Lately, it’s either hummers or Mady who star in my blog. This afternoon, UPS delivered the new collar for my 70-200mm f/4 lens which, while considerably lighter than Nikon’s 70-200mm f/2.8 lens, still causes some unstableness in the camera due to the length of the lens. While I was in the Grand Tetons, Moose Peterson strongly suggested I get a collar for the lens that allows me to attach the lens to the tripod. He told me my camera would be better off without the strain of the lens. I had noticed that even when it is on the tripod, without a collar, my shots weren’t as crisp as I had hoped, so many of my Grand Teton shots are only marginally in focus. Now I’ll have to return to the Tetons again, first because the park is open again so I can visit my old stomping ground, Jackson Lake Lodge where I worked in the mid 1960’s, and so I can capture tack sharp images with my 70-200mm lens.
I was on the patio drinking a glass of old vine Zinfandel when I remembered that the package would be delivered this afternoon and, indeed, it was on my doorstep. After fiddling with knobs and allen wrenches, I attached the foot and the collar to the lens. Since it was starting to get dark and my patio is already in deep shade by this time of the afternoon, I set up the tripod and waited for the hummers who did not return so there was Mady, patiently waiting for me to take her for a walk. Ahhhh. What a rock solid, crisply focused shot. I took this shot with my remote shutter release, another thing that I reclaimed from my brother after I realized that it worked on the D7100 as well as the Nikon D90. I am happy to give him my old camera and some lenses, but if he is to become a serious photographer, he needs to buy a few of these goodies for himself!
I also have found similar problems with my Nikon 28-300 lens. It is very hard to avoid the lens drifting downwards. Does this collar allow turning the camera body from vertical to horizontal. I have seen Moose do that on some videos.