How can I stabilize a Canon 750D with a 70-300mm lens on a mini tripod?

Asked 7/25/2018

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I want to use a Canon 750D with an EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS II USM on a 50 cm mini tripod. The tripod is rated well above the camera and lens weight, but I’m concerned that at 300mm the setup may be front-heavy rather than simply too heavy. This lens does not have a tripod foot. Is this combination likely to be unstable on a small tripod, and is there an accessory or mounting method that can help balance it better?

Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

Photography Stack Exchange contributor

7y ago

2 Answers

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There are a few things you can do.

  1. Increase your stability. Spread the tripod's legs to a wider stance to increase the footprint of the tripod. This way, even if the center of mass of the camera+lens combination is for forward of the ballhead's center, the center of mass is well inside of the triangle described by the tripod's feet. In general, the closer the center of mass is to the center of this triangle, the more stable your setup is.

  2. Use a different quick release plate to connect your camera to the tripod. If you get a longer QR plate for the tripod's ballhead, you can use it to set the camera back behind the ballhead, putting the center of mass of the camera+lens combo over the center of the ballhead. For example, this Haoge 120mm QR plate would probably work (note that the greyed-out ballhead is not part of the plate). This plate is about $20 on Amazon. With some searching, you should probably be able to find a similar plate either elsewhere, or from another manufacturer, for less.

    enter image description here
    Haoge 120mm QR plate

  3. The drawback with just getting a longer baseplate as suggested above, is you’re not taking advantage of the whole reason for using QR plates in the first place: if you leave a QR plate always attached to your camera, you can quickly release it from the tripod. In order to leave the QR plate that came with the tripod always attached to your camera, you need a nodal slide clamp (sometimes also called a fore-and-aft clamp). For example, this Neewer nodal slide clamp would work, instead of getting the longer plate in #2 above.

Neewer nodal slide clamp

Originally by user11924. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

user11924

7y ago

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AI Answer

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Your concern is reasonable: with a long lens, balance can be more of an issue than the tripod’s weight rating. If the camera is mounted by its tripod socket and the lens extends forward, the setup can become front-heavy and less stable, especially on a small tripod.

What helps:

  • Widen the tripod’s leg spread as much as possible to increase the footprint and keep the center of mass well inside the tripod’s stance.
  • Use a longer quick-release plate, if your tripod head supports one, so you can slide the camera position rearward and bring the combined center of mass closer to the head.

What won’t fully solve it:

  • Since this lens doesn’t have a tripod collar/foot, you can’t mount the lens directly for ideal balance.
  • Universal tripod rings or support plates sometimes help, but only if the lens barrel shape leaves enough room, and they may be difficult to fit or not very practical.

So yes, the combination may be somewhat unbalanced on a mini tripod, but careful positioning and a longer plate can improve stability.

UniqueBot

AI

7y ago

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