Modding cheap tripod mounts for other lenses

UPDATE Aug 2021 the previously ubiquitous cheap Alu 65/66mm ID ones have for some reason become much less readily available, and a tenner seems to be now the price rather than a fiver. In fact prices of most seem now to be quite a lot higher (partly due to stricter VAT [sales tax] rules on ebay I think).

There are a range of very cheap, typically Chinese made, alloy tripod collars available. They are often described as being for Canon lenses eg a 66mm ID hinged one is described as for 70-200mm f4/Canon EF 300mm F4L/Canon EF 400mm F5.6L lenses.
UPDATE with a bit of browsing these are some of the ones available. ID = inside diameter; H/NH = hinged/not hinged, price approx in UK£ - UPDATE Feb '17 prices (UK) are higher now.

ID:	H/NH	material	Described as for:	price
65mm; 66mm	H	Alu	Canon 70-200mm f4; EF 200mm; EF 300mm., EF 400mm	~ 10
68; 69mm	H	Alu	Canon EF 100mm f2.8L macro IS	7 - 15
68.5mm	H	abs	Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L USM, Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM	5
70mm	NH	Alu	Canon EF 100mm f2.8 IS USM	10
71mm	NH	Alu	Canon 100mm 2.8 micro ("old")	3 - 4
72mm	H	Alu	Canon 180mm macro, 65mm macro	11
77mm/78mm	NH	Alu	Canon 70-200mm f2.8	5-10
81mm	H	Alu	Canon EF 28-300mm f3.5-5.6	10
81/81.5mm	H	Alu	Canon 70-300mmf4-5.6L IS USM	10-20
80mm/82mm	H/NH	Alu	Nikon AFS 80-200mm	10-12

I have found these particularly useful to use, or adapt to use, with my Tamron adaptall lenses. As is the 66mm one is just about spot on to fit around the 01F TC (update most need a little packing). I find they are pretty solid items.

Pic 1 shows a 66mm one modded to fit a Tamron Adaptall 19AH 70-210mm. This lens zooms in moving out (unlike most lenses including most of the other tamron adaptall zooms) so the TM can be mounted in front of the aperture ring at the cost of only restricting the zoom action at the 70mm end. This also fits the 54B 300mm f5.6, the 52A 70-210mm and the 85-210mm. The other lens that benefits in the same way as 19AH is the 60-300mm 23A, which also zooms in moving out (update) though recently I have moved to making a plastic shim to fit the TM on the 23A. Use about 2.5mm thick thermoplastic sheet, warm in the oven, mould around the lens and crank the TM tight on it while it's still soft, allow to cool, trim.

While it is perfectly OK to use eg cardboard, leather etc. as packing to make one of these TM's fit on a lens sufficiently well (I do so myself when the TM almost fits) I like to have a solid, stable fit. This is my relatively quick and easy way of modding eg the 66mm TM down to the ~ 62mm fit of the 23A.

NEED:

1. LENS, MOUNT
2. protective wrap. I use old overhead projector acetate sheet. Polythene, cling film etc all work fine.
3. BODY FILLER/STOPPER/REPAIR PASTE eg "isopon" or similar (epoxy based pastes will probably work too but these styrene or polyester based ones are cheaper and easier to work with).

PROCEDURE

1. Remove the stickyback felt from the mount. To peel it off in one piece and preserve the adhesive on it sufficiently I have usually resorted to warming it in hot water. Recently mounts have had double sided tape holding the felt on, in this case the DSS tape has normally ended up a bit trashed and discarded, and I have had to glue the felt back on or use new sticky back black velour/flocking.
2. I also roughen/clean the interior surface of the mount once the felt is removed with sandpaper.
3. Size up the mount around the lens and estimate how much filler. Typically something between large marble and golf ball size amount.
4. IMPORTANT. don't forget to do this if you don't want the mount permanently attached to the lens. Wrap a layer of cling film around the lens where the mount is going to be used (if you have some familiarity with eg resins etc then yes waxing the lens barrel where it is going to be used as a mould is sufficient). A slight smear of paper glue eg pritt stick is good to keep the cling film in place (easily cleans off after with moistened tissue). UPDATE I am now using some heavy gauge polythene around the barrels - helps to offset the thickness of the felt and makes a smoother finish.
5. Mix the filler with catalyst/hardener and smear evenly around the interior of the mount. Go easy on the hardener it's a nuisance if it goes off too quickly.
6. Ease the mount into position and close it so that that the filler is moulded to the contour of the lens barrel. Align it square by eye. I find that it's best to close it about half the range on the screw thread, it's easier to sand off a little than to try to tighten the fit.
7. Rather than letting the filler harden completely it is better to catch it while it is half hard or "green" - typically 5-30mins depending on how much/how old catalyst, ambient temp etc.. Then it is easy to ease the mount off the lens, peel off the cling film if used, and use a modelling knife to trim off all the excess.
8. When the filler is fully hard, sand off any last excrescences and stick the felt back on, with a little glue if necessary. Voila!

PS you can also look at this article; describes making a mount from scratch.

[Nass]

'

Yes that's interesting Nass. Immediate project comes to mind: tripod mount for my takumar 200mm f3.5. Cheapest supply seems to be 50g multiples @ ~ £1.90ish/50g from HK/China (update: 500g for 13.99 off amazon). How much do you think that might need (this is a preset lens with aperture rings at the front so there is a 2.8cm space by the mount, 18.2cm circumference, ~ 58mm dia)? And do you think this stuff is soft enough and strong enough to mould around and hold a 3/8" to 1/4" TM adapter?
And finally have you ever had any problem with this stuff getting soft eg in direct sunlight?

it also occurs to me that this stuff could be a substitute for the polyester filler I have been using to mod the tripod mount rings.

FYI:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polycaprolactone

I think 250g would cover it - no problems with it going soft at all. Don't know about the adapter but it's worked for everything I've needed. There's a bit of variation in quality of brands of this stuff; some are sticky when they're hot and others not. Less so is easier to work with.

[marcusBMG]

For more ideas and solutions to fitting tripod mounts check out this thread by Lloydy on mflenses.com

Lens Tripod Collars. ( non standard )

[marcusBMG]

The cheap suppliers of the common 65-66mm ID ones, usually described as for Canon EF 70-200mm f4, seem to have mostly disappeared! Anyone know if there is still a supply somewhere? Best I could come up with is a seller called theresahuang on amazon. About twice what I have previously paid.

[Lhorn]

I bought a cheap, plastic lens tripod collar for a Tamron 60-300 but am unhappy that it prevents use of the short end of the range. Is there a way around this?
It was originally purchased to use on a Lumix using an adapter and I thought about trying to mount the tripod collar on the MFT adapter but now that I want to use the lens on a K-70, that doesn’t help me.
I’m guessing it’s something I’ll just have to live with but thought I’d ask.

[marcusBMG]

RE 23A 60-300mm: yes and no. For general use - no (but for me the trade off is ok, and the 300mm end is where you need the stability most). However for macro use you can place the TM around the end of the zoom/focus ring (see pic here), in macro mode this doesn't rotate. A macro rail is the best way to go for focus in this mode.
PS I have now given up on modding the rings in the manner described here. To go with the 23A I make a ID reducer out of 2mm plastic sheet by softening the sheet in the oven and shaping it. That way the 66mm ID TM ring can be used in either mode.