Tripod collar or no collar?

[Alan Chan]

Just when I thought the tripod collar of the F*300/4.5 should be a pro, I 
went out and did some shooting on RVP100F just to see how much improvement 
it actually made. I took 4 sets of pictures with this lens using the Z-1p 
(right, no *ist D, can't afford it yet <g>) at every stop (4.5, 5.6, 8, 11, 
16, 22, 32).

1) Without collar, 2s timer with MLU.
2) Without collar, no MLU, cable release.
3) With collar, 2s timer with MLU.
4) With collar, no MLU, cable release.
Then I compared the results (1 vs 3, 2 vs 4). As expected, pictures with 2s 
timer are sharper than without MLU. But to my surprise, set 1 & 2 are 
actually sharper than 3 & 4. The results totally smashed my belief in the 
usage of tripod collar. I have been thinking, maybe this was the reason 
Pentax removed the collar from the FA*300/4.5? Perhaps the weight of the 
front heavy lens prevented the bounce action being induced by the 
mirror/shutter vibration? What is the explanation?

Regards,
Alan Chan
http://www.pbase.com/wlachan
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