has been

I just bought Nikon's new 200-500 mm lens. I have the RRS BH55 ball head on their TVC-34L tripod. But I find the collar and foot that comes with this lens a bit too thick and wide to fit the Arca-Swiss style plate.

Also I have a heavy, old Bogan 3221 tripod that has a six sided plate that attaches to the bottom of the camera and fits into a quick-release clamp. However the screw on this plate seems to be too short to fully screw into the bottom of the lens and collar foot.

In the first of the above cases the foot in question is too wide; and in the second case it is too thick.

I'm sure to many of you this is not a difficult problem. So I am asking if there are reasonable, economical solutions that I could employ that would allow me easy and effective use of my new lens with tripod. Thanks in advance.

jcboy3

I have the 200-500 and generally like it, but the tripod collar is a disappointment. It isn't ARCA compatible (I wish all new tripod collars were), the foot isn't replaceable (so you have to replace the entire collar...$190 for a Kirk?), and it only has one hole for attachment of a plate.

Short term, attach an ARCA plate and use your ARCA heads. But that just makes it harder to find a suitable case for the lens. Be sure to get a plate with rubber non-slip inserts so it won't twist around on you.

Ultimately, I hope some Chinese company puts out an Arca collar for this.

MT Shooter Loc: Montana

In fact NO consumer level lens with a tripod collar has more than one hole, and many Pro level lens collars do not have more than one hole either.
I have found two plates that work VERY well for these lenses and I use them myself, both on rental lenses as well as my personal lenses.
One is the KIWI LP100. The other is the DPG 120 from SunwayFoto. (I believe Hejnar and Wimberley both offer this style as well but do not know their numbers off the top of my head)
What makes these plates work very well is the fact that they have a raised ridge on one end that fits up against the straight back of the tripod foot to hold it straight and avoid twisting of the plate when mounted on the foot of the collar.
Sigma used an Arca compatible foot on the collars of their 150-500 and 50-500mm OS lenses, but dropped the design as the act of clamping them repeatedly caused the black rubberized finish to wear off very fast.
Adopting a true "Arca" foot to a factory built collar is expensive because the manufacturers have to pay a royalty to Arca-Swiss for every lens made that way and that adds to the cost of the product. The royalty fee for QR plates is MUCH lower so they have become plentiful. Besides, the Chinese knock-off plates don't pay that royalty anyway because its pretty much impossible to sue a Chinese company for patent infringement. That's why counterfeiting runs rampant there.

srherrmann Loc: Baton Rouge, Louisiana

Can you get a longer screw?

mcveed Loc: Kelowna, British Columbia (between trips)

Kirk makes the plate you need. It has only one screw but it has a lug on one end to stop the plate from turning. I have a similar plate on my Tamron 150-600.
http://www.kirkphoto.com/Lens_Plate_for_Nikon_200-500mm_AF-S_f_5.6E_ED_VR.html

MtnMan Loc: ID

Interesting. Mine fit fine on two different Manfrotto plates.

bruswen Loc: Eugene OR

Since you are using the RRS BH-55, RRS recommends their MPR-113: 113mm rail as a solution. The cost is $55.

mborn Loc: Massachusetts

Good to Know

Julian Loc: Sarasota, FL

This was an easy problem to solve; I purchased an Arca Swiss plate, slightly longer than the lens tripod collar foot and attached it with the hefty allen-screw wrench supplied. The extra length of the plate provides additional balancing adjustment especially when mounted on a gimbal head; there slotted plate gives sufficient latitude adjustment while preventing accidental slide off by using two stop screws at each end.

DirtFarmer Loc: Escaped from the NYC area, back to MA

I got one last fall.

I generally put an Arca plate on all my large lenses. I got one from B&H and it just screws onto the foot. Fits my Arca clamp just fine.

But I've had good luck hand holding the lens. The VR is really good.

has been

The responses to my question concerning foot and collar options so it can be compatible with my new 200-500mm Nikon telephoto lens (i.e., the supplied lens collar foot does not fit my arca-swiss style setup) were excellent and I appreciate the responses. My only problem now is I have more than enough possible solutions. Thank you.

moonhawk Loc: Land of Enchantment

That's what I used--it works great.

greg14

I am thinking of getting the 200-500mm.
I have a 2 Gitzo, tri and mono.
They are both old, 25 years at least.

Is there an issue with all brands of tripods or just certain brands and/or types?

Thanks

Greg

dickwilber Loc: Indiana (currently)

Greg14: It's not the tripods, not even the heads, it is the compatibility of the quick release systems! The foot attached to the lens collar is NOT intended to fit an Arca-Swiss (or any other) quick release mechanism. A separate (compatible) quick release plate screwed to the foot, is required!

Used without a Quick Release System, the foot is simply screwed directly to the flat top of the tripod head with the screw protruding from that top. If the tripod head incorporates a quick release base or "clamp", a compatible plate must be screwed to the lens collar foot. There are many different systems available (I have bought four different systems, all incompatible with each other). Most of us opt for an "Arca-Swiss" compatible system, but there are other systems that work if you are careful stay in that specific system!

(Note: there are manufacturers that purvey more than one system not compatible with each other.)

INshooter Loc: Indiana

I plan using one of these when I buy that lens.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/205335-REG/Wimberley_P_30_P30_Quick_Release_Plate.html

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1192194-REG/kirk_nc_200_500_quick_release_lens_collar_for.html