Does battery Grip obstruct 70-200/f4 tripod collar with quick release plate?

Hello -

I have just added a battery grip to my D30. It works great and gives the camera a stable feeling while shooting in either portrait or landscape.

The additional weight, however, means that when I mount the camera on my tripod by the battery grip (I am not using a tripod collar), there is significantly more sagging after I lock the ball head. Even worse - the camera actually shakes in the wind (somewhat heavy wind at the beach). It seems that, with the additional weight, I can no longer use the 70-200 on a tripod without using a tripod collar.

In looking at photographs of the tripod collar at B&H, and eyeballing how it would mount on the lens, it appears that the bottom of the battery grip would obstruct any quick-release mounting plate placed on the tripod collar. Is this true? Are you forced to move the tripod collar mount to the left side of the camera, where there is more room?

Cheers,
-Ivan-

(My tripod is a Manfrotto 3221 with a 308QR ball head.)

It does obstruct movement with the tripod collar and the vertical grip mounted at the same time. But I have found that it works fine if I reverse mount the tripod collar. The L shape base of tripod collar facing the front of the lens instead of facing the camera. The balance is not as good but good enough for shake free pictures. The offset of balance is not that much and surely much better than mounting the camera base to the tripod head. But when using the tripod collar I don't see the need to use the vertical grip.

Chunin Martinez-- http://www.cimphoto.com

With the larger Manfrotto quick release plate it's close, but it clears!



Happy New Year!

--Dave Werner

Thank you for the feedback and photo.

I have the smaller, rectangular manfrotto qr plate - so it may fit ok.

Although, the mount for the qr plate has a thumb-lock lever that sticks out about two inches - I suspect I may have to reverse the qr plate on the collar so that the lever faces forward instead of backwards.

Does anyone have experience with this type of mount?

Cheers,
-Ivan-

Dave Werner said:

With the larger Manfrotto quick release plate it's close, but it
clears!



Happy New Year!

--
Dave Werner

Click to expand...

Dave,

Do you usually use the tripod collar when on a tripod with the 70-200 F/4? Besides the obvious ease in rotating, are there any other advantages? or disadvantages?

-Jamil

Dave Werner said:

With the larger Manfrotto quick release plate it's close, but it
clears!



Happy New Year!

--
Dave Werner

Click to expand...

Dave,

Could you tell me which tripod and head combination you use?

I've got to purchase a better Tripod!

Thanks--Butch Barker

Butch Barker said:

Dave,

Could you tell me which tripod and head combination you use?

I've got to purchase a better Tripod!

Click to expand...

Check out the Davis & Sanford line. Slick also make a good line.

http://www.tiffen.com/tripod_page.htm

I use the Compac C tripod. Don't know if this applies to you but most of the tripods I see in the stores today, don't have center supports. You can't be stable without center supports, especially in the wind.

Hope this helps.

Right now I have a Bogen 3221 but I am planning to get a gitzo 1348.

Butch Barker said:

Dave,

Could you tell me which tripod and head combination you use?

I've got to purchase a better Tripod!

Thanks
--
Butch Barker

Click to expand...

Don't forget: The tripod ring mount A(W) and the tripod ring mount A(B) are the same thing except for the color. If you buy the black one, it will save you $35. B&H claims that the tripod mount ring A(B) only fits the 200mm f/2.8L. It is not true.

So is this lens better when used with the tripod collar than without? I am debating whether to get it or not???

-Jamil

lxcellent said:

Don't forget: The tripod ring mount A(W) and the tripod ring mount
A(B) are the same thing except for the color. If you buy the black
one, it will save you $35. B&H claims that the tripod mount ring
A(B) only fits the 200mm f/2.8L. It is not true.

Click to expand...

Jamil Abbasy said:

Dave,
Do you usually use the tripod collar when on a tripod with the
70-200 F/4? Besides the obvious ease in rotating, are there any
other advantages? or disadvantages?

-Jamil

Click to expand...

Hi Jamil,

About 1/4 of the time when the lens is alone, and 3/4 of the time when I use the lens with the Canon 2X mkII converter.

Sorry it took so long to answer. I should check "my threads" more often.
--Dave Werner

Butch Barker said:

Dave,

Could you tell me which tripod and head combination you use?

I've got to purchase a better Tripod!

Thanks
--
Butch Barker

Click to expand...

Hi Butch,

I've gone over to gorgeous old Linhof stuff... Their old cameras may be obsolete, but their tripods go on forever. And incredibly, it’s cheap compared to top end Gitzo equivalents.

Good Luck!--Dave Werner

Jamil Abbasy said:

So is this lens better when used with the tripod collar than
without? I am debating whether to get it or not???

-Jamil

Click to expand...

Since I shoot primarily on a tripod, a tripod collar was a must. For stability and handling reasons, I prefer to use the ring which allows me to shoot in the portrait mode more easily. Flopping my camera on it's side is unstable and awkward. With the collar, the lens and body are perfectly balanced above the ballhead which then allows for a higher degree of usability. I would imagine that if I attached the lens and body to the ballhead by the body, the whole camera would want to nose dive from the tripod. This means that you would need to tighten down the ball head more (meaning that it would be a pain to loosen for micro-adjustments). I also think that using the tripod collar will ultimately decrease the stress on the lens mount.