Bought my (ultimate!) lens today

[Jim A]

Wow, what a statement! Am probably meaning the word ‘ultimate’ as a noun, rather than an adjective. However, you are probably already falling asleep. It is a Nikkor 200 – 500 (300-750 equiv on my cropped sensor), f5.6 throughout (Nikon D5200). Will be great for shooting birds and wildlife, or even sports!

A wonderful person Judy and I know is now 103. When he ‘turned’ 100, he said I am going to buy a new car, because I have never had one before. So, he did, and now at age 103 he is driving it around. What a hero! Anyway, that did somewhat prompt me into buying this lens today. As you can imagine it is pretty heavy, which is even more of a challenge for me at 77 yrs. Nevertheless, I soon decided to go with it. In the past decade I have got increasingly getting joy from trying to get better photos of birds, and indeed wildlife. Now we all know that it is the photographer and (generally) not the equipment that gets the best results. This increases my chances, but I will have to increasingly focus on my technique, etc, etc.

How I have held it, is of course not how we do so, however, Judy said that this image shows the lens, plus camera, off to the best advantage!

[pnodrog]

Snap - I got mine for my 77th birthday. Not sure I am using it correctly.

[tclune]

I've shot with the 200-500 for a while, but I'm a youthful 73. You really need support to use this beast. The way I shoot, a tripod with gimbal head was of marginal utility -- I do a fair amount of hiking in the field with the rig. The weight of the kit was making me seriously consider trading the 200-500 in for the much lighter (and for me, painfully expensive) 500 pf, Then my shooting buddy sent me the Steve Perry review of the Wimberley MonoGimbal: here. I had been using a monopod with a gimbal head before that, but the big problem was carrying the rig while hiking. This piece of kit solved my issues with the 200-500. If you find yourself in the same boat, consider giving the MonoGimbal a try. FWIW

[rpcrowe]

At 81-years old, I opted for the lightweight and smallish Sony 70-350mm f/4.5-6.3 lens as my long glass for my Sony APSC format cameras. Not as long as a 200-500 (or 600) lens but at 625 grams, it is a quantum lighter in weight

If I ABSOLUTELY NEED a longer focal length, I can rent a 200-600mm from my local camera store which has a neat system in which I can pick up a lens on Friday afternoon and return it Monday morning for the price of a one-day rental

[Jim A]

Wow, that's a coincidence, Paul - maybe we are actually twins separated at birth? Great shot.

[Jim A]

I do a fair amount of hiking in the field with the rig. Then my shooting buddy sent me the Steve Perry review of the Wimberley MonoGimbal: here. FWIW

Many thanks for the link, Tom. I have watched it and am very impressed. I do not really go hiking, but will be doing a fair bit of walking. However, it seems that the device also increases the flexibility of what you can do, as well as making things more stable. It is relatively expensive in New Zealand, at NZ$375, but I think that I will jump in!

[pnodrog]

Wow, that's a coincidence, Paul - maybe we are actually twins separated at birth? Great shot.

Nah I can see from the photo you are much too good looking to be my twin. Also my twin would have a beard...

The lens is heavy and cumbersome to lug around but the results are excellent. My main complaint is that when I have it on the camera I will come across a scene that needs a wider lens and when I have it in the bag a bird will fly on to a tree in front of me only to fly away before I have changed to it. When I get a mirrorless camera I will probably leave it permanently mounted on my D800.

P.S. Not very strategic of me denying being your twin brother before I checked out how wealthy you are.... If you own several properties in Mission Bay or a huge sheep station in the South Island I will certainly revise my stance.

[Jim A]

Well, Tom, I went ahead and took up your suggestion and bought the Wimberley Monogimbal Head. In fact it arrived today. Now I find that I need to buy a Arca-Swiss type quick release plate (or a new foot for the lens) in order to attach the lens to it. So, just checking this out, before I jump in - am a bit nervous in case I stuff it up. It looks like the best thing to do is to buy a Wimberley C-30 Arca-Swiss Style QR Clamp, as per here - tinyurl.com/yc3fdjtr.

[DanK]

Well, Tom, I went ahead and took up your suggestion and bought the Wimberley Monogimbal Head. In fact it arrived today. Now I find that I need to buy a Arca-Swiss type quick release plate (or a new foot for the lens) in order to attach the lens to it. So, just checking this out, before I jump in - am a bit nervous in case I stuff it up. It looks like the best thing to do is to buy a Wimberley C-30 Arca-Swiss Style QR Clamp, as per here - tinyurl.com/yc3fdjtr.

Jim,

I'm confused. You first wrote that you need an Arca-Swiss compatible plate to put on the lens foot, but what you show is an expensive clamp, not a plate.

To mount the lens in the gimbal, you need a plate. Unfortunately, it looks from the photos that the foot on that lens is not neither Arca-Swiss compatible or replaceable. IF that is true, then you need to buy an Arca-Swiss compatible plate. However, in my opinion, there is no need to buy an expensive bran. Plates are pretty much plates, and for years, I have used both cheap and expensive ones interchangeably. Just get a real brand, not an eBay no-name. The key considerations are length (ideally, it should be as long or nearly as long as the foot) and whether it has stops (I would want them for a lens this heavy). You should be able to get a good one for far less.

The second issue is mounting the gimbal to the monopod. I may be wrong, but it looks like the gimbal has a screw socket so that you can screw it directly to the monopod and that it also has its foot tapered to fit into an arca-swiss clamp. I may be wrong about this. But if I'm right, i don't see why you need the extra expense or weight of a clamp. Just screw the monopod into the gimbal. I use a Kirk tilt-head on my monopod, and that's what I do.

Then again, I don't own this particular equipment, so I may be wrong, but I decided to post because it seemed to me that you might be about to waste some money.

[Jim A]

Yes, Dan, I was rapidly coming to the same conclusion yesterday evening, but many thanks for responding and confirming. I could not see how it would fit. This is all very new to me. Most of the plates use the term quick release - is that what I want? So far the most likely, which is also inexpensive is a Benro PU100 Arca-Swiss Style Quick Release Plate (which has a stainless steel camera screw that is 30% larger than other brands, to provide greater strength and support)?

Re your second paragraph, there is happily no problem here in that the monogimbal head attaches directly onto the monopod.

Once again, your response very much appreciated - it is comforting to be going in the right direction!

[DanK]

Arca Swiss compatible clamps and plates are just one style of quick release.

Not knowing your equipment, I can’t speak to the length,but the Benro PU series are well made plates. I’ve used a shorter one for years.


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[tclune]

I use this inexpensive plate with my 200-500 lens.The Nikon foot doesn't have two holes to screw into, so you need to remove the screws from the slots on the plate and insert one into the center hole of the plate. If you're a perfectionist, you may prefer to spend some bucks and get something like this, but that's a bit rich for my blood. I have had no problem with the Oben plate (although you do want to screw the plate firmly onto the foot and check it every once in a while.) The main thing is to make sure that you get a long enough plate to be able to balance your rig on the MonoGimbal. The Oben has plenty of reach for my rig, both with and without the TC14 attached and the hood on and full extension of the lens. FWIW

[DanK]

I use this inexpensive plate with my 200-500 lens.The Nikon foot doesn't have two holes to screw into, so you need to remove the screws from the slots on the plate and insert one into the center hole of the plate. If you're a perfectionist, you may prefer to spend some bucks and get something like this, but that's a bit rich for my blood. I have had no problem with the Oben plate (although you do want to screw the plate firmly onto the foot and check it every once in a while.) The main thing is to make sure that you get a long enough plate to be able to balance your rig on the MonoGimbal. The Oben has plenty of reach for my rig, both with and without the TC14 attached and the hood on and full extension of the lens. FWIW

I agree about the length. That's why I noted that I can't comment on the length of the PU100. Ideally, the plate should be the same length as the foot, and if you can't get that, then very close.

Some heavy lenses let you remove the foot entirely and replace it. I replaced the foot on my Canon 100-400 with a Kirk Arca-Swiss compatible foot. However, the photo of the Nikon lens led me to guess that it doesn't offer that option.

[Jim A]

Thanks again, Tom and Dan. The Benro PU100 plate is 100mms long, whilst the foot on the lens is 80mms, so that is pretty close, so it was good to get advice about the length. I even checked the width which is 38mms - that is the exact width of the monogimbal place to join to - in fact there is a leeway so it can even be tightened if necessary.

My one remaining worry is that the screw is a big 1/4", so does not fit the screw thread on the lens foot, which is considerably smaller. Glad that I just noticed this, as I had mis-read and thought that the screw is 3 X longer (duh!). However, some people are using the plate for the same purpose, so I do not know how they manage?

[tclune]

My one remaining worry is that the screw is a big 1/4", so does not fit the screw thread on the lens foot, which is considerably smaller.

1/4" 20 is the standard size for tripod mount screws and is the dimension that your Nikon 200-500 foot accommodates (as does your camera body.)

ETA: My understanding is that this is a universal standard. If one of our Australian friends knows different for your country, please correct me.

[pnodrog]

If one of our Australian friends knows different for your country, please correct me.

I assume there is a Canadian friend who can put you right.....

[tclune]

I assume there is a Canadian friend who can put you right.....

My bad. I get Norway and Sweden confused, too.