Odds & Ends Shopping - Advice Needed

[neuroanatomist]

I'm sorry but $150 for something like that just seems outrageous to me.

I totally agree with that. Thanks for the endorsement of 3rd party rings - I've read stories the other way, as well. Since this one is a hinged collar (vs. the slip-ons that come with the 70-200mm f/2.8's and 100-400mm), there are several potential failure points (hinge pin, thread stripping) that could result in a long drop.


My solution was to go with neither - the 100mm Macro IS is light enough that I can just drop the ballhead into the slot for vertical orientation. Not as elegant as a tripod collar, though.


In this case, I'm not sure there's an option - I couldn't find any knock-offs of the Tripod Ting D online (admittedly, I didn't look too hard), and you'd need to be careful that you didn't end up getting a mislabeled (intentionally or by mistake) knock-off of the Tripod Ring B which fits the other Canon macro lenses but not the 100mm L. I also noticed that in looking at the Amazon reviews of the B ring knockoffs, they are apparently plastic (no, thanks) even though the product name/description of one clearly states that it's metal. Hmmmmm...


Regarding 3rd party substitutes, I recently suggested to someone that a 3rd party hood for his 17-55mm lens would be fine, but Jordan chimed in that he'd bought one of the knock-offs and it fit so poorly that it just kept falling off. That's a hood, not something supporting the weight of the camera and lens.

[ddt0725]

I'm sorry but $150 for something like that just seems outrageous to me.

I totally agree with that. Thanks for the endorsement of 3rd party rings - I've read stories the other way, as well. Since this one is a hinged collar (vs. the slip-ons that come with the 70-200mm f/2.8's and 100-400mm), there are several potential failure points (hinge pin, thread stripping) that could result in a long drop.


My solution was to go with neither - the 100mm Macro IS is light enough that I can just drop the ballhead into the slot for vertical orientation. Not as elegant as a tripod collar, though.


In this case, I'm not sure there's an option - I couldn't find any knock-offs of the Tripod Ting D online (admittedly, I didn't look too hard), and you'd need to be careful that you didn't end up getting a mislabeled (intentionally or by mistake) knock-off of the Tripod Ring B which fits the other Canon macro lenses but not the 100mm L. I also noticed that in looking at the Amazon reviews of the B ring knockoffs, they are apparently plastic (no, thanks) even though the product name/description of one clearly states that it's metal. Hmmmmm...


Regarding 3rd party substitutes, I recently suggested to someone that a 3rd party hood for his 17-55mm lens would be fine, but Jordan chimed in that he'd bought one of the knock-offs and it fit so poorly that it just kept falling off. That's a hood, not something supporting the weight of the camera and lens.
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As much as it would bother me spending so much on this, I wouldn't want to take the chance that I wasn't getting what was truly made for my exact lens. First, I think I will re-evaluate where this really falls on my priority list!

Denise