Tripod mounted, over the shoulder (facing forward with tripod legs set) and ready to use at any moment. If you hike for miles, then look into a nice big back pack
pingflood wrote:
OK, I am drooling over the L511 as a good carry option now... thanks! .
I have the L511 with the additional straps so I can carry it like a backpack. It fits camera + extender + 300/2.8 + hood in shooting position. If I had a 500, I'd think about getting a longer one so you can keep the hood on instead of having to reverse it. I played that game for a while before I bought the 511 for my 300. That was not my idea of fun.
One great thing about Kinesis is that if you buy the accessory straps and harness all together, they put everything together. I didn't have to do anything but adjust the lengths of the straps. It came with all the doodads in place, even though they're added separately when you're buying them. That was a pleasant surprise.
Thanks all. I ended up ordering the L511 since it will fit my carry on bag for the trip home and seems to be overall a great case. Having the hood reversed is not a big deal since it makes it a good bit shorter and if I want to be shooting ready I will just have the lens hanging out in the open anyway. Wish I could have gotten the "doughnut" that keeps the end with the camera body from moving around but they were out of stock.
Went on a two hour boat ride yesterday and shot a bunch, gotta say it was quite the challenge shooting from a moving boat but I scored a few nice ones. Was not too bad mostly handholding the lens for nearly two hours, though my front delts got a pretty good workout for sure. Wife snapped a shot of me with her Casio: http://beyondthematrix.com/biglens2.jpg
Methodical wrote:
Tripod mounted, over the shoulder (facing forward with tripod legs set) and ready to use at any moment. If you hike for miles, then look into a nice big back pack
Ditto. My Canon 500 is "permanently" mounted on my tripod with a Sidekick and a 7D camera. I have hiked over two miles this way.
Just an update: the L511 case arrived and man, this thing just REEKS quality. I wish I could have ordered the "donut" but since they were out of stock it will have to wait. Took it for a spin this morning when hiking out to an Ibis area and it was pretty comfortable to lug along. Will see if I feel like I need the backpack style straps later.
Also, the 500 is an amazing piece of equipment. Have not had a chance to process shots yet since my Lightroom machine is halfway across the planet, but even on the 7D LCD you can just see the amazing clarity and detail. The IS rocks too, been getting lots of nice shots at 1/200-1/400 which I did not expect considering the significant weight increase over the 400/5.6 I was used to shooting with. Got some sore shoulders from handholding the beast for hours but totally worth it.
My 500L spends most of it's time on a Bushhawk, mounted to a monopod with RRS head and Wimberley quick release. Have a ProMaster strap on the cameras (5D, 1D4, 50D), but keep the lens strap around my neck as well. I have carried this around zoos, in the field, and on boats. The only exception is for static wildlife shots, where I use a gimbal head on a tripod.
