Fuji 100-400 on an X-T2

[jwascher]

I have been using a Fuji 100-400 on my X-T2 to take pictures of my grandkids playing Lacrosse. Sometimes I have 4-6 games in a day to shoot at about 800 shots a game. I use a monopod to hold the lens, but now am concerned about the weight of my right arm on the camera body putting a torque on the camera to lens fitting. I tried a cable release last weekend with fair results. Am I being paranoid about causing a mechanical problem with just holding onto the camera with the weight of my right arm?

 

[jwascher]

A sample with bad light, but with a 7pm game, what can you do?

 

[Gary A.]

When using a monopod, your left hand is on the lens adjusting the zoom ring and the right hand should be gripping the camera body, index finger on the shutter release, thumb on the back and remaining fingers on the front. Where does the arm come into play? Why are you applying pressure to the lens mount? While I haven't reviewed the engineering specs of the lens mount, I suspect that you should never used the camera/lens mount to lift and/or support the 100-400.

 

[jwascher]

Yes, I am using the tripod bracket mounted to the lens to support the lens/camera since most of the weight is in the lens. As I am holding the camera with my right hand, index finger on the shutter release, my hand is grasping the camera, and after shooting constantly for an hour, I find my hand applying a fair amount of weight as my arm is tired of being held up in the shooting position. Not sure how much weight, and therefore torque, to the camera/lens mount I am applying, but probably about 5-10 pounds.

 

[jcdeboever]

The one thing you don't want is to just hold the camera body only with the lens on. Other than that your ok. If you don't have a battery grip, get one and put your camera in boost mode. A fast San disk card is good to have in slot 1. I don't normally use a mono pod with mine, just a black rapid sling strap attached to the lens tripod mount.

 

[jcdeboever]

View attachment 144175 A sample with bad light, but with a 7pm game, what can you do?

EC will help a lot. If your shooting in raw, you can convert in camera and bump the EC after and also -1 or -2 on the shadows to lift them up. You can also assign the EC button to the command dial for faster adjusting. I don't do this however. I shoot events like that in jpeg and set my EC dial as I go along.

I also use matrix metering on lighting like that, seems to work a little better overall. When the sun in high, I use center weighted for events like that. Spot meter for everything else thats stationary. Not sure if that's right or wrong but that's what I found works best.

Also, if shooting in single focus mode and have a OIS lens attached, turn the IS to 2 for greater focus acquisition accuracy. Make the focus square bigger, less one than the largest. You start to get a feel for focus square placement pretty quick. I have had good luck just pumping the shutter button and getting nice single frames and a whole lot less images. I actually prefer this method over continuous because I focus more on the actual image I want to capture and not have as many files to bin. Of course, you have to know the game and anticipate correctly. If I was shooting birds in flight, then I would use continuous wide tracking with the appropriate custom adjustments, and set the IS back to 1. I guess it boils down to what works for you.

 

[jwascher]

Thanks for the info. I only shoot RAW, but will try the EC at a -number in these light conditions to see how they come out. I usually correct in Lightroom, by lowering the highlights and raising the shadows, and often raising the exposure. Lowering the Whites also helps.
I like the BlackRapid system, but have the strap on the camera hole, with the monopod on the lens bracket. As I walk around, I hold the Monopod, but like the safety net of having the BlackRapid strap just in case.
I usually turn the OIS off, since I am shooting at 1/500th. Have heard the OIS isn't necessary at the higher shooting speeds and can add some unwanted noise. I do have it on when hand holding the camera, and shooting at lower speeds.
I have changed the CL continuous shooting to 3 frames/Sec and very seldom go over 2-5 frames. But with fast sports, like soccer or Lacrosse with many people on the field, I often get someone else in the way as I try to get the "right" shot. I try to get pics when I can get a face rather than just player's backs. I post them on Shutterfly for the parents of all the kids, so there aren't a lot of prints made.
I was just concerned about the torque on the lens bracket, and an trying either a cable release of an electronic shutter release using my right hand while adjusting the zoom and pointing the camera with my left.

 

[jcdeboever]

Thanks for the info. I only shoot RAW, but will try the EC at a -number in these light conditions to see how they come out. I usually correct in Lightroom, by lowering the highlights and raising the shadows, and often raising the exposure. Lowering the Whites also helps.
I like the BlackRapid system, but have the strap on the camera hole, with the monopod on the lens bracket. As I walk around, I hold the Monopod, but like the safety net of having the BlackRapid strap just in case.
I usually turn the OIS off, since I am shooting at 1/500th. Have heard the OIS isn't necessary at the higher shooting speeds and can add some unwanted noise. I do have it on when hand holding the camera, and shooting at lower speeds.
I have changed the CL continuous shooting to 3 frames/Sec and very seldom go over 2-5 frames. But with fast sports, like soccer or Lacrosse with many people on the field, I often get someone else in the way as I try to get the "right" shot. I try to get pics when I can get a face rather than just player's backs. I post them on Shutterfly for the parents of all the kids, so there aren't a lot of prints made.
I was just concerned about the torque on the lens bracket, and an trying either a cable release of an electronic shutter release using my right hand while adjusting the zoom and pointing the camera with my left.

You could bump up the EC at the later time. You can adjust and convert the raw in camera if you work like that. Sounds like you don't do it that way which is fine. I was just saying. I choose to shoot in JPEG, A priority, at events (in good light) like that because the sooc jpegs are so good.