What Does LensBrace Do? + LensBrace vs. Monopod

When we first announced LensBrace with our promo video, we got a lot of valuable, unfiltered, first impression feedback.

The two most popular comments - "what does it do?" and "why not just use a monopod?"

I’m understating this a bit.

What really happened was a mob of angry telephotographers rose up in outrage and stormed the Facebook post as if we were announcing that all monopods must be destroyed immediately and replaced with LensBrace.

It was quite entertaining…

In all fairness, the post was a promo video that didn't dive into the how/why LensBrace actually works.

Since LensBrace is an original and innovative product, and not a replica of an existing product, we totally understand that its purpose and benefits need to be explained.

Simply put- LensBrace places a comfortable grip far forward of the balance point of your telephoto camera kit.

Which acts as a lever to dramatically shift the weight bias of the entire camera kit backward and blend into your body's center of gravity.

Greatly reducing the amount of effort required to lift it. The leverage LensBrace provides makes the entire kit feel much lighter and easier to handle.

In depth- (grab your kit if you really want to follow along)

When shooting or reviewing, you lift and hold all of the weight of your kit with your left side.

The weight bias of the front heavy lens is as far away from your center of gravity as it can be.

So every muscle and joint, from your feet, all the way up to your wrist is simultaneously working and sharing the load to keep the camera up to your eye AND the lens from falling forward.

No matter how you hold the lens or lens foot, your hand is up high at an awkward angle and gripping an uncomfortable shape. So using these lenses for more than a few minutes becomes uncomfortable.

Panning zooms require your support hand placement to shift while rolling the wheel.

To create comfort, we studied the equipment-

The balance point of Sony’s 200-600 and 400-800 on an A7 series body are both forward of the tip of the lens foot.

•A grip attached behind the balance point will require you to support the full weight of the kit with no relief from the frontal weight bias. Moving further back multiplies the unwanted bias and effort required to lift the kit to your eye.

Note that this ^ is where a monopod would thread in.

•A grip attached precisely on the balance point will require you to support the full weight of the kit and require fine muscle movements to keep on the balance point. Like standing on a skateboard.

•A grip attached forward of the balance point is going to generate leverage that works in your favor. Moving it further forward shifts the weight bias backward. multiplying the leverage and reducing effort required to tip the front heavy lens upward when lifting to the eye.

This ^ is where LensBrace is. 

Lensbrace’s super soft grip is strategically placed in the weight bias sweet spot, and also provides your thumb with unobstructed access to the zoom and focus rings, and the custom button. Perfect for smooth panning zooms.

When carrying at full droop- Arm and elbow extension and hand placement is relaxed and natural.

When lifting the kit with LensBrace from full droop, the weight instantly transfers toward your center of gravity, which greatly reduces the amount of effort required to lift.

The eye piece naturally wants to tip back towards your eye.

When shooting or reviewing, your hand is much lower, at a natural position, and the need to squeeze is minimal .

The right arm shares the weight of the kit equally with your left, which significantly reduces fatigue throughout your entire body and makes long days of repeated lifting and holding your position for that perfect shot enjoyable.

Regarding monopods-

LensBrace is specifically made for hand held shooters. but lets briefly address the common dismissive misconception that the same result that LensBrace offers can be achieved by simply handholding with a monopod-

Its undeniable that if you are the kind of photographer who doesn’t walk far, doesn't shoot handheld, and stands in one place for long periods of time waiting for subjects to enter the frame, then a monopod, or even a tripod is a great choice.

But keep in mind, that as soon as you see another subject approaching, and you pick it up off the ground, you become a handheld shooter and your extension will be out there swinging around in front of you.

As previously mentioned, monopods attach behind the balance point. So the beneficial leverage LensBrace creates just isn't there.

Whether you are hand holding it by the monopod or have the end of the extension firmly placed, the kit is still going to have that unwanted weight bias and want to fall away from you.

Since monopods attach to the lens foot, you either need to keep your arm up high to rest on the lens at all times or move your hand off the monopod grip to make adjustments.

For hiking and carrying, we typically split the weight of the kit with the neck strap and the left arm by placing the left hand on the monopod grip.

Monopod being attached to the lens foot, your arm is always tightly bent and resting closer to the middle of your elbows range of articulation to share the load between arm and neck.

Repetitive lifting from that point to the eye puts a lot of load on the elbow.

LensBrace allows your arm, and hand to be much lower while walking or carrying at the end of the neck strap length.

The length and soft end of the grip tube is perfect for adding a 3rd point of contact while carrying such as the leg, hip, or other options like cradle or over the shoulder. 

With LensBrace, your arm is only slightly bent while sharing the load with the neck strap, and resting in a much more comfortable position at the start point of your arm’s range of articulation, which makes repetitive lifting much easier on your entire left side, and your elbow.

We understand that people love their monopods.

With that in mind, we have developed a monopod adapter and adding it to our lineup which allows you to remove the LensBrace grip and attach your monopod.

This improves your monopod experience by giving you all the LensBrace benefits of perfect hand and thumb placement, weight bias, and the suspension action that comes with our engineered flex that protects your rig from shock and impact when touching down.

LensBrace is made 100% in the USA by photographers that use it every day.Every detail of the product from placement, length, and tactile feel of the grip, to selection of manufacturing and hardware materials has been well thought out and fine tuned over 2 years of development by people with deep pride in creating and offering the finest product, which only weighs 8.4oz, is exceptionally durable, and corrosion proof.