Canon 400mm f5.6 Arc Foot

[pcather]

I’m a wildlife photographer. I attach a monopod to my lens. I carry it around on my shoulder. My monopod has a Wimberly Gimbal Head that requires an Arca Dovetail Mount. 

My Canon 400mm foot is not this type. I have tried to screw on  a Benro foot but when I put it on my shoulder, it comes unscrewed due to the pressure on the lens. 

I found a replacement collar online that has an Arca type mount but it’s cheap with bad reviews. 

I’m considering gluing my Benro foot to the existing foot. 

Thought I’d see if anyone else had any suggestions before I do this. 

[JoeySnaps]

Does your lens foot have two threaded holes? Perhaps you can use one of the third party ARCA compatible plates with two screws, which would stop the plate twisting and thus coming loose when you have it slung over your shoulder?

[jrhoffman75]

Definitely do not glue the plate; must be a mechanical connection.

You can get a collar like this from Amazon:

You can get a universal ARCA Swiss plate from a company like LeoFoto (on eBay). Just be sure there is a raised lip on the rear that will act as an anti-twist device. If you want to go top dollar RRSD or Kirk Enteprises has them as well.

[MikeSowsun]

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@jrhoffman75 wrote:

You can get a universal ARCA Swiss plate from a company like LeoFoto (on eBay). Just be sure there is a raised lip on the rear that will act as an anti-twist device. If you want to go top dollar RRSD or Kirk Enteprises has them as well.

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Here is an example of a raised lip that will prevent twisting. 

[wq9nsc]

Be certain that the screw that came with your plate isn't too long or it will bottom out in the foot before the screw has proper tension on it.  I ran into this with one of the Arca plates I bought.

If the plate you are using has thin pads on the attachment surface (most do), then realize the required tension is quite high for your use to ensure it is tightly locked to the tripod collar foot.  You need to heavily compress this material.

If the screw is backing out due to vibration from your walking, you can use some automotive style thread locker on the screw.  It doesn't prevent it from ever coming out again but it will require a lot of force and ensures that once in place it isn't going to loosen by accident.

Rodger

[normadel]

Carrying the monopod on your shoulder with the camera + heavy lens on it is not a good practice. This puts a very high strain on the camera-to-monopod interface (meaning, the ARCA-Swiss plate-clamp connection). Also the head adjusting mechanism.  Loosening, and even breakage, can result.  Better to carry monopod and camera separately and put them together to shoot.

Or, what you could do is hold the monopod upright in your hand, so the weight of camera is not pulling sideways.

[lekhanani]

In my country the sigma 150-600mm is the same price as the 400mm f5.6 so id prefer the sigma because zooms are generally easier to use and by reviews online the image quality is only a tiiinyy bit less that a 400mm.