Amount of weight before support is needed?

[Raymond Zrike]

What amount of weight do you think is okay for PL mount before you need support? I’m wondering if I should use support for a Canon 7-63mm on an SR3. The lens is about 4.5lbs. I’ve used support for lenses in the 6.5-8lb range before, but I’m curious where it flips over to not being a concern anymore. It’s my own camera, so I’d like to keep the mount in good shape.

[Robin Phillips]

I always use lens support on my LWZ.2 on my SR3 and Aaton. its only a 4.4lb lens, but its a bit front loaded and if you clamp on a matte box with filtration... basically its worth it to reduce the frequency of needing the flange depth checked and reset frequently from a long heavy thing applying pressure to the mount. Im a sharpness freak on 16 so part of always using the support on zooms is just to reduce the chance