Macro Lens Question

I'm going to buy the Canon EF 100-2.8 Macro lens and as I've been reading user reviews about it, I've noticed that a few of the reviews have mentioned the tripod collar set up for the lens.
Is this just for optional use or, is a collar required?

This lens is not carried as normal stock at any of the camera stores in my area so, I have yet to actually hold this lens to get an idea of how heavy it is.
I have a Manfrotto 190XPROB tripod with the 222 Joystick head.
Lens will be used on a Canon 40D.

The collar is optional, I've been using mine without a collar since I got it, its not very heavy, you'll be fine.

Sirrith wrote in post #14646487
The collar is optional, I've been using mine without a collar since I got it, its not very heavy, you'll be fine.

OK
Thanks

The point of a tripod collar for this macro lens is not only to support the lens but so you can change orientation of the body from landscape to portrait without moving the ballhead. It makes it a lot easier to get different angles of what you are trying to shoot.

Take Care,
Cheers, Patrick

Saint728 wrote in post #14646508
The point of a tripod collar for this macro lens is not only to support the lens but so you can change orientation of the body from landscape to portrait without moving the ballhead. It makes it a lot easier to get different angles of what you are trying to shoot.

Take Care,
Cheers, Patrick

This is it. It is optional and the lens is not really all that heavy. (But) While a tripod collar doesn't seem like much, but it can be. If you do a lot of macro on a tripod (with or without rails), a tripod collar can make things much simpler and faster. Is it necessary, no! I can't even put one on mine as it is the first model, but I wish I could.

The main advantage of the tripod collar is so that you can rotate the camera about the axis of the lens. This lets you rotate the image without having to refocus or recompose.

I don't have a collar on mine, I could have used one maybe once.

I don't have one on mine either, but I will as soon as I get around to ordering one. I shoot macro a lot and can use this all the time.

Take Care,
Cheers, Patrick

As others have mentioned, the tripod ring is not essential with this lens. It's not a matter of weight or size.... it's just a very useful convenience. I've always had a collar on my 100mm.... But I do a lot of macro shots with a tripod or a monopod, so the ease of changing from landscape orientation to portrait orientation is very helpful to me.

The Canon tripod ring is pretty expensive. There are far cheaper "clones" on eBay and elsewhere, that seem to work every bit as well. Just look up the model number of the Canon item and use that to search. You'll find alternatives that can save you a lot of money.

Another "trick" that the t'pod ring makes possible... often macro is most easily focused manually. A common technique is to move the camera and lens closer to or further from the subject to achieve focus. There are geared "focus stages" that mount between the lens and tripod that make this easy, but they are pretty expensive and heavy to haul around. If using an Arca-Swiss type quick release platform on the tripod head, you can simply fit an extra long A-S lens plate on the tripod mounting ring foot, then slide it forward and back along that... It's sort of a "poor man's" focusing stage. Works well, plus saves money and weight.

For the non-L, there are very cheap, yet good copies on ebay. I have yet to see a good copy for the L. (You didn't specify which one).

If you are going to do a lot of tripod macro work at high levels of magnification, you might want to consider the Manfrotto 410 Junior Geared Head. It's expensive and heavy, but it allows you to make very small motions in any direction without having noticeable motion from settling. It also allows you to move between portrait and landscape in one quick motion, although it does not rotate around the axis of the lens, so you have to recompose.

I have a collar for my 100L (found it on eBay, although a lot of them are mislabeled), and I have rarely used it.

Never needed it, but I guess it can come in handy if you stack tubes + TC, or to make a setup where you'd attach a flash to the collar.

Thanks for all the replies, information and tips.