Tripod mount for 70-200 lens

[adamhiram]

I cup the tripod mount in my left hand vs grabbing the lens barrel. The tripod mount is long and flat so its very comfortable to hold. There is also enough space between the tripod foot and lens barrel to insert your hand between them if you don’t have really big hands (my hands are on the small side).

Maybe I am overlooking something, or perhaps this specific lens has its controls in different places. This lens has the zoom ring at the end of the lens, and I can barely reach it while holding the foot. When I stretch my hand to reach the zoom ring, now I don't feel like I am supporting the lens sufficiently.

My solution is to move the foot on top of the lens. There are no reasons
to hold it… it is so much comfortable and safe to hold a lens normally.

This feels the most comfortable, but then where do you attach the camera strap? When the foot is facing upwards, the metal connector on strap bangs against the lens barrel when I shoot instead of just hanging down. It feels fine with the strap connected directly to the body, but as others have mentioned, I'm concerned with so much weight on the camera mount.

 

[adamhiram]

I use the LP-70 from Kirk Photo as a replacement for the one that comes with the lens. This adapts it to Arca Swiss type tripod heads.

I ordered this yesterday and it should be here later this week. I love my Kirk L-bracket, and the QD system is really convenient. Thanks!

 

[NS: Nikon Shooter]

I'm concerned with so much weight on the camera mount.

The mount was designed and made to handle the 70/80~200 without problem.
My neck straps are attached in the usual eyelets — sometimes with hand strap.

 

[ac12]

On my 70-200/4, I do kinda as @WalterRowe does, but I reverse the foot, so it projects backwards, leaving the zoom ring free for my fingers. Then put the foot in my palm, fingers on the zoom ring.

On Tamron zooms with the forward positioned zoom ring, I hold the lens in my left hand with my fingers on the zoom ring.
If needed, I rotate the foot to the 9-oclock to 11 o-clock position, to get the foot out of the way of my left hand.
The PD anchor is attached to the foot, and the left strap is attached there. However the strap hangs, does not bother me.

 

[adamhiram]

As always, I like to provide some follow-up once I've found a solution. The Kirk lens foot for the Nikon Z 70-200S lens is very nice. It has a solid, tight fit, and is much longer and wider than the OEM foot, with a clean smooth finish. This actually makes it much more comfortable to handhold with the lens foot attached and positioned underneath. I still don't love it, but it's a lot better than trying to shoot with the OEM foot attached. The built-in Arca plate is nice, and the QD attachment point feels solid and leaves the camera feeling very balanced when it hangs.

Ultimately, I'm not sure if I will end up using the lens foot as the attachment point for my strap, or just stick with the body and let the lens hang straight down. The latter is a lot more comfortable and familiar to me, but I may try with the lens foot for a while just to get a feel for it. Thanks for the input, I'm excited to be part of the big lens club!

 

[ac12]

As always, I like to provide some follow-up once I've found a solution. The Kirk lens foot for the Nikon Z 70-200S lens is very nice. It has a solid, tight fit, and is much longer and wider than the OEM foot, with a clean smooth finish. This actually makes it much more comfortable to handhold with the lens foot attached and positioned underneath. I still don't love it, but it's a lot better than trying to shoot with the OEM foot attached. The built-in Arca plate is nice, and the QD attachment point feels solid and leaves the camera feeling very balanced when it hangs.

Ultimately, I'm not sure if I will end up using the lens foot as the attachment point for my strap, or just stick with the body and let the lens hang straight down. The latter is a lot more comfortable and familiar to me, but I may try with the lens foot for a while just to get a feel for it. Thanks for the input, I'm excited to be part of the big lens club!

Strap on the camera and lens hanging down from the camera puts a fair bit of strain on the camera mount.
That is OK for a smaller/lighter lens, but the bigger/heavier the lens gets, the more strain you put on the mount.
How and how much you carry the carry the camera is relevant.
My own guideline is, if the lens is close to or heavier than the camera, I want a strap on the lens.

I've even done a setup with a lens case on a load bearing belt. Imagine a pistol in a holster.
Camera + lens goes into the lens case, only the lens actually goes in the case. This carries the camera+lens without straining the mount, and the setup is more stable to carry, than the camera+lens hanging on a strap.

 

[mrca]

I got rid of that beast when I reached 46 mp. I can crop a 135 at a fraction of the weight and way better IQ. If I need longer an 8 element $400 180 2.8 dusts the 22 element 70-200. It's still made unchanged after 25 years for a reason. Yes, I used to attach it to the tripod with the foot for the same reason I attach my 7' octa speed ring to the stand and hang the light off it... safety wired to the stand 2 ways.

 

[WalterRowe]

I got rid of that beast when I reached 46 mp. I can crop a 135 at a fraction of the weight and way better IQ. If I need longer an 8 element $400 180 2.8 dusts the 22 element 70-200. It's still made unchanged after 25 years for a reason. Yes, I used to attach it to the tripod with the foot for the same reason I attach my 7' octa speed ring to the stand and hang the light off it... safety wired to the stand 2 ways.

Have you tested the Z 70-200/2.8 S, or the 70-200/2.8E f-mount? Superb image quality and sharpness edge to edge. But yes heavy - a strain on the shoulders over the course of a few hours.

 

[JBPhotog]

As always, I like to provide some follow-up once I've found a solution. The Kirk lens foot for the Nikon Z 70-200S lens is very nice. It has a solid, tight fit, and is much longer and wider than the OEM foot, with a clean smooth finish. This actually makes it much more comfortable to handhold with the lens foot attached and positioned underneath. I still don't love it, but it's a lot better than trying to shoot with the OEM foot attached. The built-in Arca plate is nice, and the QD attachment point feels solid and leaves the camera feeling very balanced when it hangs.

Ultimately, I'm not sure if I will end up using the lens foot as the attachment point for my strap, or just stick with the body and let the lens hang straight down. The latter is a lot more comfortable and familiar to me, but I may try with the lens foot for a while just to get a feel for it. Thanks for the input, I'm excited to be part of the big lens club!

Have you tried lens foot in the upper position and cradle the lens in your hand while removing the QD from the foot? Sling the strap and QD so it is secure to your body, not just hanging off a shoulder. Then when you bring the camera up to shoot, release the QD from the lens foot, you have two hands on the camera at this point. When you want to sling the camera just reconnect the QD, this is the benefit of the QD, fast and secure.

 

[adamhiram]

Thank you for the suggestion. I am definitely not interested in moving the strap around between carrying and shooting; I dropped a camera from my roof back in 2011 when I thought the strap was connected and it wasn't, not a mistake I'll be making again! The Kirk lens foot is bigger and is a lot more comfortable to hold, so I may go that route if I can get used to it. Otherwise, I may just keep the strap on the camera, let the lens hang straight down while carrying, and support it with my hand while shooting (and attach the lens foot when using a tripod). I haven't had a chance to use it much, so time will tell.

 

[weepete]

Not the same lens, but I frequently use a 150-600mm which is a fairly large lens.

I've not yet found a good solution to quick switching between gimbal, tripod and strap. I do have my method that's fairly quick, but a bit complicated to explain.

I don't hold the lens by the foot, I just rotate it mostly out of way when shooting. If I'm carrying it on a strap I do tend to attach it by the foot.