I was able to pick up a used 600mm f/4G at KEH last week for for wildlife especially birding. My issue is the thing is big and heavy with the camera and lens combination around 13lbs. I typically hike a few miles in State Parks with camera, lens and carbon tripod with gimbal in search of birds. The weight itself isn't too bad, but the weight and bulk together are problematic.

For those of you who own bulky heavy primes, how do you hike with them? The lens has shoulder strap brackets. Do you use them and with whose shoulder strap? Or do you use the tripod mount with a harness or shoulder strap? Do you keep it in a backpack and mount to camera as needed. If so, whose backpack? I know Nikon sells one just for the lens, but it's outrageous at $189 and doesn't have room for anything else.

Hello all,
I went to use my fairly new Nikon 2.8 300mm vr2 lens today. I only used it twice. It seems it will not autofocus and just hunts . I here the drive motors running or something else not sure because the focus just remains blurred . I can manually focus but when I select Auto focus On it goes out of focus
I have VR normal on, full selected, memory recall middle off. I have tried other settings as well.
I’m using this with a D810 body and tried other lens and the camera seems ok
I appreciate your help and thank you for your time

Thanks for your comment. As a door gunner in Vietnam with a Marine helicopter squadron, HMM-265 we often carried photographers into battle. One we carried frequently carried a Nikon F and a Leica M3 with both hanging on a strap around his neck. Looking back I am always sorry I never took the time to get to know him or even find out his name. But he sure had some well worn cameras. He seemed to put a lot of faith in those two brands even though the base PX offered Pentax Spotmatic cameras as well as Nikon and Canon. How odd that those two brands are STILL way up there in sales compared to other brands.

Dennis

My wife & I do volunteer work for a breed specific dog rescue, the Shiba Inu Rescue Association. Actually my wife does the work & I drive the car, offer words of encouragement and take photos. Yesterday we met up with Several Shibas & their owners. For those not familiar with this breed, they are a small Japanese dog, averaging 18 to 20 lbs although some are as small as 10 lbs & others 30 lbs or more. They are, genetically, still very close to wolves. Their coat color varies a bit but primarily, as seen below, either red, black & tan or creamy. We have over the years fostered and placed in new "forever homes" approx. 25 dogs. They are extremely intelligent and very "cat like" in their temperament.