With heavy lenses, it’s best to support the camera/lens combination from the lens. This is true whether or not you’re handholding the combination or whether it is mounted to a tripod. You want to avoid unsupported weight hanging off the front of the camera’s lens mount. With smaller lenses (up through the f/1.8 S primes and the mid-range zooms), this typically isn’t an issue. But with heavier and longer lenses with significant mass, it is.
Most of the Nikon telephoto lenses have unremovable tripod collars. The feet on these lenses with tripod collars are replaceable, though. Most of us have two problems with Nikon’s own feet: (1) they are not Arca-Swiss compatible; and on some (2) they tend to dismount unexpectedly due to an easily moved release lever.
You can find a number of third party feet these days:
- 70-200mm f/2.8 VR S, 100-400mm f/4-6.3 VR S, 400mm f/4.5 — Haoge LF-Z72, iShoot THZ720, Kirk LP-70, Leofoto NF-05, Wimberley LP-501
- 300mm f/4E PF (F-mount) — Hoage LMR-N372, iShoot RT-1,
- 400mm f/2.8 TC VR S, 600mm f/4 TC VR S, 800mm f/6.3 VR S — iShoot THZ863 for Manfrotto Fluid head, Jobu LF-N604, Kirk LP-72SG, Really Right Stuff LCF-22, Wimberley AP-502
Some lenses that you might want a tripod mount for don’t have tripod collars, thus no tripod mount. Third party solutions have appeared for this:
- 24-200mm f/4-6.3 VR — iShoot Z24200,
- 200-500mm f/5.6E (F-mount) — Kirk200500V3, Really Right Stuff LC-A14
- 300mm f/4E PF (F-mount) — Kirk Replacement Collar 300PFV2,
- 50mm f/1.2 S — iShoot Z50. This low cost Arca-Swiss compatible tripod collar and plate doesn’t rotate, but it still provides access to the Fn buttons on the lens.
iShoot also makes tripod collars for some of the Nikkor PC-E lenses, available on Amazon.
Links are either to this site’s exclusive advertiser (B&H) or Amazon. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.,
