• Welcome to BirdForum, the internet's largest birding community with thousands of members from all over the world. The forums are dedicated to wild birds, birding, binoculars and equipment and all that goes with it.

    Please register for an account to take part in the discussions in the forum, post your pictures in the gallery and more.
ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

Does this damage your camera? (1 Viewer)

Cuckoo-shrike

Well-known member
A lot of users of large lenses hang their camera, plus lens, over their shoulder, relying on the strap attached to the camera. It seems to me this must put a fair bit of strain on the mounting.

I use a Canon 40D plus Canon f5.6 400mm lens. Can I get away with doing this?
 
Good question, and one I've also thought of asking.

My own thoughts are that there is definately more risk of damage to your camera when a large lens is attached. With not far off 1kg of lense swinging about, a knock or bang to the end of the lens will, through leverage, put a lot more stress on the locking mechanism and area where it meets the camera. Imagine you're walking along and someone walking by bangs into your lens as it hangs by your side.

I don't think I'll be slinging my 7D and 400 5.6 over my shoulder anytime soon ;)
 
It is something I am guilty of doing, slinging my 40D and 400mm over my shoulder. I also sometimes catch myself holding the system by the camera body alone. I was wondering the other day if it is Not A Good Thing to do.
 
Not a good idea to pick up a large lens using the camera, that just sounds like asking for trouble. I guess if you do this often enough then damage to the lens mount is inevitable.

I always use the tripod foot to carry my 500mm around with the camera attached, the lens also has a strap which I sling over my shoulder when my arm gets tired. The other way I carry my set up is with the camera and lens mounted to my tripod and carry it all on my shoulder.
 
I carried my 400/5.6 like this for over three years and probably several thousand hours with no problems whatsoever. If Canon did not think this was OK then I think they would have supplied lens straps and lens anchor points like they do with the big lenses.
Personal choice of course but to me the beauty of this lens is its lightness and the fact that you can carry it around with the strap slung around the neck or shoulder for many hours.
With my 300/2.8 it is a different matter as it is double the weight and Canon supply a lens strap.
 
Last edited:
I carried my 400/5.6 like this for over three years and probably several thousand hours with no problems whatsoever. If Canon did not think this was OK then I think they would have supplied lens straps and lens anchor points like they do with the big lenses.

This may be so Roy, but I don't want to take the risk. Also, I don't think Canon would think it was ok if I sent my camera in for warranty repair with lense mount distortion caused by me carrying round a large lense hung via the camera hooks.

There are straps available that use the tripod mounting ring on the lense, I think I'll look into purchasing one of these and not risk a large repair bill from Canon ;)
 
I thought of this a few weeks ago after I wondered about the effect of the weight of my 400/5.6 on the camera mount while being carried by the camera strap.

My solution was to lash a strap (actually a lump of bootlace) to the camera strap and then around the front of the tripod mount. When the camera strap was tight in transit, the weight was transferred by my short strap to the tripod mount on the lens rather than to the camera. When not in transit the strap would be loose and could be unhitched from the mount when changing lenses etc..

I put up with it for a while, but then I got sick of it and went back to not bothering with it.
 
This may be so Roy, but I don't want to take the risk. Also, I don't think Canon would think it was ok if I sent my camera in for warranty repair with lense mount distortion caused by me carrying round a large lense hung via the camera hooks.
Like I said in my post its a personal choice - you take a risk every time you go out with your Camera (drop, fall .....). IMO there is a million times more chance of damaging the front element of the lens but even so I would not personally use a protective filter on this lens.

You know what these forums are like, anybody has a failure of any sort and they proclaim it to the world. I have never seen a report (on here or elsewhere) by somebody who damaged a lens mount simply by carrying a lens of this weight by the camera strap. I have seen numerous reports of broken lens mounts, but always resulting from a drop or fall which wrenches the lens badly when it hits a solid object.

In conclusion, I do not know the spec's but if the mounts were not designed to take the weight of lenses like the 400/5.6 I would be astounded. In fact I would not be surprised if the lens mount was stronger than the tripod thread.
 
Thanks for all those comments.

I think Roy may well be right here. There are lots of birders doing it and if some of their cameras incurred damage as a result, I reckon that would have filtered through to the rank and file and become general knowledge.

My old Sigma 80-400 had an attachment for the strap, but that lens was half as heavy again. I usually carry the camera with lens attached in a rucksack, but when you need it like now, you lose precious moments.

I think I'll take the risk. If it buggers up the camera, I'll have a good excuse to upgrade!

Thanks again.
 
I was wondering about this too; I'm always worried that my 400/5.6 + 450D is too much weight for my camera strap to hold, but the mounts look pretty durable. I just try not to let it dangle too much, since 3 lbs. is definitely not to much for my arms to carry;)
 
Thanks for all those comments.

I think Roy may well be right here. There are lots of birders doing it and if some of their cameras incurred damage as a result, I reckon that would have filtered through to the rank and file and become general knowledge.

My old Sigma 80-400 had an attachment for the strap, but that lens was half as heavy again. I usually carry the camera with lens attached in a rucksack, but when you need it like now, you lose precious moments.

I think I'll take the risk. If it buggers up the camera, I'll have a good excuse to upgrade!

Thanks again.
You wont be alone Andy as I am sure that the majority of 400/5.6 100-400 and 300/4 users carry like this.
By the way have you had a look at the OP/Tech straps - they are much more comfortable than the supplied Canon strap.
 
A lot of users of large lenses hang their camera, plus lens, over their shoulder, relying on the strap attached to the camera. It seems to me this must put a fair bit of strain on the mounting.

I use a Canon 40D plus Canon f5.6 400mm lens. Can I get away with doing this?

I think that carrying a big lens by the camera could cause issues (though I could be wrong) but not with a lens like the 400 f5.6... the 400 f5.6 doesn't weigh much more than some of the classic portrait lenses (like the 24-70 or the 85 f1.2) and weighs less than lenses like the 70-200 f2.8 and I doubt that many users would think twice about carrying them by the camera.
 
I think that carrying a big lens by the camera could cause issues (though I could be wrong) but not with a lens like the 400 f5.6... the 400 f5.6 doesn't weigh much more than some of the classic portrait lenses (like the 24-70 or the 85 f1.2) and weighs less than lenses like the 70-200 f2.8 and I doubt that many users would think twice about carrying them by the camera.

Scary, thats exactly what I was about to post :-O:-O:-O
 
I have a Nikon 300/4 and a 1.4 tele attached to my D300, and I do get issues with carrying it using the camera strap. I guess its mechanical creep with the contacts, but after a while the two issues I get are the aperture defaulting to f45, and the dreaded "dead battery symdrome".

If I carry the camera and lens in both my hands like a machine gun, then the problem goes away. But it's a lot less comfortable to do this.

This may well be a Nikon D300 issue though. I get similar problems when using the Kenko extension rings on my 500/4.
 
Haven't used the supplied camera strap. Bought an Optech strap which is attached to my 300/f2.8. No issues so far.
Gaz, you do not carry the 300/2.8 via the camera anchor points do you? or do you use the Optech via the lens anchor points.

I have a Optech strap that I used with the 400/5.6 and other smaller lenses but if I attached it to the 300/2.8 lens points it is too short for my needs. Are there are any optech straps as long as the Canon lens strap.
 
http://www.warehouseexpress.com/buy-optech-super-classic-3-8-inch-webbing-strap-black/p1007804
Roy C, I think this is the one I have attached to the lens points on my 300/2.8. Plenty long enough when it's over my shoulder, but, with the lens hanging down the same side and not across the body, it's not long enough for that, but then it would be very difficult (for me) to get the camera to my eye if I carried it like this.
I think they have longer ones.
Thanks for that Gaz - when I am hand holding the 300/2.8 I use it across the body as I find the Canon strap long enough to get the Camera to my eye very quickly. I have improved on the Canon lens strap by attaching a padded shoulder piece from a laptop bag. If I were to change I would want one at least the same length as the Canon.
 
Warning! This thread is more than 14 years ago old.
It's likely that no further discussion is required, in which case we recommend starting a new thread. If however you feel your response is required you can still do so.

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top