Anybody Shoot the 300 f/2.8 Hand Held?

Typically, I shoot the 300mm f/2.8 for HS football mounted on a monopod. Yesterday, I took a few shots hand held, thought this is OK, and ended up shooting this way for a quarter.

Do any of you shoot this lens (or lens of comparable weight) hand held for an extended period? I'm thinking of trying it as long as the light holds to give a SS of 1/1250 or faster. Is this a recipe for carpal tunnel or no big deal? Are there any sports where you change from monopod to hand held?

For football I use a monopod but for cycling I hand hold all day with it but I usually sitting down with it resting on my knee.

I find that HH gives you more freedom. It is like when you shooting with 70-200mm f2. I do use monopod as HH for a long time gets tiring.

I hand hold my 300 2.8 and MKIII everywhere i shoot, sometimes at the horse track for 6-7 hours it starts to get heavy and long days at the soccer fields but overall it isn't too bad.

I've handheld it for back to back lacrosse games. My arms and shoulders were tired. I guess if I HH it everytime I would get use to it. But I use it on a monopod mainly when doing football or baseball. I like the stability the monopod provides along with giving the arms a rest. I have handheld it for volleyball too.

Zivnuska wrote in post #8604312
Typically, I shoot the 300mm f/2.8 for HS football mounted on a monopod. Yesterday, I took a few shots hand held, thought this is OK, and ended up shooting this way for a quarter.

Do any of you shoot this lens (or lens of comparable weight) hand held for an extended period? I'm thinking of trying it as long as the light holds to give a SS of 1/1250 or faster. Is this a recipe for carpal tunnel or no big deal? Are there any sports where you change from monopod to hand held?

yup i shoot it handheld quite often when shooting sports but most of the time I will use a manfrotto monopod. Its not THAT heavy but it does get tiring after about 2 hours lol.

I remember using the 400 2.8 on a monopod on the sidelines of a tennis match for about 4 hours before a sports photographer who I had become acquainted with offered to switch his lens with mine for a game or two. 300 felt like a feather after carrying around the 400 all day!

Constantly... I would actually say, that I use 300/2.8 less then 50% on monopod. It's not really that heavy lens, so it's no big deal... even when shooting for hours

primoz wrote in post #8610061
Constantly... I would actually say, that I use 300/2.8 less then 50% on monopod. It's not really that heavy lens, so it's no big deal... even when shooting for hours

Primoz is definitely the mans man! I've handheld the 300 a good few times. It's not something i'd do every week unless I had to but it's definitely something thats easy to do.

I have used my 300 both ways. If it is a fairly constant area that I will be shooting, or one with little vertical movement, I will use a monopod. If there is a lot of vertical movement (an airshow) or lots of panning (a race), I will just hand hold it. Gets a little on the heavy side after several hours, but nothing that isn't manageable. Mostly the 300 is hand held though.

Most of that lens is hood anyways. It just looks huge but with the hood off it really isn't much bigger then a 70-200 2.8

Handheld 100% of the time. I bought a monpod when I got the 300, tried it out one time and hated it. Prefer the freedom of movement handheld offers.

If I haven't shot in a while, my wrists will get sore. However that goes away after a few times out.

I use it handheld for paintball.

swimming - all day long

Hand-held always for soccer. I guess it take a little getting used to, but well worth the effort. I have done this for weekend tournaments of 5 or 6 games sometimes. Get the grip, it helps when holding at your side for long periods and of course when shooting! Just got back from a vacation to the Galapagos islands and had it on my shoulder for 8 days straight- 8 hours a day sometimes. Compared the shots to everyone elses and have no doubt it is worth it! Tried the monopod once and found it too restrictive.