That was what I thought as well, until I did some test. I took a few sets of
pictures (Z-1p, F*300/4.5, Arca Swiss B1 ballhead, Gitzo G1349 tripod) with
and without the lens tripod collar at every aperture. To my surprise, both
sets of slides with and without the 2s mirror-prefire turned out to be less
sharp than without using the lens tripod collar (cable released was used).
To confirm this finding, I then tried it on tripod again and looking though
the viewfinder. When using the lens tripod collar, the lens/camera kept
bouncing slightly for quite awhile and is visible though the viewfinder.
Without the lens tripod collar, the vibration quickly settled. I have not
used the lens tripod collar with my F*300/4.5 since. Perhaps I should
purchase the FA* if I had this knowledge few years ago. But it is true that
for a setup like this without the tripod collar, the choice of tripod head
is vital.
Alan Chan
http://www.pbase.com/wlachan
Pentax may have thought is was fine, but many users find the lack of tripod
collar a major oversight. I think structurally, the camera should be ok,
but you will probably have some vibration issues to sort out.
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