DISCLAIMER: I am not telling anyone to do this. I make no representation as to the lens’ warranty status after. If you do this hack, you do it 100% at your own risk. I am merely telling you what I did and that it worked for me.
I was about to buy a lens plate for the Olympus M.ZUIKO Digital ED 40-150mm F2.8 PRO Lens. When I am in a blind, I keep the lens on a tripod just to rest my arms. But a lens plate adds weight and a good one cost about $50.
I came upon the Haoge LMR-OM415 Lens Collar Replacement for Olympus M.ZUIKO Digital ED 40-150mm F2.8 PRO Lens and decided to order one. (https://amzn.to/3cObXWD)
The idea is not new to me. I had replaced the lens foot on many of my Canon telephoto lenses back in the day. I didn’t think anyone was making a replacement foot for the Olympus line, but I found one anyway.
The LMR-OM415 Tripod Mount Ring from Haoge is designed exclusively for the Olympus M.ZUIKO DIGITAL ED 40-150mm F2.8 PRO Lens.
It features an Arca-compatible dovetail which allow you attach your lens to any standard Arca-Swiss mount.
It also can be further modified. It has 1/4″ and 3/8″ screw holes at the bottom should you wish to directly attach the lens to a tripod, but that isn’t a method I would ever recommend.
It even has a slit in the end you could use to run a strap through if you want to carry the lens on a strap by the foot.
You first have to remove the old lens collar to instal this new one. I have had copies of the Olympus M.ZUIKO Digital ED 40-150mm F2.8 PRO Lens where the lens collar slipped off almost too easily. My current copy is in just the opposite direction. I had to use some pliers to get the old collar off. I kept it off to the side just in case the new one didn’t fit. But no worries. The Haoge fit just fine. It took a minute or two to line up the holes, but I stuck with it and got my reward.
For less than the price of a good lens plate, I replaced the entire collar and saved weight in the process. The connection to the Arca-Swiss heads should be more reliable without a plate in between.
It worked well for me.
16 Responses
Hi Scott, can the plate on the Haoge foot be mounted backwards so that it faces toward the rear? I was trying to balance my 40-150 Pro+MC-14 on a Wimberley Mono Gimbal and I couldn’t slide it far enough forward. If the plate can be mounted backwards, I could get it balanced. Thanks, Walter
Unfortunately Walter it cannot be reversed. If this product has a shortfall, it’s that the plate part could be longer.
Thanks, Scott. That’s too bad. I was really hoping it could be adapted. Good that it has Arca-Swiss flanges though.
Hi Scott,
Just got an interesting response from Haoge via Amazon. Seems like you can remove and reverse the plate, if I understand them correctly.
Question: Can the Arca-Swiss plate be removed and reversed? I need that so the lens will balance on a gimbal.
Answer: You Can the Arca-Swiss plate be removed and reversed
By Haoge SELLER on February 11, 2021
Hi Walter looking at it sitting in my hand I guess I don’t see how that works but I’m not very mechanical so if you get it and switch it let me know how you did it – thanks.
Hi Scott,
Thanks for this tip. Just got mine and mounted. Much better than original foot.
Hi Scott, I have wonderful news. I just got the Haoge collar today and the first thing I did was to remove the foot and reverse it. The fit is perfect either way. Easy peasy. All you need is a 3mm Allen wrench and remove the two screws under the tripod collar, flip it around, and fasten it back on. And, the lens now balances perfectly on the Mono Gimbal, as well as on any ballhead. I’m putting the OEM foot away in a dark corner of my parts box. Ain’t ever using it again! 🙂
Thanks for cluing us in on this product!
Hi Scott,
My friend just discovered something. He has an EM1X and I have an EM1 III. He got the Haoge foot, reversed it, and tested it on his X. He found that the reversed foot bumped into the X body with the 40-150 Pro lens alone. With the MC-14 or MC-20, the foot would clear the left half of the body, but bump into the right hand grip. With my EM1 III, the foot would clear the left half of the body (barely) with the lens alone, and clear easily with the MC-14 and MC-20, but would still bump into the grip. That’s not a problem, because the lens will balance fine on the Wimberley Mono-Gimbal with the reversed Haoge foot. That was the main goal for me.
Hi Scott, if you want to see photos of the reversed foot setup, you can find them here. You’re welcome to use a photo if you want.
https://www.flickr.com/gp/92624968@N02/77q0i7
I hope I am not duplicating my comment.. I just received my tripod collar. I cannot tighten it enough to prevent the lens from slipping. Does anyone else have this issue?
Send it back because I know dozens of people who have purchased this, installed it and have no issue – you must have gotten a bad one.
Thank you for your reply. I have just requested an exchange..hope the next one is better.. I don’t like a plate on the oem foot.
Nobody does 🙂
Hi Marc,
I had that issue and found there was a C-clip on the locking screw on mine that prevented the collar from tightening sufficiently. Look in the gap in the collar. I pushed the clip off with a thin-bladed screwdriver. The clip prevents the screw from unscrewing and falling out, so keep an eye on it.
This is the first time I am hearing of these issues so everyone should take this into account. When I wrote the post about 20 people who attended my workshops bought these with no issues but maybe their manufacturing has fallen short.
Thank you.. I just sent the return per Amazon.. replacement on its way…( Amazon is extremely quick on processing returns) I will pay attention to this clip…
Thank you for the reply…