Camera in-bag Orientation

[WillK]

Many bags come in different shapes and sizes. Most of them seem to orient your camera with the lens going downwards. I notice sometimes people take their camera out and instead of using the bottom of the camera to set it down, they set it down on their lens (same as in bag orientation). Would this damage the lens? Would the weight of body damage the mechanisms inside the lens?

 

[480sparky]

The only damage I could see done to a lens placed face down is if there's no lens cap on it and the surface it's set on could reach & damage the front element. I can't conceive the weight of a camera body doing any damage.

 

[Derrel]

Lens-down, camera on-top is the best way to position a heavy lens/light camera rig. With something like a 300/2.8 or even a 70-200, you're best off to put the camera lens-down on the counter,table,or desk. I don't think it matters too much on smaller,lighter lenses.

 

[bratkinson]

I'm on the other side of the fence from Derrel.

When my camera with lens is out of my hands, it will either be on its back for changing lenses, or, on its bottom for a longer period. To my way of thinking, spreading out the weight between a larger surface-contact area puts less stress on the components. Although having some 200+ mm lens mounted and on a table might produce some added stress on the mount, my fear of having the camera lens down or even lens up makes it very top-heavy and more prone to fall. I shudder at the thought of a $6000 camera 'atop' a $16,000 lens toppling over because someone accidently bumped the table...even if it IS insured. Of course, I own neither of those, but even my gripped 5D3 with 80-200 magic drain pipe mounted will never be face-down.

I feel the same way about carrying my camera in a bag. My thinking is the same. If, heaven forbid, the bag gets dropped 24" to the floor, I want as much cushioning as possible and as much area as possible on each piece of equipment to absorb the shock. Although, for this purpose, I would like to have all my lenses horizontal when being carried, practicality necessitates that the short ones ride bottom-down and the long one horizontally. The camera is in 'normal' orientation sitting on its mounted grip. Even if I someday decide to get a small shoulder bag to carry the camera with lens mounted, it will be 'horizontal' rather than 'nose down'.

 

[480sparky]

I don't worry about orientation. I may drop my bag straight down, but it's far more likely it will roll over and then fall. Last time mine did, it landed upside-down. So any pre-disaster planning just went out the window.

 

[runnah]

My camera's orientation is nobody's business but it's own.

 

[480sparky]

My camera's orientation is nobody's business but it's own.

Don't ask... Don't tell?

 

[KmH]

You don't want heavy lenses hanging from a camera body, particularly if the camera has a plastic body or front like the Nikon D7000/D7100/D600.

In a camera backpack, a heavy lens hanging from the camera's lens mount can pull the lens flange mounting screws out of the plastic they are screwed into.
That happened to a TPF member that had a Nikon AF 80-200 mm f/2.8D hanging from a D90 in a backpack.

The other way around, with the camera on the bottom, would tend to distribute the weight of the lens on the whole camera body even if it's all plastic.

Sport shooters often set their long lens cameras down with the camera on top, but the lens usually has a lens hood on it so the front lens element is well away from whatever surface the rig is standing on.

No doubt, a camera/long lens is vulnerable to being knocked over with the camera on top or on the bottom, so it's advisable to use extra caution when doing so.

 

[Kolia]

Usually with the lens horizontally. "Standing" on the tripod ring.

Lens down seems the next best position. The back of the body has the LCD a plenty if buttons that don't need to be pushed when not in use.