Handheld vs. tripod with the Great Whites

[Eldar]

I wonder how much extra freedom the bandolier gives compared to a monopod.

The bandoleer does not work without a monopod. And its not meant to be used with a 300mm. Have you seen the picture at the beginning of the thread?

Yeah but the monopod is not being used like a monopod here that is what I meant. Here it is just attached to you and you are not stuck messing with it on the ground.

And I was just using the 300 as an example of how hand-holding can be nice (plus, who is to say you couldn't use this with it if you were tired?).

I have now walked around with this quite a bit, with both the 600mm f4L IS II and the 200-400 f4L 1.4x, and I feel as stable with the bandoleer as with having the monopod on the ground. When I´m in a forrest and often need to make minor sideways movements, I never have to adjust the length of the monopod, which makes me a lot more efficient. I also make less noise. When I walk with it, I just tilt the lens down and hold it close to my body, with both camera and lens well protected. I have not felt any strain on my back or any other muscle from carrying this over time.

Personally I would not feel the need to have rig like this for a 300mm, but I´m sure some would. If you have to follow a subject through the viewer for some time, a 300 can also be heavy enough.

 

[garyknrd]

According to a majority of white lens owners here in Japan, you apparently cannot be recognized past amateur level unless you use a giant tripod, from "big white" to a 70-300 with IS, even if what you're shooting absolutely doesn't need any such support, but you're willing to lug around an F/2.8 zoom all day but shoot at F/16 only... err....
Seriously it's insane, was just at a nice place for autumn leaves viewing and I lost count past 50 of people with the 70-200 series of lenses, mostly 70-200LII too, and few of them are any sort of pro, just part of a photo group/club. It was interesting to see that a majority of users are Canon here, and more Olympus/Panasonic mFT users than even Nikon.

I run into Japanese tourists and retires here in Thailand all the time. They all tell me about Canon and how famous the 300 mm f2.8 lens and others are. And allot use tripods also.. strange.

Got to talking to one guy that was a real camera buff. He was shooting on a nice tripod using a Panasonic and an older 500mm f/4.5. Manual focus with focus peeking. And was getting some beautiful photos. I was amazed. Allot the Japanese guys here really get into it. Having special machined parts made for there lens and cameras.
I felt kinda out of place.

They also tell me Canon provides free services to it's customers there. Free yearly cleaning and adjustments. Is one thing he mentioned.