Guy gets sick of holding 800mm Nikon lens - makes his own lens holder

8 June 2017

There's no denying it - The AF-S Nikkor 800mm F5.6 VR is an absolute monster of a lens. Weighing in at 4590g, shooting handheld with the $16,000 beast for more than a few seconds is pretty much unbearable unless you're a bodybuilder or bring along a tripod rated to support the lens.



Wanting it use it for aviation photography, Jim Winters decided to build his own rig to accommodate the lens and his camera body.

Based on what looks to be a hand trolley, his 'triple axis' TRIAXEZ rig includes a counterweight and 12V battery. The battery provides additional counterweight to balance the frame – an earlier version used lead pellets as counterweights – and even provides charge to the camera for long shooting sessions. Winters says he can even use the battery to charge his phone. The whole setup is easily transported to and from shooting locations thanks to a pair of wheels at the base.

Here's some of his shots taken with it over the weekend, and you can see more at the Team Nikon Miami website.

© Jim Winters

© Jim Winters

© Jim Winters

© Jim Winters

© Jim Winters

Via DP Review.