Lens Tripod Mount

I've been using an old Olympus telephoto lens on my Panasonic Micro Four Thirds camera bodies for wildlife photography.  Well, I also use my Sony camera bodies at times but I'm lacking fast-focusing long lenses for my Sony bodies so I lean toward the micro four thirds bodies for this purpose.  These micro four thirds cameras and lenses are indeed "micro" sized and that is one of the major reasons I have this Panasonic gear.  Relatively small and lightweight is a very good thing when it comes to my extensive spinal injuries.

I've used this long Olympus telephoto lens quite often when in my kayak shooting loons, ducks, hawks and eagles but this old lens is just a little too large and a little too long for easy handholding for such a fast moving type of photography.  

Of course, when I'm sitting in a small kayak, I don't have much of a choice but to handhold this lens.  It is a challenge to keep such a long lens trained on my subject especially when in a rolling and bobbing kayak but I manage to capture a few sharp photos on each outing.  When I am on land, though, I can use the help of a tripod to keep the camera as steady as possible.  

I should point out that some wildlife photographers use a small tripod when it their kayaks.  They place it in front of their seat between their legs.  The problem with this is you can only easily point the camera forward.  When I am handholding the camera and lens, I can swivel my body to shoot a field of view approximately 200° while a small tripod sitting between my legs limits me to a field of view approximately 90°.  In order to capture photos to my right or left, I need to first turn the kayak and point it that direction then I can move to the camera.  On the other hand, when I am handholding the camera, I can turn my body for a better range.  Needless to say, I prefer handholding the camera when in the kayak which means I also prefer a smaller lens of less weight too.  

Unfortunately, when on land and using a tripod, this long Olympus lens has no way to mount it directly to a tripod.  I can only mount the camera body to the tripod which leaves the big, long lens pulling down the front of the camera.  Having this long lens cantilevered off the front of the camera leaves the whole lens and camera combo very unbalanced and difficult to maneuver.  

To resolve this problem, I've always wanted to figure out a way to make a tripod mount specifically for this lens that mounts the lens to the tripod rather than mounting the camera body to the tripod.  I finally did that today.

As seen in the photo, below, the tripod mount is connected to the lens adapter in front of the camera body.  This is at the center of gravity so it is in the best location for a nice balance...

Below is a 45 degree angle view.  In the photo, I have the camera and lens mounted on a tripod head that really is better suited for landscape photography but I do have a gimble tripod head that is ideal for wildlife photography.  I didn't feel like swapping the tripod heads just for a photo but I definitely would swap them for wildlife photography.

 

I'm looking forward to trying this out when the weather warms up a bit.  I plan to set up a bird photography blind in the backyard when we get some foliage back there again.  Actually, I had planned to do this over last summer but our weather was so rainy and dreary that I never got to it.  I hope to get plenty of bird photos this summer...  hopefully.  At some point, we'll have to try to get back to the lake to get some loon photos too.