Suggestions for lensplate Nikon 200-500?

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Gillholm

Gillholm

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Hi folks!

When mounting this lens to a monogimbal it puts a lot of stress to the lensplate since it's only one screw and you certainly dont want it to twist.
So, wich one is best? I'd like a plate with a QD socket so i easily can connect it to my backpack for longer hikes.

Or is the RSS collar and foot replacement worth the cost, they're quite expensive here in Europe.
Anyone with experience of this?

Thanks in advance!

Jan
 
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There are a number of companies selling complete replacement collars for the Nikon 200-500mm f/5.6 lens that include a machined Arca Swiss foot. That can be a good approach but FWIW when I had that lens I used an Arca Swiss plate that included a lip on the end of the plate which eliminated rotation issues even with the single bolt. There are a variety of these on the market as well but they basically look something like this:

www.adorama.com

Kirk KLP-450

KLP-450 Lens Plate for Nikon 200-500mm AF-S f/5.6E ED VR Lens
www.adorama.com www.adorama.com

1599765312666.png


That added lip or 'backstop' eliminates rotation problems.
 
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The replacementcollar w foot sure looks nice but costs about a third of what i paid
for the (used) lens so to justifie that the improvement has to be significant.

So i'll just go for a plate like the one you suggested!

Thanks DR! :)
 
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From the 'other' perspective, I purchased the Kirk Enterprises replacement collar and lens foot that has a mount for a proprietary quick release sling eyelet machined into it. Machining of the collar/foot is something special and the addition of the quick release sling mount adds only 12-13 dollars to the equation.
Fully recommended. . . 100%
Bruce
 
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BAT said:
From the 'other' perspective, I purchased the Kirk Enterprises replacement collar and lens foot that has a mount for a proprietary quick release sling eyelet machined into it. Machining of the collar/foot is something special and the addition of the quick release sling mount adds only 12-13 dollars to the equation.
Fully recommended. . . 100%
Bruce
Click to expand...

Another plus with the Kirk Collar/foot is I find the lens rotates much more smoothly in the loosened collar, useful when using on a gimbal.
 
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I call it well past time for Nikon to start placing Arca Swiss type foot on the biggie lenses! Many other lens companies do this,
Very likely 99 of 100 Nikon lens are converted before use., including all of mine-
 
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I also bought the Kirk replacement. the reason was that I found that if you loosened the OEM collar … so you could freely move the camera on a monopod, then at one position in particular the collar came off! It was designed to be removed like that, but very impractical.
the Kirk collar has a screw that one needs to loosen, to allow the collar to open to remove it. So it won’t come off accidents!
I still have it albeit I’ve sold the lens 🤔
www.wexphotovideo.com

Kirk NC-200-500V3 Lens Collar for Nikon 200-500mm f/5.6E AFS ED VR | Wex Photo Video

www.wexphotovideo.com
 
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If you have some basic tools and a bit of nerve you can do what I did. I installed a 1/4X20 rivet nut on the foot so that my lens foot now has 2 screw attachment points. Pretty much any of the longer Arca Swiss plates are set up for 2 attachment points. Rivet Nuts are like $8.00 for a pack of 30 stainless steel ones on Amazon. A small tube set of JB Weld Epoxy is about $6.00 (any epoxy you have around the house works). From there it is just a matter of finding the center line, drilling the appropriate size hole, mixing up a dab of epoxy and inserting the rivet nut in the hole. An hour later when epoxy is set, you're good to go.

I thought about drilling the hole and threading it but the foot is cast aluminum or some other very soft metal and I didn't think threads would hold. When you look closely at the threaded attachment point from Nikon it is a steel threaded insert which is essentially what I did for the second point.

Just another option to consider.

Jeff
 
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Patrick M said:
I also bought the Kirk replacement. the reason was that I found that if you loosened the OEM collar … so you could freely move the camera on a monopod, then at one position in particular the collar came off! It was designed to be removed like that, but very impractical.
the Kirk collar has a screw that one needs to loosen, to allow the collar to open to remove it. So it won’t come off accidents!
I still have it albeit I’ve sold the lens 🤔
www.wexphotovideo.com

Kirk NC-200-500V3 Lens Collar for Nikon 200-500mm f/5.6E AFS ED VR | Wex Photo Video

www.wexphotovideo.com
Click to expand...
Apologies all. I’d gotten so into the collar that I’d forgotten the issue was the foot. Oops.

Though I suppose replacing the entire thing does solve the foot question.
 
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DRwyoming said:
There are a number of companies selling complete replacement collars for the Nikon 200-500mm f/5.6 lens that include a machined Arca Swiss foot. That can be a good approach but FWIW when I had that lens I used an Arca Swiss plate that included a lip on the end of the plate which eliminated rotation issues even with the single bolt. There are a variety of these on the market as well but they basically look something like this:

www.adorama.com

Kirk KLP-450

KLP-450 Lens Plate for Nikon 200-500mm AF-S f/5.6E ED VR Lens
www.adorama.com www.adorama.com

View attachment 3894

That added lip or 'backstop' eliminates rotation problems.
Click to expand...
Another vote for the Kirk plate. I bought one for my 200-500 and it is a perfect fit and absolutely will not slip. The Nikon collar could be a bit smoother when rotated but it’s not bad enough to justify the cost of a replacement collar IMHO.
 
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I replaced my original collar and foot with the Haoge LMR-N25 as the original collar started to slip. In my view this was much better quality than the original with the benefit of an Arca compatible foot. It costs about a third of the Kirk equivalent.

​

 
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jeffnles1 said:
If you have some basic tools and a bit of nerve you can do what I did. I installed a 1/4X20 rivet nut on the foot so that my lens foot now has 2 screw attachment points. Pretty much any of the longer Arca Swiss plates are set up for 2 attachment points. Rivet Nuts are like $8.00 for a pack of 30 stainless steel ones on Amazon. A small tube set of JB Weld Epoxy is about $6.00 (any epoxy you have around the house works). From there it is just a matter of finding the center line, drilling the appropriate size hole, mixing up a dab of epoxy and inserting the rivet nut in the hole. An hour later when epoxy is set, you're good to go.

I thought about drilling the hole and threading it but the foot is cast aluminum or some other very soft metal and I didn't think threads would hold. When you look closely at the threaded attachment point from Nikon it is a steel threaded insert which is essentially what I did for the second point.

Just another option to consider.

Jeff
Click to expand...
Hi Jeff
Can you add a photo of the Lens collar you drilled and inserted a River nut? I currently own a nikkor 200-500 and was thinking of drilling collar to add a second point for my arc swiss plate.

Marcel
 
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Marcel699 said:
Hi Jeff
Can you add a photo of the Lens collar you drilled and inserted a River nut? I currently own a nikkor 200-500 and was thinking of drilling collar to add a second point for my arc swiss plate.

Marcel
Click to expand...
I sold the 200-500 but this is on a Sigma 150-600. This was the first one I did and learned a couple things that made the 200-500 turn out better.
1) I drilled the 200-500 with my drill press. This was hand held.
2) secure the foot in a vice. Trying to hold the foot and drill was tough. On the 2nd one, I secured the foot in my drill press vice.
3) it is soft cast aluminum, drill a smaller pilot hole first so that the larger bit (5/16 for the rivet nuts I was using) doesn't want to bind as much.
4) I did a better job on the 200-500 at lining the hole up on the center line of the foot. The aluminum doesnt' work as well with a center punch as I would have liked. The drill press made it easier to keep the bit from walking when I drilled.
(because my bit bound up on exit, the rivet nut didn't seat totally flush with the lens foot to I had to file a little off. Looks ugly on this one but it worked. On the 200-500, I seated it slightly below the surface of the lens foot so I didn't have to do any subsequent filing.)

For the rivet nut, once I had the appropriate hole drilled, I mixed up some JB Weld (any epoxy will work) and smeared some on the nut before inserting into the foot to be sure it stays where I wanted it.

Just to test things out on the 150-600 before doing it on the 200-500, after the epoxy had cured for a day, I inserted a 1/4X20 bolt, clamped the head of the bolt in my 6" Bench vice and tried to pull it out. It was, and is) in there forever. The one I did for the 200-500 didn't even leave a shiny spot on the foot. When I sold the lens, the person who bought it said "wow, that's a great idea". Didn't hurt resale value at all and did make me feel more secure about it. 2 bolts coming loose is far less likely than one.
IMG_4650.jpeg
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I picked up a Sunway foto 80mm plate on ebay. It also has the lip to prevent rotation. It works great with the monogimbal head, as well as my OpTec cross-shoulder sling for walking around. You can always just add a drop or two of blue Loktite to the screw so it won't back out.
 
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Charles Loy said:
I call it well past time for Nikon to start placing Arca Swiss type foot on the biggie lenses! Many other lens companies do this,
Very likely 99 of 100 Nikon lens are converted before use., including all of mine-
Click to expand...
I certainly agree that Nikon ought to machine AS grooves into its long lens feet, but I’m not convinced that would prevent me from buying a replacement foot and collar anyway. For me, the weakness in the Nikon feet has less to do with AS compatibility and more to do with the inadequate size of the f eet and the collar. Generally speaking, the OEM Nikon attachments suck - insufficient for the lenses they’re attached to. The first long, fast Nikon tele that I bought was the original a 300/2.8 and the foot and collar were way too small and flimsy. No collared Nikon lens I have owned subsequently has had a collar/foot sufficient to use as is
 
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jeffnles1 said:
I sold the 200-500 but this is on a Sigma 150-600. This was the first one I did and learned a couple things that made the 200-500 turn out better.
1) I drilled the 200-500 with my drill press. This was hand held.
2) secure the foot in a vice. Trying to hold the foot and drill was tough. On the 2nd one, I secured the foot in my drill press vice.
3) it is soft cast aluminum, drill a smaller pilot hole first so that the larger bit (5/16 for the rivet nuts I was using) doesn't want to bind as much.
4) I did a better job on the 200-500 at lining the hole up on the center line of the foot. The aluminum doesnt' work as well with a center punch as I would have liked. The drill press made it easier to keep the bit from walking when I drilled.
(because my bit bound up on exit, the rivet nut didn't seat totally flush with the lens foot to I had to file a little off. Looks ugly on this one but it worked. On the 200-500, I seated it slightly below the surface of the lens foot so I didn't have to do any subsequent filing.)

For the rivet nut, once I had the appropriate hole drilled, I mixed up some JB Weld (any epoxy will work) and smeared some on the nut before inserting into the foot to be sure it stays where I wanted it.

Just to test things out on the 150-600 before doing it on the 200-500, after the epoxy had cured for a day, I inserted a 1/4X20 bolt, clamped the head of the bolt in my 6" Bench vice and tried to pull it out. It was, and is) in there forever. The one I did for the 200-500 didn't even leave a shiny spot on the foot. When I sold the lens, the person who bought it said "wow, that's a great idea". Didn't hurt resale value at all and did make me feel more secure about it. 2 bolts coming loose is far less likely than one.
View attachment 85211
Click to expand...
Did you use a Rivet Nut Tool as well to install River nut? https://www.amazon.ca/AIUITIO-Nutse...-1-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9hdGY&psc=1

Or you only used epoxy glue to secure rivet nut into collar?
 
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Marcel699 said:
Did you use a Rivet Nut Tool as well to install River nut? https://www.amazon.ca/AIUITIO-Nutse...-1-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9hdGY&psc=1

Or you only used epoxy glue to secure rivet nut into collar?
Click to expand...
Given the nature of the cast aluminum of the foot, I used epoxy to glue it in. I didn't want to risk press fitting something in. I used JB Weld mainly because that was what I had on my workbench at the time. Any thick paste type epoxy would have worked the same. One plus about JB Weld is once it sets, it is actually as hard if not harder than the soft cast aluminum of the foot. One would either have to heat the foot with a torch or break the foot to get the rivet nut out.

rivet nuts Here are the rivet nuts I used.

I already had them from another project. When I installed them in the lens foot, I inserted so the "wide side with the flange: was at the side of the foot that is between the foot and the lens (not the side where the ARCA Swiss plate would go. That way, the force of tightening could not pull the rivet through. If you look at the photos of the nuts in the above link, I put the epoxy on the "knurled" section of the nut before inserting it into the hole. I drilled a 5/16 hole and then enlarged it with a 3/8 bit. The actual diameter of the rivet nuts is something like .35 which is too large for the 5/16 bit. I didn't have an 11/32 bit at the time so I used 3/8 which is .375. Sounds like a lot but the rivet nut was a press fit with my thumb but I didn't have to use any kind of tool to put it in. The Epoxy filled any gap and after a couple hours when it was fully set, it was in there forever. To test, I inserted a 1/4X20 bolt in the nut and tried to pull it out with the bolt held firmly in my bench vice. No way it was coming out. I then rapped the bolt head a pretty smart whack with a hammer (not like I was driving a nail but a pretty good tap) it wan't coming out the other way either.

I did this about 4 years ago and after many miles on the trail and many hundreds of hours of use, as you can see, it is still there and the one on the 200-500 was still firmly in there about 3 years after I made this conversion.

The good news it is something that can be done with hand tools if the person is reasonably adept at using a drill and mixing epoxy. I have a drill press and other tools like a drill press vice that made it easier but one could easily do it with a hand drill assuming you have a vice or some other way to hold the foot steady as you drill. I wouldn't try to hold it with one hand while drilling with the other. The soft cast aluminum will want to bind a little when the bit breaks through the other side and it could easily slip from your hand resulting in a lens foot projectile flying off in some random direction in your workshop. That would be the only caution.

Hope this helps.
Jeff
 
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Marcel699 said:
Did you use a Rivet Nut Tool as well to install River nut? https://www.amazon.ca/AIUITIO-Nutse...-1-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9hdGY&psc=1

Or you only used epoxy glue to secure rivet nut into collar?
Click to expand...
Hi I have successfully drilled by 200-500 lens collar. I have elected to buy a taping tool. I drilled collar with 3/8 bit (After drilling smaller wholes and increasing to 3/8). I then used the taping tool to create threads. After I threaded in a Sleeve. Job done. I think it was a success.
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Marcel699 said:
Did you use a Rivet Nut Tool as well to install River nut? https://www.amazon.ca/AIUITIO-Nutse...-1-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9hdGY&psc=1

Or you only used epoxy glue to secure rivet nut into collar?
Click to expand...
Hi I have successfully drilled by 200-500 lens collar. I have elected to by a taping tool. I drilled with 3/8 bit (After many other drilling smaller wholes and increasing to 3/8). I then used the taping tool to create threads. After I threaded in a Sleeve. Job done. I think it was a success.

View attachment 85993
 
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