PetKal wrote:
Here is something interesting: I've had quite a few photographers ask me if they could "feel" the weight of my old 400 f/2.8 IS MkI mounted a 1D camera.........most of tem would say that the weight wasn't that bad, whereas in reality, the weight was as bad as it could get, and the lens was very hard to use handheld for me as well as most other "normal" people.
For sure, much of people saying something is "not that heavy" based on a few seconds of holding it. Ask that same person to hold it to the eye for a minute or more waiting for a bird to do something interesting and that 400 2.8/1D will feel like a small planet! A couple of Saturdays ago I was trying to catch gulls diving headfirst into a lake (1Dmk4 and 70-200 w/2 x ext. iii). After about half an hour of holding the camera to my eye for minutes at a time I was shaking and my left shoulder was aching. If were using a lens the weight of a "large white" I would just use a monopod or tripod. end of story. That said I do have a dodgy shoulder
BTW, I've never seen gulls in this location (Richmond Park, London) do this before in 3 years of shooting there. Don't know if any other UK photogs have...
