Andy Work
Well-known member
I just ordered one. Thanks for the feedback.
Large lens carry
- Thread starter Cree Native
- Start date
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MikeJ
Well-known member
Nice - for the 600 f4E with the hood, that doesn't look too awkwardly long! I have just the lowly 400 f2.8 AF-S v1 with the double hood, should be even shorter than what you have, especially if I only use the inside piece of the hood.
Did you find yourself hitting the hood with your arms as you hiked?
Did you find yourself hitting the hood with your arms as you hiked?
No but then I am not an arm swinger ... to many years of carrying a shotgun chasing chukars etc. . When I am out birding etc. I am at the ready to deploy the camera and shoot fast.
Cree Native
Member
Just as an update on my lens carry pouch that I made.. Used it on several 5 mile walks this week. For me it is great. It is really easy to quickly grab the lens up and get a quick shot. And probably because mine is a bit larger than the one I copied by an inch or so I don't need to undo the clips to get it out. Yet it sits very securely while I walk. Having the weight of the lens on my shoulders like a back pack was perfect. Don't feel the weight at all. I will be using it on my back pack but not for a little bit.
Lots of great ideas to my first question and I thank everyone for those ideas. This one solved my dilema.
Lots of great ideas to my first question and I thank everyone for those ideas. This one solved my dilema.
I just started a new thread with the customizations I made to the MRjan Gear Lens Carrier system using Think Tank components. It works well.
criegel
New member
I travel to Canada and Alaska quite a bit and had the same need. Here is what I purchased and both work in different scenarios:
VANGUARD Alta Sky 53 Camera Backpack for Sony, Nikon, Canon, DSLR, Drones, Gray
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06WGSVLQL/?tag=backcogaller-20
This is a great backpack - lots of support and hold my ND850 with 500 F4 lens attached and hood set stored on the camera. It stands up well and has a top opening to pull the camera out without unzipping the main compartment. There is plenty of room for other accessories. I used it as a carry on for flights without issue. The only problem I had was while in Alaska it took some time to pull it out and set the hood. I missed a bunch of shots.
I purchased another bag that allowed for the camera, lens and hood attached.
Kinesis
L622 — PolyCore™ Long Lens Case 600 (w/ Y515 shoulder strap)
L622 — PolyCore™ Long Lens Case 600 (w/ shoulder strap)
Very large shoulder bag for 600/4 lenses with hood in shooting position and body detached. Also for 400/2.8 or 500/4s lenses.kgear.eogear.com
I am traveling back to Alaska next week and will see if there are any issues with carry on.
The solution worked just fine as a carry-on.
I am curious about the MRJan carrier. Are those of you who got them using them in the field? How do they compare to Cotton Carrier or Black Rapid over time?
Thanks,
Tim
Thanks,
Tim
I posted this photo in another thread. This is with the D/850 and 600mm f/4E it works just as well or even better now with the Z9 and 800 PF. It is a combination of Think Tank Parts and the MRJan carrier.
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I wonder what would happen if you tried to wear that aboard a plane?
Calson
Well-known member
The LowePro Trekker is what I use with my 600mm f/4 and will be used with the 800mm f/6.3 lens as well. It is large enough to leave a teleconverter and a camera attached to the lens while it is inside the Trekker.
LensCoat makes folding lens hoods which allow carrying big lens in regular backpacks and at around $120 they are a way to avoid having to replace a $600 Nikon lens hood.
P
philippe
Guest
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So would you say the Mr Jan harness was a little lacking? Thanks for modeling your wife caught your good side
The MRjan Gear is designed to use the light harness that comes with it or to be attached to a back pack. I modified it to fit my primary need of hiking in rough terrain, cottonwood corridors, lake and pond shores, high sage step etc.. and carrying varying items such as a water bottle, a second camera with variable focal length lens the holster I use not shown in this shot, carrying extra lenses, a place for my cell phone, gloves etc.. so in effect I use the speed belt and components like a backpack that I do not have to take off to access what I am carrying and the MRjan Gear is attached to that as it would be to a backpack.So would you say the Mr Jan harness was a little lacking? Thanks for modeling your wife caught your good side
Well, I too seem to be using the Peak more: one anchor attached to the lens of a 200-500, the other to my mirrorless. One shoulder holds the Peak wide strap. I do have a Blackrapid strap, but am investigating a switch to a newer Arca plate for the lens foot that has a QD anchor point (maybe RRS or Kirk). An advantage of my current system is that the two Peak anchors hold both camera and lens, whereas the QD would only anchor the heavy lens. With a QD anchor, though, quick release and avoiding the flopping Peak strap would great for a tripod or hand-held. BTW - I bit the bullet and ordered a Z9 today. Who knows when it’ll come from B&H!
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I have been getting e mails from places other than B&H that they have Z9's in stock but having one I honestly do not remember where.
Sometimes I use a redesigned "ShoppingCart" for heavy things. Base is a Lowepro Magnum 400 (enough space for a set of bodies and lenses, but too big for use as a shoulderbag). Easy going with mounted tripod and monopod , and also more or less useful off-road...
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I really like this! Thanks for sharing.I bought the Lens Carrier System form MrJan Gear earlier this spring. I find it‘s comfortable hiking with my 500mm f4 with this system, it’s easy and fast to unclip it to open and release my camera when something happens.
Lens Carrier System - MrJan Gear
Make walking long distances with your long lens camera easy and comfortable with this simple and handy camera carrier system.mrjangear.com
all its needs is a seat
Ya know...it might just be the perfect solution for those moments when your over-weight or they are out of over-head space and they want to check your gear bag.....I wonder what would happen if you tried to wear that aboard a plane?
Larry Shuman
Well-known member
Here is what I use, a $30 babie runners buggy, Around my area its flat as a table top so I have no problem moving len, tripod, flash equipent , chair and small cooler. I've adapted the buggy to suooprt a golfing umbrella. So I take my shade with me.
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AnnetteJane
Active member
I have to confess that I got the Mr. Jan Carrier before I for the 500 5.6 pf. I liked the carrier with my heavier lenses but ever since I got the 500 5.6 pf, it is that much smaller and lighter I am back to using the back rapid strap and letting it hang across body. Doesnt hang on the neck. I also have the peak design which i can have across body as well which I use on another camera body. I havent tried carrying both bodies at once. I leave one body in my pack. I usually have my 500 5.6 ready at hand.
So, the carrier has been one of those purchases I thought I’d use but ends up sitting in a drawer pretty much so far :/
So, the carrier has been one of those purchases I thought I’d use but ends up sitting in a drawer pretty much so far :/
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I think most airlines will let you carry a camera in addition to the your carry one luggage and personal item. It just so happens that my camera includes a Z9 + 800 F/6.3
Great ideas in this thread. Haven’t heard much about the attachment points to the lens or camera. I just finished converting to the QD swivels and I use the Blackrapid or Luma Lab slings. But… for some crazy reason I feel some fear of the QD attachment failing by accident, so I figured I’d add a safety tether (Op/Tech) as a second backup. Seems kind of bulky. Lots of folks feel the single attachment is plenty safe. When I did a google search for something nice and light, not too long, easy to disengage, I found little. What do you use as attachment points? With the front carry. Mr. Jan seems popular, so this might not apply…. But to those of us not yet using this, we still have to contend with attachment points. It’s hot here in Maine now. Stay cool!
I carry a 500mm F4G. I wear the bag I use to transport it in but keep the Camera and lens out. I wear the Think Tank Glass Limo. With the lens and camera attached to a Wimberley monogimbal on a Gitzo monopod (GM4532) the lens is carried over my shoulder. The lens actually sits on the top edge of the bag. The result is to reduce the weight on my shoulder. I can carry it that way pretty much all day. Sometimres I swap sides. It is the placement of the bag which helps most. I use the same technique with my other long lens (300mm F2.8)
fcotterill
Well-known member
To add to a recent thread, also here, and summaries, I couldn't agree more that too many of the options in large bags fail in being 1-2cm too shallow. 17cm Internal is about the optimum depth, for super teles, and also gripped cameras etc; but this internal depth is pushing the carry on limits!
The Telemaster ICU that fits the fStop Sukha and larger packs is one stand apart exception, but the closing flap is unwieldy in use. I have at least 5 ICUs (Peakdesign and a Mindshift) that give some flexibility , but PD ICUs don't open from the top (unlike fStop's).
5 weeks of vehicle photography on dirt roads with 3 cameras, each on a dedicated telephoto, plus all the accessories.....I reappraised my solutions for Carry & Hiking vs "Static Photography.
(1) My needs to prioritize quick access to each rig when shooting in a vehicle/hide, often conflict with the ideal features of a carry on friendly bag. When shooting this ideal bag has to hold as well as protect to at least 3 cameras with attached lenses. This gets tricky with big lenses! It looks like no single bag can cope, so the 800 is going to be carried in a LowePro LensTrekker 600 III, which also has room for smaller bags with accessories.
(2) It pays off to classify and pack accessories (cables, chargers, filters, batteries, cleaning-kit etc) in respective smaller bags or boxes. I find transparent side/lids are a huge help to find items quickly - Thinktank Cable Mgmt, and i plan to trial the smaller Pelican options [1050, 1060]. All the better if these small bags/boxes can be attached inside a larger pack in accessible places.
Thanks to this detailed review and recent BCG thread, I've homed in on a MrJanGear Boris IV to test for Shooting requirements, especially as its protective flaps also open on the rear panel (unlike Guragear packs). MrJanGear also does smaller accessory bags attaching with velcro. However it seems the Guragear Chobe 2 is very useful for flying, and also storing accessories.
A stand out lesson from years of searching for the Single Camera Bag for all my needs whether in a vehicle, or hikng or travel is there is NO single all-purpose camera bag. It does not exist and never will. So my evolved strategy is:
(a) Ideally use Two bags on longer trips, make this 3 with Chobe 'laptop' bag (even 4 with Raptor waistcoat when flying!) These pack 3 or more cameras with respective lenses;
(b) Depending on how many lenses one is carrying, the 2nd big bag flies has non-vulnerable kit in the hold, until deployed on the ground;
(c) Usually, one can hike with a smaller pack with trimmed down camera system of 2 cameras and 3 lenses in total;
(d) Select the Modular small set(s) of accessories to pack in the bag of the trip/day.
(e) If necessary when flying send the extra bag/pack with more robust and least vulnerable items in aircraft luggage.
The Telemaster ICU that fits the fStop Sukha and larger packs is one stand apart exception, but the closing flap is unwieldy in use. I have at least 5 ICUs (Peakdesign and a Mindshift) that give some flexibility , but PD ICUs don't open from the top (unlike fStop's).
5 weeks of vehicle photography on dirt roads with 3 cameras, each on a dedicated telephoto, plus all the accessories.....I reappraised my solutions for Carry & Hiking vs "Static Photography.
(1) My needs to prioritize quick access to each rig when shooting in a vehicle/hide, often conflict with the ideal features of a carry on friendly bag. When shooting this ideal bag has to hold as well as protect to at least 3 cameras with attached lenses. This gets tricky with big lenses! It looks like no single bag can cope, so the 800 is going to be carried in a LowePro LensTrekker 600 III, which also has room for smaller bags with accessories.
(2) It pays off to classify and pack accessories (cables, chargers, filters, batteries, cleaning-kit etc) in respective smaller bags or boxes. I find transparent side/lids are a huge help to find items quickly - Thinktank Cable Mgmt, and i plan to trial the smaller Pelican options [1050, 1060]. All the better if these small bags/boxes can be attached inside a larger pack in accessible places.
Thanks to this detailed review and recent BCG thread, I've homed in on a MrJanGear Boris IV to test for Shooting requirements, especially as its protective flaps also open on the rear panel (unlike Guragear packs). MrJanGear also does smaller accessory bags attaching with velcro. However it seems the Guragear Chobe 2 is very useful for flying, and also storing accessories.
A stand out lesson from years of searching for the Single Camera Bag for all my needs whether in a vehicle, or hikng or travel is there is NO single all-purpose camera bag. It does not exist and never will. So my evolved strategy is:
(a) Ideally use Two bags on longer trips, make this 3 with Chobe 'laptop' bag (even 4 with Raptor waistcoat when flying!) These pack 3 or more cameras with respective lenses;
(b) Depending on how many lenses one is carrying, the 2nd big bag flies has non-vulnerable kit in the hold, until deployed on the ground;
(c) Usually, one can hike with a smaller pack with trimmed down camera system of 2 cameras and 3 lenses in total;
(d) Select the Modular small set(s) of accessories to pack in the bag of the trip/day.
(e) If necessary when flying send the extra bag/pack with more robust and least vulnerable items in aircraft luggage.
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