Originally posted by Sakura Recently i was lucky enough to get the DA 150-450. A really great lens, but becoming rather heavy when walking for a hour or more
( K1-II with grip and the DFA 150-450 is in total some 7.5 kilo, 16,5 pound or so )
Best solution of course is a good strap. But which one.
I wouldn't feel very comfortable hanging all this weight just with small screw on the lens foot. The more because i have already seen broken lens foots. Hanging all the weight to the camera would of course cause to much stress to the lens mount.
The Carry Speed, (
Carry Speed CS-PRO Camera Sling System (Black) CS-PRO B&H Photo ) a good strap, but has only 1 connection point.
I was thinking of the BlackRapid Double Breathe SLIM Camera Strap (
BlackRapid Double Breathe SLIM Camera Strap, Trusted Design - BLACKRAPID ) and using 1 strap for the lens, and the other strap for the camera, spreading the load at both connection points.
I was wondering how other owners of heavy lenses are using straps and what there experiences are.
G'Day,
I have the K-1 with grip and 150-450. I typically use the long lens with a monopod for motorcycle racing (road race & MX) and surfing. It's been a while since I've been out capturing sports but for surfing it's pretty straight forward with the monopod fitted and I carry that set up via the monopod so just the single mounting point. I'm not jumping around putting shock load on the attachment and have not felt a need to be concerned that the lens foot or the screw attachment would fail. I understand however if you feel differently hence your post. I do check that the foot is properly secured each time I use it too.
With motorcycle road racing it's pretty much just the 150-450 in use due to the greater distance to the track. With MX though I also have the 70-200 for those areas of track that I can get closer into. When using two lenses I take the 150-450 case as a lens holder so which ever one is not on the camera it is available in the case for a quick swap. I use a different monopod, one with a foot and again I tend to carry the camera/lens via the fitted monopod.
I bought a strap from Black Rapid, an earlier version of this one:
BlackRapid Delta Camera Sling - BLACK - BLACKRAPID Given the opportunity to do over I'd have gone with this one:
BlackRapid Sport Breathe Original Camera Sling Design - BLACKRAPID
The reason for this is the secondary strap should make for a more comfortable fit and keep the shoulder strap in location better than the one I have. The double unit you're proposing might work but straps can get in the way and the design of that unit means you'd be carrying across your body. If that suits you it might be a viable solution. It might also provide a more balanced load across the body unlike the sling I have, hence my preference for a different style strap.
I haven't seen the engineering specs for the lens feet you've seen broken or what caused them to break. Or indeed their age. If you know that then you can determine how relevant that aspect is to your decision in finding a solution. Same goes for the screws however I reckon an email to Black Rapid might get you a ballpark indication of the load rating of their design. If it can take a load up to 10kg I don't think the screw is going to be a likely failure point.
Whichever way you go I'd like to suggest if you continue to have concerns about a single attachment point failure that you see if you can find some footage of how the pros work around MotoGP tracks. At local race venues here I've seen blokes double strapped with a camera/70-200 on one shoulder and camera/600 f4 on the other. The are pretty rough on their kit including when traveling around on a scooter to move location. I've not seen a secondary attachment point with them but nor could I comment on whether they've had failures as that could be the case too.
I don't necessarily endorse that approach but an alternative for confidence in using a strap is looking at tool restraint options like this:
GRIPPS Tool Tethers & Lanyards for Working at Height There's a lot of options out there and they may be simpler than looking at the double strap you've considered. A velcro loop over the lens or tethering to the camera means you only need a single strap and the tethers are lighter and could be less cumbersome in use.
Anyhoo, I hope you find a solution to go with soon so you can get out there more with an excellent camera /lens combo.
All the best for Christmas and the New Year mate.
Tas