Canon EF 100-400mm mk II: Issues with tripod mount.

[Cyclops66]

Last month I visited Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park in South Africa/Botswana and used my new Canon EF 100-400mm mk II zoom lens extensively with a gimball head mounted on an Apex beanbag (this one: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produ...159002316_Bean_Bag_Realtree.html/prm/alsVwDtl)

To my surprise, after a couple of days the lense wasn't stable any more: it became a bit wobbly when I used it with the gimball head.

It took me some time to figure out what the problem was, but in the end it turned out that the four little black screws that tighten the tripod mount to the lens were loose (see picture).

In a period of two weeks, I had to tighten these screws at least four times.

The road conditions in the Kgalagadi park are not great (sand and gravel with lots of corrugation) so there's a lot of rattle, shake and tremble when you drive there, but I did not expect that a Canon lens costing more than € 2000 would fall apart under these circumstances ;-)

Just to be sure: of course I did not drive around with the lens mounted to the gimbal head on the beanbag. Every time we drove a long distance, the lens was carefully stowed away in my LowePro bag.



I would like to know if anyone else is having the same issue with this lens?

 

[RogerZoul]

wow.....didn't expect this kind of issue...I've been using mine on a tripod/gimbal head in my kitchen a lot since I got my copy, but haven't noticed any issues yet....and i just replaced the foot thinking that was a weak link...

Wondering if some loctite blue would help here?

ps..that beanbag think looks like something else for me to spend money on....

 

[hotdog321]

Interesting problem and observation. I wondered how that new mount would behave in comparison to the tripod collar on the 70-200 f/2.8L IS II.

--
photojournalist
http://craighartley.zenfolio.com/

 

[Daniel L]

This remind me of similar screws issue on Canon extender hot shoe that would come lose when using better beamer. You should report this to Canon. It's a design flaw.

Last month I visited Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park in South Africa/Botswana and used my new Canon EF 100-400mm mk II zoom lens extensively with a gimball head mounted on an Apex beanbag (this one: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produ...159002316_Bean_Bag_Realtree.html/prm/alsVwDtl)

To my surprise, after a couple of days the lense wasn't stable any more: it became a bit wobbly when I used it with the gimball head.

It took me some time to figure out what the problem was, but in the end it turned out that the four little black screws that tighten the tripod mount to the lens were loose (see picture).

In a period of two weeks, I had to tighten these screws at least four times.

The road conditions in the Kgalagadi park are not great (sand and gravel with lots of corrugation) so there's a lot of rattle, shake and tremble when you drive there, but I did not expect that a Canon lens costing more than € 2000 would fall apart under these circumstances ;-)

Just to be sure: of course I did not drive around with the lens mounted to the gimbal head on the beanbag. Every time we drove a long distance, the lens was carefully stowed away in my LowePro bag.

I would like to know if anyone else is having the same issue with this lens?

--
Macro and Bird Photography

Daniel Lim's Nature, Wildlife, Macro and Bird Photography

Bird, Wildlife, Macro, Extreme Macro, Landscape and Nature Photography by Daniel Swee Lim

www.danielslim.com

 

[sacentre]

Last month I visited Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park in South Africa/Botswana and used my new Canon EF 100-400mm mk II zoom lens extensively with a gimball head mounted on an Apex beanbag (this one: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produ...159002316_Bean_Bag_Realtree.html/prm/alsVwDtl)

To my surprise, after a couple of days the lense wasn't stable any more: it became a bit wobbly when I used it with the gimball head.

It took me some time to figure out what the problem was, but in the end it turned out that the four little black screws that tighten the tripod mount to the lens were loose (see picture).

In a period of two weeks, I had to tighten these screws at least four times.

The road conditions in the Kgalagadi park are not great (sand and gravel with lots of corrugation) so there's a lot of rattle, shake and tremble when you drive there, but I did not expect that a Canon lens costing more than € 2000 would fall apart under these circumstances ;-)

Just to be sure: of course I did not drive around with the lens mounted to the gimbal head on the beanbag. Every time we drove a long distance, the lens was carefully stowed away in my LowePro bag.

I would like to know if anyone else is having the same issue with this lens?

Not sure if this will be of any help as it's not directly related to your situation but you might find it of some interest.

http://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/55582267

 

[Steve Balcombe]

Wondering if some loctite blue would help here?

It probably would, but I'd be inclined to return it for warranty repair. Firstly it would mean the screws would be tightened to the correct torque, and secondly it draws it to Canon's attention by the effective device of costing them money!

I don't think we should necessarily take this as an indication of a wider problem. I've seen cases of lens bayonets working loose in a similar way, but it's not a common problem and not something we worry about.

 

[Don Lacy]

Under those conditions it's not unheard of I had a 1.4 TC come apart when attached to my 500 f/4 and camera after traveling up and down a bumpy dirt road all day luckily the screws fell on the car seat when I picked up the camera and not into the mirror box. I would not waste the time to send it in a just use a little bit of blue locitie.
Don Lacy
https://500px.com/lacy
http://lacy.smugmug.com

 

[Cyclops66]

Hi Sacentre,

Thanks for the link, interesting to see that there are more issues with the design of this tripod collar. In the first post on the other thread, I followed another link to:

http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/1357309/6#lastmessage

It appears that there are more people having the waddling collarplate problem (please click the link above and read the post of scalesusa on June 7th).

Of course I could follow the suggestions of the other forumites and use some blue loctite to secure the screws, but the fact of the matter is that I'm rather disappointed that Canon sells an L lens costing well over € 2000 with a, and let's put it mildly, unsatisfactory design...

 

[hotdog321]

Hi Sacentre,

Thanks for the link, interesting to see that there are more issues with the design of this tripod collar. In the first post on the other thread, I followed another link to:

http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/1357309/6#lastmessage

It appears that there are more people having the waddling collarplate problem (please click the link above and read the post of scalesusa on June 7th).

Of course I could follow the suggestions of the other forumites and use some blue loctite to secure the screws, but the fact of the matter is that I'm rather disappointed that Canon sells an L lens costing well over € 2000 with a, and let's put it mildly, unsatisfactory design...

Seems more than fair to be annoyed when a pricey lens has an obvious design flaw. Tripod collars and supports on hefty lenses are old, established technology and Canon should not have mucked this up. I was surprised when Canon came up with this design instead of an easily removable version like on on the 70-200 f/2.8 or a super-solid rotating design like on the 300 f/2.8, but this is the first time I've been aware of real-life problems. Condolences.

--
photojournalist
http://craighartley.zenfolio.com/

 

[RogerZoul]

Hi Sacentre,

Thanks for the link, interesting to see that there are more issues with the design of this tripod collar. In the first post on the other thread, I followed another link to:

http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/1357309/6#lastmessage

It appears that there are more people having the waddling collarplate problem (please click the link above and read the post of scalesusa on June 7th).

Of course I could follow the suggestions of the other forumites and use some blue loctite to secure the screws, but the fact of the matter is that I'm rather disappointed that Canon sells an L lens costing well over € 2000 with a, and let's put it mildly, unsatisfactory design...

It's not clear that it is an unsatisfactory design....so far I count two people with this particular problem. It could be those putting the lens together are not applying the right amount of torque to those screws. I use the tripod collar on my lens just about everyday...there's where I attach my shoulder strap. So for, nothing has come loose...and I put the kirk foot on mine and still no issues.

 

[sacentre]

Hi Sacentre,

Thanks for the link, interesting to see that there are more issues with the design of this tripod collar. In the first post on the other thread, I followed another link to:

http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/1357309/6#lastmessage

It appears that there are more people having the waddling collarplate problem (please click the link above and read the post of scalesusa on June 7th).

Of course I could follow the suggestions of the other forumites and use some blue loctite to secure the screws, but the fact of the matter is that I'm rather disappointed that Canon sells an L lens costing well over € 2000 with a, and let's put it mildly, unsatisfactory design...

I was disappointed too especially when compared with the collar on the Mk I which is machined out of a single casting and is built like a tank.

Incidentally, when I took mine apart to post those photos, I found that two of the screws had what looked like blue Loctite on them so I see no reason why you shouldn't use a spot on each to secure all four. This should stop them from coming loose again unless you are subjecting them to undue stress. I would want to avoid having to keep tightening them as there is a chance of eventually weakening or even stripping the soft alloy thread.

Definitely a weak design for such a heavy and costly lens.

 

[WilbaW]

Was that with the gimbal attached to the foot, or directly onto the ring? The instruction manual for the lens explicitly warns against doing the latter.

 

[Cyclops66]

Was that with the gimbal attached to the foot, or directly onto the ring? The instruction manual for the lens explicitly warns against doing the latter.

I attached the quick release plate to the foot of the lens, and mounted the QRP on the gimbal.

 

[meland]

I've spent a chunk of my life in East Africa and I can tell you that gravel road corrugations are the prime culprit. It's probably something to do with the frequency of those vibrations but I have had screws come loose in many makes of equipment - Olympus, Canon, Vivitar, Tamron, Zeiss, Contax, etc. Nothing seems to be immune, so much so that I and other wildlife photographers I know always carry a jeweler's screwdriver and make a habit of checking all screws on a regular basis.

 

[BlueRay2]

I've spent a chunk of my life in East Africa and I can tell you that gravel road corrugations are the prime culprit. It's probably something to do with the frequency of those vibrations but I have had screws come loose in many makes of equipment - Olympus, Canon, Vivitar, Tamron, Zeiss, Contax, etc. Nothing seems to be immune, so much so that I and other wildlife photographers I know always carry a jeweler's screwdriver and make a habit of checking all screws on a regular basis.

i have changed my canon 300 f2.8II and 600 f4.0II tripod feet with RRS feet and have encountered absolutely no issues! same thing with my 400 f5.6, and 70-200 f2.8 non-IS. but it is good to know that the vibration from driving on rough roads can cause this issue and it makes lots of sense!

 

[abi170845]

Get the Kirk Version of the tripod mount and get the Kirk tripod plate support too.

 

[Cyclops66]

Get the Kirk Version of the tripod mount and get the Kirk tripod plate support too.

Hi Abi,

Thanks for the suggestion, but the problem is not the tripod mount itself, but the four black screws (that are used to tighten the collar to the lens, see picture at first post) that are getting loose after some time.

Replacing the tripod mount does not provide a solution to that problem, I think.



Marty.

 

[Cyclops66]

Wondering if some loctite blue would help here?

It probably would, but I'd be inclined to return it for warranty repair. Firstly it would mean the screws would be tightened to the correct torque, and secondly it draws it to Canon's attention by the effective device of costing them money!

I don't think we should necessarily take this as an indication of a wider problem. I've seen cases of lens bayonets working loose in a similar way, but it's not a common problem and not something we worry about.

 

[Steve Balcombe]

Wondering if some loctite blue would help here?

It probably would, but I'd be inclined to return it for warranty repair. Firstly it would mean the screws would be tightened to the correct torque, and secondly it draws it to Canon's attention by the effective device of costing them money!

I don't think we should necessarily take this as an indication of a wider problem. I've seen cases of lens bayonets working loose in a similar way, but it's not a common problem and not something we worry about.

 

[Daniel Saredi]

You could buy the dedicated really right stuff quick release foot replacement. It fits perfectly and you don't have to worry about the original screw any more. It's excellent and strong!

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www.reallyrightstuff.com