Lens Tripod Collars. ( non standard )

Lloydy · Expire: 2022-01-01

I like a big heavy lens to have a tripod collar, especially on a light camera such as my Sony A6000. I have fitted a Fotodiox Tough E Mount to the camera and that is a vast improvement, but a big heavy lens still feels unbalanced. I'm also a user of tripods and monopods and rarely take my camera anywhere without one or the other.
Over the last few years I have found a few tripod mounts at the local camera fair for next to nothing, I pay a few pounds for them and buy them even if I don't know what they fit, or likely to fit. I've even bought junk lenses just to remove the tripod mount.

I make them fit with sticky back foam that I buy in sheets from the a craft store, I use 2mm and 6mm, sometimes both sizes on one mount just to get the right size. On one mount I have used 2mm polythene that I cut from a oil container, which turned out to be the perfect solution for the Pentacon 200 which is tapered from 62mm to 60mm where I wanted the tripod mount to fit. The Poly' seems to grip the taper perfectly and I use this lens a lot without it ever coming loose. The tripod mount is salvaged from a dead Soligor zoom lens.

The Pentacon also takes the excellent Tamron mount, which will fit a variety of lenses, such as the Vivitar 200.

The Rokkor QF 200 3.5 is a heavy old thing, but this unbranded mount works just fine once it's padded out with foam.

Chinon 200 3.5 with some unknown mount, it's a polycarbonate one and very light, but seems strong enough.

This is an odd lens, it's a Dollonds 200 3.5 ( Tokina ) The problem with this lens is it has a very narrow section where the mount fits, but this unbranded mount is fine, it grips tightly enough and again has never come loose

DigiChromeEd · Joined: 29 Dec 2009 Posts: 3462 Location: Northern Ireland

marcusBMG · Joined: 07 Dec 2012 Posts: 1304 Location: Conwy N Wales

Good stuff Lloydy. Here's a link to my piece on Pentax Forums re modding those chinese tripod mount rings.

http://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/114-maintenance-repair-articles/238879-modding-chinese-other-tripod-mounts-fit-eg-adaptall-lenses-2.html#post3801613