For those considering adding such a lens coat you may need to consider the effect of the extra diameter. Also, you'll need to remove the lens foot to get the coat onto the lens, but unlike the 300mm and other small-ish tele lenses the tripod collar does not come off the 600 and 500 lenses and so the foot needs to be unscrewed.
I have a new 600 f/4 IS and it seemed like a good idea at the time to add an aftermarket neoprene camouflage coat. Now that I've done that the lens cannot fit into its carry case. Has anyone else had this experience ? Is there a way around it without dmaging the case ? Does anyone use the Canon case ?
Alan,
I assume you are referring to the case that Canon supplies, the one that looks like a longish beauty case ? Never like it. I put that in the shipping box and put both of them in storage. The same goes to other Canon long tele cases. I use cases from Lowepro and MP for them.
I have the 600f4is with lenscoat. There is no need to unscrew the foot to fit the lenscoat. Just take it over the foot first , then around the back. It will however be a very tight fit in the original case, but I use it very day.
I couldn't get the lens to fit into my Canon case when the hood had the lenscoat fitted. There wasn't enough give in the padding to allow me to close the lid without sitting on it and that seemed a bit too extreme. I'll look into the alternative cases but in this part of the world they're even rarer than the 600mm lenses are - i.e. none on display anywhere.
Kjetils is correct, while removing the the lens foot (4 allen screws) makes putting the LensCoat easier, it can be put on by snaking it around the foot. Also while i hardly use the original case (mostly use the ThinkTank Airport security) my 600 with LensCoat is tight but fits.
scott elowitz wrote:
Kjetils is correct, while removing the the lens foot (4 allen screws) makes putting the LensCoat easier, it can be put on by snaking it around the foot. Also while i hardly use the original case (mostly use the ThinkTank Airport security) my 600 with LensCoat is tight but fits.
Diitto. No need to remove the foot on a 600 to put the lense coat on and it fits in the original case, albeit tighter.
I got the lenscoat on easily enough without removing the lens foot. The neoprene material stretches more than I realised.
Then I even managed to squeeze it all into the Canon lens case. One "secret" technique seems to be to push the front lens element as close to the case as possible so that some of the padding near the other (narrow) end of the lens would compress more readily as the lid was closed (because then only half of it touches the lens). Another trick was to not lock the hood onto the lens. With use it may get easier but I had been a bit shy of squeezing it too hard in case something broke (most likely the hood, I had thought, but it turns out that wasn't the end where the compression was greatest).
Now I can spend more time deciding what soft case to get for it for when more portability is required. The Kinesis looks good.
I also just got my Gitzo tripod and so I ought to able to take some decent photos now. The old tripod wasn't up to the task. I'm using a Manfrotto 393 gimbal head until I get a Wimberley. The 393 seems great for panning and such but relatively poor for locking into place for super steady slow-exposure shots with the 2x TC on the lens. Most of my early shots are relatively poor but that'll change before long.
? Never like it. I put that in the shipping box and put both of them in storage. The same goes to other Canon long tele cases. I use cases from Lowepro and MP for them.