How heavy does a lens need to be to require support?

Zak Forsman

Zak Forsman

Major Contributor
At what weight would you suggest a lens requires additional support? I'm looking at a 135mm f/2 that weighs nearly two pounds. Is that too much for the mount?
 
According to Barry in an earlier thread, it's 1kg, appx. 2.2 lbs. Don't forget to count the weight of the adapter, and to consider the balance of the lens. Even close and I'd use supports, why risk it?
 
I think a lot will have to do with which adapter is used. I wasn't worried about the weight of the Zeiss CP's we used on Verse, but I wasn't very keen on the strength of the PL adapter we were using. I had no issues letting the lens hang for a few moments while prepping other parts of the camera - the m43 mount is plenty strong to support the weight of the CP - but I didn't want to rely too much on the ebay PL adapter when the camera was being transported by hand or moved on the slider.

Similarly, I will leave my Nikon glass unsupported (even though I should usually be on rails with a follow focus). Everything from 28mm to 135mm f/2.8 will be fine, until I move up to the 300mm f/2.8!

I used the Zuiko 14-35 f/2 unsupported as well, attached via the Panasonic DMW-MA1 adapter. It was fine.

For me, I will probably find ways to support the XXXX->m43 adapter instead of supporting just the lens. It'll speed up lens changes and not risk the integrity of the m43 mount. For larger primes and fast zooms have lens supports built in, it's a no brainer. For lenses that naturally hang off of the camera, just play around and see if your adapter can hold the weight.

And please, for the love of bacon, do not hang the AF100 off of a larger lens. I've seen that idea thrown around here...purely idiotic.
 
Taylor Rudd said:
And please, for the love of bacon, do not hang the AF100 off of a larger lens. I've seen that idea thrown around here...purely idiotic.
Click to expand...

I was one of the idiots entertaining that idea, but now consider it pretty much SPAM - much prefer bacon! :) Appreciate the advice.
 
Matt Duclos suggested a rule of thumb test. If you can hold the lens horizontal in your finger tips by the mount flange it doesn't need support. If you can't easily do this it does need support.
 
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