DIY

I have very basic tele lens and it doesn't have any lens collar. It makes it difficult to use it on a tripod. I have to attache the gear to tripod using the camera body's tripod socket. It makes it very unstable and front-heavy. I couldn't find any lens collars on the web either. So I made a simple one myself.

There's a 5*30 mm aluminium bar covered with heat shrinkable tubing used in electric installations. A standard quick plate is attached to the front end and the bar is screwed into camera body's tripod socket using the quick release plate's screw.

I used the proto last weekend and it worked fine. This one needs only one improvement. The screw which is used to attach the quick plate to the bar is too short. It should be long enough to reach the lens so that it makes second supporting point to the lens.

Now I can leave the ball head a bit open when I wait something to happen and when needed quickly point the lens to the target.

Of course it's missing the possibility to turn the camera for upright format but it's still much better than earlier.