KIRK, RRS OR JOBU FOR CANON 600 f4L IS MKi (1 Viewer)

I've just recently acquired a Canon EF 600 f4L IS (original version not Mkii) lens and would like to change the lens plate to an arca swiss type to avoid the need for an additional plate to the foot as I believe it would be more stable and safer this way.
Does anyone recommend a particular replacement ie Kirk, RRS or Jobu?
These seem to be the most popular and are all available for this lens so any help would be most welcome.

I assume you mean you want to change the Lens Foot rather than the plate?
I used to have the Canon 600 F4 L IS and now use the Canon 800 F5.6 L IS and have just used a normal QR plate, a Wimberley in my case and have had no issues in quite a few years of use.
Kirk, Wimberley, RRS and Jobu are all highly rated manufacturers, if you really want to change the lens foot, then I would just get the cheapest or the prettiest - from those companies they will all be good!

A Wimberley P-50 plate is perfectly adequate and won't become detached, it probably gives more scope for balancing the set up on a tripod head and the rounded Canon foot is very comfortable to hold despite the plate being longer. I was going to use one I already have and used on my 500 but my recent purchase of a 600mm included a Joby foot which is quite comfortable to use as a carry handle.The only thing to be careful in your choice is sufficient clearance for your fingers so you can carry it that way, I believe the Wimberley replacement foot is too low..
I had just bought a Naturescapes lightweight replacement foot advertised on here and although it's light it's not quite so comfortable in the hand as the edges are a bit thin and sharp.I have previously has an RRS one too and that was good.
The one thing that baffles me is why to Canon include a very short foot ? It must have a use by someone but who I haven't a clue. Shame they don't have one with a QR plate instead.

I can only speak from personal experience but I found the RRS replacement foot more than adequate. I found that replacing the Canon foot + plate with the RRS (LCF-50 for the 500mm) just made life a bit simpler and gave me more confidence. I would also say that a key feature to look for is how far the replacement foot goes BACK UNDER the original mounting position on the lens body is important. With the bigger bodies (1DX/!DIV) this is sometimes necessary to get to the balance point of the lens/body combo. Some curve forward away from the lens mount making balance potentially more difficult. More exaggerated with (say) 300mm lenses but still worth looking for.

Hope it helps,

Michael.

Yes, I should have said 'foot' rather than plate so thanks for mentioning that.
I just think that the Canon foot is too short and when I've attached an arca swiss plate to it, it seems vulnerable and somewhat unstable hence my intention to change the foot to one that incorporates the plate.
I'll have another look around to see which one looks the best as far as ergonomics goes but as you have all pointed out, any of the big four will be an improvement on the original Canon one.
Thanks to everyone for the advice / guidance so far, I really appreciate it.
I'll let you know which one I go for and how it works for me.

I use the Wimberley replacement foot. It's very low profile meaning it's very stable but also that it's a bit of a pain to hold when carrying the lens.

After all your good advice I ordered the Jobu replacement foot which arrived today. I'm really pleased with it and am now looking forward to using the lens out in the field. Carrying it with the new foot will be more comfortable than with the original Canon foot and it balances so much better on the gimbal now.
Thanks to all for the helpful information.

Ah! Well if you are looking for a comfortable way to CARRY a lens when you have an Arca foot, you need a Kirk Enterprises Grip handle. I use one daily and it is one of the best bits of kit I ever bought. With an Arca Swiss "female" part that receives the Arca "male" part on your new foot and a side tightening clamp, it also has a very strong handle attached. The model I have has an enclosed D-shaped handle (see pics) that means that your hand is much less likely to slip out. It is incredibly strong but light. It's model ID is SGH-1.Unfortunately, Kirk Enterprises seem to have moved on to a Mark 2 https://www.kirkphoto.com/Super-Grip-Handle.html which has a cranked handle rather than an D handle which (in my opinion) makes it less secure, but you may be able to pick up an old one. They are expensive bur SO good. I ordered mine from Foto Konijnenberg whose UK site is http://www.photospecialist.co.uk/ but I can’t see it on their stock list. There is a UK number to ring that might help

Hope it helps

Michael.

Thanks for that advice Michael, I'll have a look around for one.