvious in his advice once you had the lense in your hand was to use the lense shoe mount instead of the body mount when using a tripod or monopod. This is more a center of balance consideration, but remains sound advice to reduce stress on the mounting surfaces and electrical contacts. You should note that this is a personal choice and that there are others that do not subscribe to this thinking. Personally, I think it makes perfect sense (basic physics), but I couldn't tell you factually that the stress has proven problematic. I believe that the materials that a camera body is made of would play a factor, as well. Enjoy your new lense!

IBM

He probably ment that the lens gets long when hanging down as
In lens creep .

Haydon

Don't think that's the case here. The 70-200 2.8L does not have an extending barrel when zoomed as it's all internal. There is no physical way of lens creep taking place.

LaoXiang

I have the same combination, and I have never had an issue, but I also have always used my right hand to hold the right side of the body while resting the body on the heel of my left palm, with my extended fingers supporting the lens. I can hold the camera much more steadily like this. Regardless of whether the weight of the lens could pull the lens free from the mount, trying to hold up that much weight from one end (the camera body) is just not a good idea---too much weight on too long a lever.

LFingar Loc: Claverack, NY

The only way for it to lose contact with the body once it is properly mounted would be for the mount ring to pull loose either from the lens or the camera body. That, if it happens at all, is such a rare occurrence that I certainly would not waste time worrying about it. Just the same, it is sensible to use the lens tripod ring when using a tripod and to support the lens if possible when carrying the combination. Those mount rings are held in place by 4 small screws which seem to do the job just fine, considering that even heavier lenses such as the Sigma and Tamron 150-600's don't seem to cause any mount problems. Look at all the pro's running from shot to shot with one camera in their hands and another, often with a big lens, hanging from a neck strap. They don't seem too worried. Just the same, a bit of caution doesn't hurt. I use a sling strap which I mount on the lens tripod ring on my 70-200 and 100-400, instead of on the camera body. It hangs better and I feel a bit more comfortable about it.

Paris Hanson

Thanks great advice

Notorious T.O.D. Loc: Harrisburg, North Carolina

So, how about when I have the lens secured by the tripod collar and have 3 plus pounds of 1Dx camera hanging off the lens by the mount. Seems to me this is pretty much the same deal. I think this is not a problem for the mount. A larger and heavier lens could be perhaps. The 70-200 I don't think so much. Supporting the lens with your left hand when shooting just seems to make sense from an ease of support and balance standpoint.

Best,
Todd Ferguson

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

I doubt the lens breaking away from the body is a real concern, but it is much easier holding a long lens with your left hand, rather than just holding the camera.