"That's not a lens, THIS is a lens."

[Andy Perrin]

"Just kids having fun."

(The title reference is to the movie Crocodile Dundee.)

 

Top: Sony Zeiss 55mm/1.8

Bottom: Asahi SMC Pentax 500mm 1:4.5 Opt. co., Japan

 

 

Now my only problem is to figure out how to support it! Any recommendations for a RELATIVELY inexpensive tripod and gimbal head combo?

[Nate]

I have a couple of these collars for my P900 and Rokinon 135.  This is a mount the camera to lens thing, not lens to camera

 

[Doug A]

@Nate my Pentax 500 F4.5 has a built in tripod collar. This lens also appears to have one - but it is rotated in the picture, hiding the foot. This lens is much, much larger than a F2.8 80-200 zoom. 

 

Thanks,

Doug A

[Andy Perrin]

It’s sitting on the foot of the collar. This lens weighs 7 pounds or about 3.2 kg. It is 17 inches or 43cm long. 
 

doug how do you use yours?

[ulf]

https://de.aliexpress.com/item/4001193812048.html

It is very cheap, but if it is as well built as the one I got a few years ago, it will do fine anyhow

 

[ulf]

A really good tripod is more difficult.

It is a good idea to invest a bit here

I have tried many lower end tripods, until I did some research and bought one of these:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/133547441400

I wanted their ballhead too and that was a nice price.

This brand is not the very top end, but still with really good mechanical design and a more reasonable price tag.

 

One step up in tube diameter and even more stable, but also a bit more heavy:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/174738296428

https://www.ebay.com/itm/174421318597

 

These tripods can go really low for macro close to the ground and also relatively high without and need for a center column.

As the design lacks that column you are never tempted to use it and normally the joining hole for a column is the weak point for stability and a bad idea in general.

 

I got an extension column in my kit, but have so far not needed it as the bare tripod is high enough.

[Andy Perrin]

I have plenty of light small tripods, but no big heavy ones. So I definitely need to get one of the latter. I am looking into that gimbal head - it looks like the shipping is more than the cost of the gimbal from Ali, so I am looking around for another source.

[lukaszgryglicki]

I've made a very similar lens using my Nikkor 300/2.8 + TC-16A, which makes it 480/4.48 (the lens has tripond mount) - the funny thing is that this combo is auto-focus now :D - tested a few times on my son's soccer games - very useful (while not so useful without TC-16A - hard to track focus manually with 300/2.8 lens).

[Nate]

@Andy PerrinI use this tripod for mostly all my work. The video head unscrews so I can put my astro mount(tracker) on easy. I mostly just use the video head with it now. I've had it for 2 years and as good as new. 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0784CWMP4/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[ulf]

9 minutes ago, Nate said:

@Andy PerrinI use this tripod for mostly all my work. The video head unscrews so I can put my astro mount(tracker) on easy. I mostly just use the video head with it now. I've had it for 2 years and as good as new. 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0784CWMP4/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Such structures are very common for video tripods and normally very sturdy. Sachtler is one of the top end brands for these type of product.

What I wanted was something more useful also for closeup near the ground. Can this tripod place the camera close to the ground in a practical way.

[ulf]

Here is Leophoto's product page with a gimbal head together with the bigger tripod I indicated above:

https://www.leofoto.com/products_detail.php?id=331

I went for the cheaper gimbal head as I do not do much long range photography. 

[Andy Perrin]

Yes, I think that's the tripod I'm going for, Ulf, I very much like how compact it gets. I think I'm not going to do large amounts of long range photography either, just the occasional celestial target (sun, moon) and landscape. I'm not doing birds or anything that moves quickly, unless they offer to pose for me.

[Nate]

28 minutes ago, ulf said:

Can this tripod place the camera close to the ground in a practical way.

Not this one ulf, I have one that gets almost flat that I got years ago, haven't used it yet.

[ulf]

10 minutes ago, Nate said:

Not this one ulf, I have one that gets almost flat that I got years ago, haven't used it yet.

Well It is good to get something optimised for the main photography style you are into and it looks like Andy and I share much of that.

[nfoto]

A late newcomer to the party, I just have to add my take on *that's not a lens, this is a lens*.

 

The Zoom-Nikkor 360-1200mm ED completely dwarfs its little brother, the Zoom-Nikkor 180-600 ED. Use my Df camera as a yard stick.

 

 

 

The 360-1200 makes the Sony NEX-5N almost disappear ....

 

 

 

I use the monster Nikkor on a very sturdy Sachtler tripod combined with a fluid head.

 

[dabateman]

I just use an Olympus 50-200mm f2.8/3.5 lens with sometimes a MC-14 and EC-14 teleconverters. I found the stack of these were sharper than my Ec-20 teleconverter alone.  

Buy popping off some plastic pin on the MC-14 teleconverter,  you can than mount the other teleconverters and since Olympus didn't want you to do that or expect you too, full autofocus on a EM1 type camera is supported.

So the field of view for this lens is like 404nm natively,  like 565nm with one 1.4x teleconverter or 790nm with the two 1.4x.

Is also only 1240g with both teleconverters. I can also stack the Ec-20,  but much of the sharpness is lost than.

 

But we do remember the time before m43rds: 

[Doug A]

13 hours ago, Andy Perrin said:

 

doug how do you use yours?

 

To be honest, don't think I've shot 5 photos with it. Bought it cheap because the aperture is stuck. It is on my list to disassemble and repair... someday.  I have used the Olympus OM 350 F2.8 that is even heavier. It usually sits on an old Gitzo TeleStudex with Arca Swiss mono ball head. If portability isn't a consideration, the giant wooden Berlebach with pan head is used. It even easily carries the 60lb Japanese naval binoculars.

 

There is a website that scientifically tests tripods. Real tests for strength, rigidity, etc. Highly recommended. https://thecentercolumn.com/.

 

@nfoto super set up! Highly prized for wildlife and Saturn 5 rocket launches. With all those large lens elements doubt the 360-1200 has great UV reach . 

 

Thanks for sharing,

Doug A

[ulf]

@Doug A

That was the test site where I looked for and found my Leofoto tripod.

Actually they only test four section versions, with the type number ending with 4.

The five section variants add one more leg section.

Fully extended they are not quite as stable as the four section variants, but to get a high tripod by longer legs is much bette than extending a center column.

[Doug A]

On 12/5/2021 at 7:48 AM, dabateman said:

I just use an Olympus 50-200mm f2.8/3.5 lens with sometimes a MC-14 and EC-14 teleconverters. I found the stack of these were sharper than my Ec-20 teleconverter alone.  

Buy popping off some plastic pin on the MC-14 teleconverter,  you can than mount the other teleconverters and since Olympus didn't want you to do that or expect you too, full autofocus on a EM1 type camera is supported.

So the field of view for this lens is like 404nm natively,  like 565nm with one 1.4x teleconverter or 790nm with the two 1.4x.

Is also only 1240g with both teleconverters. I can also stack the Ec-20,  but much of the sharpness is lost than.

 

But we do remember the time before m43rds: 

Remember this show well!

Thanks for the laugh,

Doug A

[Andy Perrin]

Many thanks for all the advice. I ended up with Leofoto LS-365C and the ebay gimbal (the price was right...). 

 

[Doug A]

Great result @Andy Perrin. Tripod has to be sturdy to achieve this level of quality with a big lens. You nailed it. Does your lens have M42 or Pentax K mount? 

 

Thanks for sharing,

Doug A 

The only good lens is one that the camera can sit in the lens cap!

 

 

 

[Andy Perrin]

Pentax K! 

[Andrea B.]

That is a terrific photo of the moon!!

[JCDowdy]

I do not see a link to an ebay gimbal in this topic, did you mean the Ulf's AliExpress link?

[Andy Perrin]

Yes, it’s the same one but I bought it on eBay. I forgot he posted Ali originally.