waist/shoulder mounts worth bother?

I'm looking for comments from people who've used shoulder or waist
mounts for long lenses. Are they worth the inconvenience? I'm
particularly interested in whether they are so cumbersome that other
items, such as binoculars or a backpack, can't be easily carried at
the same time. How easily are they pushed out of the way when trekking
and not actually shooting a photo? I'm looking at a variety of
designs. Bushhawk. Sima. Novoflex Chestpod. Cullmann.

I don't use it any more but many years ago when I was a tot and keen
shooter, this was an age when shooting was a normal and natural pastime, I
built a shoulder grip not unlike a rifle butt. Using a lite 1/2 by 1/8th
flat shoulder curve bronzed onto 1/2 tubing with a bracket along the tube to
mount the camera via it's tripod mount with a pistol grip at a suitable
distance from the shoulder against which the end of the shutter release
cable was mounted.

Your question does it work. Sure did. Never the less as I became more, let's
say, precise seeking I opted to use a tripod. This contraption needs a rifle
users technique to gain maximum advantage. I would recon it to be about as
efficient as a monopod. One can buy these things from time to time.

--
Otzi


<drs.DeleteThis@canby.com> wrote in message
news:rnaav0ppk1i3qmuqqennbm6qjal0o0bin2@4ax.com...
 > I'm looking for comments from people who've used shoulder or waist
 > mounts for long lenses. Are they worth the inconvenience? I'm
 > particularly interested in whether they are so cumbersome that other
 > items, such as binoculars or a backpack, can't be easily carried at
 > the same time. How easily are they pushed out of the way when trekking
 > and not actually shooting a photo? I'm looking at a variety of
 > designs. Bushhawk. Sima. Novoflex Chestpod. Cullmann.<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->