topic Re: Anyone used a Lens Flipper in General Discussion

Anyone used a Lens Flipper

ilzho — Thu, 20 Oct 2016 13:01:40 GMT

I only have one camera body and I have been finding times that I wish I either had a second camera body with my other lens attached to it, or had my other lens readily available to switch out.

I was searching for something to help alleviate this issue for me and I ran across a 'Lens Flipper'.

Has anyone seen this or used it?

Do you have any thoughts or suggestions?

[link removed per forum guidelines]

Re: Anyone used a Lens Flipper

Waddizzle — Thu, 20 Oct 2016 12:26:30 GMT

Looks like an efficient means to get your camera and lenses dirty.

Re: Anyone used a Lens Flipper

ilzho — Thu, 20 Oct 2016 12:29:04 GMT

That's exactly what I thought, even with the caps that you can get.

Re: Anyone used a Lens Flipper

Tronhard — Mon, 05 Dec 2016 05:06:21 GMT

I am perhaps fixated on not getting dirt into my camera bodies or lenses. For that reason I try never to change lenses in the field, and I prefer to have a body for each lens that I am using. I usually carry two bodies and maybe have a third lens in reserve that I can change under more clinical conditions.

If you have just the one body I recommend the folloiwng procedures:

1. Make sure the lenses are clean to begin with, especially make sure the glass that sits within the body is clean for the lens to be attached. Leave the lens caps on both ends of the spare lens until the last possible moment.

2. Be in a sheltered spot or stand to keep the wind and associated dust away from your gear.

3. Make sure that the front lens caps are bothin place - this is to try to seal the lens as much as possible. I have even changed lenses inside clear plastic bags to protect them. By the same token I lock lenses that can do so (such as the 70-300mm lens or the 28-300 lens) to stop them extending and sucking in rubbish. With some lenses, especially those push-pull are particularly susceptible to the bellows effect.

4. I make sure the camera electronics are turned off. Powered sensors attract dust into the body.

5. Make the change quickly and especiially make the switch to keep the body connection unsealed for as short a time as possible.

6. Don't drop anything! 🙂

Re: Anyone used a Lens Flipper

kvbarkley — Mon, 05 Dec 2016 15:18:54 GMT

There was a still camera in my "100 cameras book" that you held like an old-school 8mm film camera (i.e., it had a pistol grip). It had a wide angle, a normal, and a telephoto lens on a turret that you could rotate.

It looked really awkard and over-balanced, probably because it was awkard and overbalanced.

Re: Anyone used a Lens Flipper

ebiggs1 — Fri, 09 Dec 2016 11:29:18 GMT

Two things.

One, use your gear. Don't be fixated on the conditions or you will never get the great shots.

Two, use common since.

Canon offers C&C so if the need arises make use of it.

Re: Anyone used a Lens Flipper

Waddizzle — Fri, 09 Dec 2016 20:15:10 GMT

@ebiggs1 wrote:
Two things.
One, use your gear. Don't be fixated on the conditions or you will never get the great shots.
Two, use common sense.

Canon offers C&C so if the need arises make use of it.

The moderators took the link down. But, from what I recall about how the product looked, it was sort of a over the shoulder sling that could hold a spare lens by a special end cap, which had a bayonnet mount.. The end cap had a double mount, so that you could attach two lenses at the same time.

Imagine a doughnut with a barrier in the center of the hole, so that nothing could pass through it. It sort of looked like an extender that could hold a lens at either end, back to back. This attached to a sling that went over your shoulder, or around your waist. I can't remember which. Maybe it attached to your belt(?).

The idea was that you when you unmounted a lens, you would mount it on the open side of the bayonnet cap thingy, remove the second lens from the other side, and attach it to the camera. While it could hold two lenses at once, the intent was to only carry a single mounted lens, which would hang pointing at the ground.

The problem with this gadget was that the unused mount was just open to the air, free to collect dirt like an open cup. It didn't seem to include a body capy to cover the open end. A cap ran counter to the design intent, which was to avoid lens and body caps altogether.

Like I said. It looked like a very efficient means to get your gear dirty. It didn't pass the common sense test.

[EDIT] I just noticed something like it at my favorite online store. GoWing Lens Flipper. They have a hands-on review and a video. The reviewer seemed to like it. Obviously, I don't.

Re: Anyone used a Lens Flipper

Tronhard — Fri, 09 Dec 2016 20:58:09 GMT

From what I can see the lens flipper is essentially a tube with each end having a camera body bayonet mount for a lens. It seems to be an attempt to allow you to place the lens on a sling while you are changing betweens lenses.

So I think the theory is that one would initially have a spare lens on one bayoneted end with the other end covered by a body cap.

When you want to change lenses you remove the body cap, take the lens off the camea body and attach it to the open end of the Lens Flipper. You then remove the replacement lens, which is hanging off the othe end of the lens flipper and attach it to the camera, afterwards covering the now open end of the lens flipper with the body cap.

To me the only benefit of such a systems is that it reduces the chance of you dropping the lens while juggling the lenses as you change them, but frankly I have never had that issue. Further more if the lens flipper is on a sling it will drastically alter the centre of gravity of the whole contraption and could cause it to swing wildly, especially if heavy lenses are involved.

In both the conventional and Lens Flipper methods there will be a period when both the body and the lens are open to the air, so I am not sure I would have a use for the device. I would rather keep the money and save up to get a second body...

Re: Anyone used a Lens Flipper

Waddizzle — Fri, 09 Dec 2016 21:15:14 GMT

"To me the only benefit of such a systems is that it reduces the chance of you dropping the lens while juggling the lenses as you change them, but frankly I have never had that issue. Further more if the lens flipper is on a sling it will drastically alter the centre of gravity of the whole contraption and could cause it to swing wildly, especially if heavy lenses are involved."

I like to carry two bodies, too. I find having a hard camera bumping off my hip, just a bit uncomfortable, like you would with a Black Rapid Sport Strap.. So, I use a very well padded holster, which is large enough to hold a pro-size DSLR, with a 70-200 f/2.8 attached, with tripod foot, and with the hood reversed, to carry the spare camera.

I do use a Black Rapid Strap, for safety reasons, on the handheld camera, while the spare is in the holster. The strap is much better than the standard Canon strap. And, it also frees my hands to swap cameras. It ain't the fastest system, but it works, and it is comfortable..

Re: Anyone used a Lens Flipper

Tronhard — Fri, 09 Dec 2016 21:17:24 GMT

I think we are singing fromt the same song book! 🙂

I too carry a holster big enough to carry my largerst lens and body, I must admit I like to live on the edge as I don't have any kind of strap attached to my camera while using it. So far in 35 years I have not dropped one yet! Although I realize I am tempting the camera gods to punish me for that remark!

So far that method has protected my gear from getting any noticeable dirt into my camera body - well as far as allowed by the bellows effect of my 28-300 push-pull lens.

Re: Anyone used a Lens Flipper

Waddizzle — Fri, 09 Dec 2016 21:30:37 GMT

I use a Toploader Pro 75 AW II Holster Bag from Lowepro. My big lenses are the newet 70-200 and 100-400, which are near identical in size, so either fits into the bag. I love the bag. It's pretty big, too. I highly recommend it to anyone who reads this. It's about the size of a rugby ball.

Re: Anyone used a Lens Flipper

Tronhard — Fri, 09 Dec 2016 21:54:57 GMT

I go out with a fairly wide range of lens sizes so I use a wide range of carrying devices:

LowePro:

Slingthot 200AW when I want to carry three bodies and some kit - two bodies with moderate sized lenses plus carrying one.

Toploader zoom 50 AW for smaller zooms

Toploader zoom 55AW for a smaller to mid-size soom and body

Toploader TLZ AW for a larger zoom like the 100-400 or 28-300

The problem is I always have a bettery grip attached and units like the XD and XXD bodies with grip are a tight fit.

I resolved the issue with the Think Tank system, they have extra width to accommodate the body and grip, and they have an extendible sleeve for the lens so I can extend or contract the holster as required to fit my configuration.

I got waist belt that attaches the holsters and that gets the weight off my shoulders and onto my hips, I just have to remember that when wearing the system I am much wider than I normally am, so china shops are out as a destination! {:-D

For hiking and travel I use the Kata Bumblee UL-222 (sadly no longer made) which has an external frame, lots of spce for lenses bodies and accessories, tripod etc, and even a loptop or water bladder!

Re: Anyone used a Lens Flipper

Waddizzle — Sat, 10 Dec 2016 14:41:51 GMT

Lowepro makes some heavily padded holsters. They have bags with differing depths, which you seem to have. But, they also have bags for differing camera body sizes, for bodies with or without a battery grip.

Re: Anyone used a Lens Flipper

RobertTheFat — Sat, 10 Dec 2016 15:08:57 GMT

@Tronhard wrote:
I go out with a fairly wide range of lens sizes so I use a wide range of carrying devices:
LowePro:
Slingthot 200AW when I want to carry three bodies and some kit - two bodies with moderate sized lenses plus carrying one.
Toploader zoom 50 AW for smaller zooms
Toploader zoom 55AW for a smaller to mid-size soom and body
Toploader TLZ AW for a larger zoom like the 100-400 or 28-300

The problem is I always have a bettery grip attached and units like the XD and XXD bodies with grip are a tight fit.

I resolved the issue with the Think Tank system, they have extra width to accommodate the body and grip, and they have an extendible sleeve for the lens so I can extend or contract the holster as required to fit my configuration.
I got waist belt that attaches the holsters and that gets the weight off my shoulders and onto my hips, I just have to remember that when wearing the system I am much wider than I normally am, so china shops are out as a destination! {:-D

For hiking and travel I use the Kata Bumblee UL-222 (sadly no longer made) which has an external frame, lots of spce for lenses bodies and accessories, tripod etc, and even a loptop or water bladder!

Why are battery grips as popular as they are? I've never used a digital camera whose battery couldn't be changed out in five seconds. Except possibly for some very unusual types of photography (battleground photojournalism, maybe?), I don't see how the benefits of a grip justify the extra size and weight.

Re: Anyone used a Lens Flipper

Waddizzle — Sat, 10 Dec 2016 15:59:04 GMT

"Why are battery grips as popular as they are? I've never used a digital camera whose battery couldn't be changed out in five seconds. Except possibly for some very unusual types of photography (battleground photojournalism, maybe?), I don't see how the benefits of a grip justify the extra size and weight."

I have big hands. So, the grip gives the camera a better fit in my hands. I can sit the back left corner of the camera on my palm, near my thumb, and my fingers can reach zoom and focus rings just right on most lenses.

The extra weight it gives the camera balances well with handheld lenses large enough to have a tripod foot, like the 70-200 or 100-400. I probably look like an idiot, but I keep the tripod foot on the lenses when I handhold the camera. When I hold the foot, the camera is balanced, front to back. Besides, the foot is a good carrying handle when walking, too.

As far as extra battery capacity goes, I can go much longer between recharges with the grip. I can shoot for 2-3 hours with the 150-600 super telephoto, and not come close to running down the battery. I don't need to stop and change batteries, although I could probably use the 5 minute rest :).

Finally, the grip makes your camera look really COOL.

Re: Anyone used a Lens Flipper

RobertTheFat — Sat, 10 Dec 2016 15:54:35 GMT

@Waddizzle wrote:
"Why are battery grips as popular as they are? I've never used a digital camera whose battery couldn't be changed out in five seconds. Except possibly for some very unusual types of photography (battleground photojournalism, maybe?), I don't see how the benefits of a grip justify the extra size and weight."

I have big hands. So, the grip gives the camera a better fit in my hands. ...

Finally, the grip makes your camera look really COOL.

Finally, I understand.

Re: Anyone used a Lens Flipper

Tronhard — Sat, 10 Dec 2016 18:27:28 GMT

With regards battery grips, first I have to say it's an individual choice which, for me, is based on convenience (not having to change batteries), hand size (while not huge hands I find the grip gives me more to grab hold of), extra controls (when held for portrait shots the grips have controls on the top-right, like a camera body) and balance (I use a lot of heavy lenses and it feels much less front-heavy when I have the grip on.)

I don't have a battery grip for looks, knowing I pay for the grip and the effort in the extra weight I am carrying, especially with knees that are complaining from advancing arthritis.

Those reasons work for me, but it's definitely not for everyone.

Re: Anyone used a Lens Flipper

Waddizzle — Sat, 10 Dec 2016 20:31:32 GMT

@RobertTheFat wrote:
@Waddizzle wrote:
"Why are battery grips as popular as they are? I've never used a digital camera whose battery couldn't be changed out in five seconds. Except possibly for some very unusual types of photography (battleground photojournalism, maybe?), I don't see how the benefits of a grip justify the extra size and weight."

I have big hands. So, the grip gives the camera a better fit in my hands. ...

Finally, the grip makes your camera look really COOL.
Finally, I understand.

Seriously, everything I wrote is why like using the grip.. You really don't need to have BIG hands to appreciate the better feel and BALANCE in your hand, particularly with lenses with the weight of a 70-200mm f/2.8.

Just be aware that most camera bags do not accomodate a camera body with a grip. I bought a grip for my 6D, and suddenly found myself in the market for a new camera bag. That's when I bought the Lowepro Holster. Followed by a back pack big enough to hold a pro-sized body with an attached lens.

If you go for a battery grip, stick with a Canon grip. I took advantage of a sale when I saw it online, not because I planned on getting one. Stick with a Canon grip because your weather sealed camera body won't be as well protected with a third party grip. Besides, the thrid party grips don't have the same surface texture, either. The third party grips don't have the same shape and hand feel [and button positions] when you rotate to portrait mode, either.

I think it was money well spent. I take better pictures because the camera FEELS better in the hand.