RF 100-500 tripod ring won't tighten sufficiently

[jkphoto]

I have recently purchased an RF 100-500 lens and am very happy with its performance so far.  However, the tripod ring does not seem to tighten sufficiently to prevent the lens/camera from rotating.  Any advice/solution would be greatly appreciated.

[shadowsports]

I guess I'm not sure why someone would be hesitant to send their gear to Canon for inspection or repair.  Repairs would rarely if ever take weeks...  During non-peak season (which is basically any time but summer). repairs typically turn around in 3 days, once approved.  Then your lens is on its way back to you.  That $200 could have been a good filter, storage media or nice bag for your gear. 😉 

[Gwenniedi]

I just received my lens back from Canon repair. (100-500) Same issue with the tripod collar. I was informed that the collar will still rotate a small amount. HUH?? That's ridiculous. I asked if they Canon were working on a fix and the rep wasn't aware of any fix in the works. We really need to hold their feet to the fire on this disaster.

[elmo]

My new collar I received has no movement. I added some thin 3M EPT (foam) tape to parts of my original collar. That too has no movement now either. You can see that the padding on the original collar has compressed, which would cause excessive clearance and movement. The replacement collar pads are not compressed yet. I would assume over time, the pads on a replacement would also compress and cause movement. Unless Canon updated these pads and won't compress over time?

[jkphoto]

My collar rotated from day 1 and instead of sending the lens and collar back to Canon and being without it for a week or so I added thin 3M foam strips.  This completely solved the issue with no movement at all just like my 70-200 and 100-400 lenses.

[quattrocoupe]

That sure seems like an unreasonable response. The lens collars do not rotate even a smidge when new and a repair should be nothing less than that. It is like saying, well the repair of your oil pan will still result in oil leaks and it is normal.

I have had mine repaired 3 times now. This last time, they replaced the foam pads with alternative pads. So far, so good. However I do anticipate these will become compressed over time allowing the collar to rotate. It seems to be a weak part of what is a great lens. 

[TJM]

Me too. I sent mine in for this issue and not only did they not fix it, they made me pay for the service and the shipping! I wasted money sending it to them, had to spend money on the 'repair' and had to pay return shipping! I just bought this lens in August 2023. Super ticked off. 

[Danfaz]

Maybe Canon can supply a complimentary set of pads with lenses that utilize this type of collar. It makes sense they wear out with frequent use. 

[shadowsports]

Agree.  The parts dept would be a good place to start,

Canon Parts Dept
Canon Parts Order Desk at (866) 481-2569
Weekdays from 9 AM - 7 PM, ET.

[David-Epperly]

I have the same problem. I am certain it is from the felt strips compressing. it has slowly gotten worse since new. At this point I often find my lens of canter which is not such an issue with photos, but it really irritates when shooting video and I level my tripod only to find the collar has spun a couple of degrees. I am going try sourcing some different strips. I have also seen aftermarket tripod collars that are suppose to fit and also have an arca-swiss foot. 

[eirikbern]

Hi, the user Migralda shared a tip in this DPReview Thread on how to tighten the lens collar, which solved the problem for me initially. I made a short video guide based on this, available below.

Note: After disassembling the collar and attempting what I'm showing in the guide again, the collar doesn't lock down as tightly anymore as it did after the first time I did this. Therefore this isn't guaranteed to fix the issue, and if it does, I definitely recommend you don't disassemble the collar again!

I see Migralda mentioned his collar worked itself loose again as well. So whether this resolves the problem for anyone else or not, I think we can all agree on this collar being a pretty poorly designed part for an otherwise excellent lens.