EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM Review WOW!

I've only had this lens for a couple of days but I'm bowled over by it in combination with the 7D mkII.

I like to carry my birding camera on a Black Rapid strap. This is possible using the tripod foot but the foot makes the grip less comfortable, it might be improved by removing the foot and attaching the BR directly to the ring but the thread is not the standard 1/4 inch Whitworth.

Has anyone found a way round this please?

I can say the thread is 3mm. OOPS! Sorry, 3mm hex key required. Thread is 5mm

Super Dave, I was just thinking we needed to do something different, very cool

Now tell us did you have to manually focus and how was that working for you

DaveCurtis wrote in post #17618857
I've only had this lens for a couple of days but I'm bowled over by it in combination with the 7D mkII.

I like to carry my birding camera on a Black Rapid strap. This is possible using the tripod foot but the foot makes the grip less comfortable, it might be improved by removing the foot and attaching the BR directly to the ring but the thread is not the standard 1/4 inch Whitworth.

Has anyone found a way round this please?

I just have my Black Rapid strap attached to the tripod socket of my 7D2. That leaves my Kirk tripod foot on the lens available for either tripod or monopod use.

I use a CarrySpeed Pro which comes with a second attachment point and lanyard so there's one on the camera and one on the lens.
Makes it way less dangly,..Much more comfortable. And on the 100-400L II there is a loop hole spot in the foot so it does not interfere
with your tripod mount

Pondrader wrote in post #17618902
Super Dave, I was just thinking we needed to do something different, very cool

Now tell us did you have to manually focus and how was that working for you

Yep, manual focus. Literally manual, I use Live view so rarely I forgot how to

lol I hear ya lol, Im thinking I need some kind of magnifier device so I can see what is going on, my eye's are not what they use to be.

Much preferable, I wouldn't trust the camera tripod mount alone. My local pro shop stopped selling any of those straps because the got so many customers coming back with loose or ripped out tripod mounts. Basically a tripod mount is meant to stability support body or lens on a tripod, not for yanking around.

John_T wrote in post #17619428
Much preferable, I wouldn't trust the camera tripod mount alone. My local pro shop stopped selling any of those straps because the got so many customers coming back with loose or ripped out tripod mounts. Basically a tripod mount is meant to stability support body or lens on a tripod, not for yanking around.

I like that on my 120-300 OS - Sigma designed the tripod foot with a shaft to attach a strap to for carrying. Makes it much easier and more secure to carry

DaveCurtis wrote in post #17618857
I've only had this lens for a couple of days but I'm bowled over by it in combination with the 7D mkII.

I like to carry my birding camera on a Black Rapid strap. This is possible using the tripod foot but the foot makes the grip less comfortable, it might be improved by removing the foot and attaching the BR directly to the ring but the thread is not the standard 1/4 inch Whitworth.

Has anyone found a way round this please?

You do not want to remove the foot and attach directly to the black foot mounting point.


There have been a few postings where folk did so and because the typical attachment screw is longer than the depth of the hole it was compromising the whole attachment point.....I also recall that the threaded part is a helicoil design and as such is designed to be used with properly engineered part I. E . the original foot or by other accounts the Kirk replacement foot.

So be warned what you are proposing carries high risk of catastrophic failure.....oh, and the manual tells not to do so!

FWIW I use a BR strap with AS clamp attached to an AS plate on the tripod foot. Personally I dislike the new foot design but as advised in the manual I make sure the foot is firmly attached on every usage.

Re John_T's post ~ As for a shop reporting failures because BR carried combos perhaps they should post their account of this happening.....yes I surmise it is possible to overstress the connection but in normal carefull use if this sort of failure was common the various fora would be awash with such reports and they are not!

Especially not to attach a BR to the camera when using a tele lens....the received wisdom has always been to attach to this heavier part of the combo (the lens) thus reducing strain on the body tripod mount point and equally important reduce the stress on the lens mount to body connection.

Agree with Box Brownie that we would have heard about dropped gear if user was not to blame.
People can be reluctant to admit their own mistakes but common to see people join forums to report product failure.

I heard of someone dropping their BR carried combo, let go of the camera and lens and never felt the strap take up the strain, forgot they had removed the clip and were the only thing holding the camera

Also agree with the warning about screw length. See thread:
https://photography-on-the.net …/showthread.php​?t=1424473
(worth reading a bit, takes a while for the screw length issue to become clear)

FWIW

Here is a thread over at dpreview. http://www.dpreview.co​m/forums/thread/382319​4

Though not that thread there was one I read where someone had indeed "jacked up" the black mounting plate by using an overlong screw and caused its failure though I think not a catastrophic one!

Box Brownie wrote in post #17619711
FWIW

Here is a thread over at dpreview. http://www.dpreview.co​m/forums/thread/382319​4

Though not that thread there was one I read where someone had indeed "jacked up" the black mounting plate by using an overlong screw and caused its failure though I think not a catastrophic one!

Yeah, same person. That dpreview thread links to a FredMiranda thread made by Jeet, who posted the POTN thread I linked.
That was a case of someone not reluctant to post about their suspected mistake which turned into a good example of the benefits of forums, we all learn.

A colony of night herons has been returning to nest at our local zoo for several years now.

re: helicoils, sure there might be one in the base of the collar that the foot mounts to. that's no more a problem than the threaded insert in the tripod mount on the foot