Lubrication for lens collar

My last question got such good results, I thought I'd hit you folks with another.

It has always been difficult to rotate my 500mm lens in the collar once it's mounted on the tripod, making shifting between horizontal and vertical shots or realigning the horizon a pain. Any recommendations on what to use as a lubricant?

Thanks a bunch,

Wax paper works very well assuming you can remove the collar and rub the inside of it.

Quite a while back, the collar on my 300 wasn't sliding they way it should. I removed it and gave it a good cleaning. I can't remember if I applied a lubricant or not, but if I did it would have been WD40. Whatever I did worked. Try a good cleaning of the inside of the collar as well as the barrel of the lens. If that doesn't do the trick, try a small dose of WD40 in the plastic thing on the inside of the collar.

Thanks, Keith & Buck. I ran across a thread on this issue in a sports photography forum-looks like some just have plastic sliders while others actually have bearings (though that was the 400 f2.8 that was being discussed). It requires a bit of disassembly to remove the ring on the 500, but I'm going to give it a try.

The 300 has the plastic slider, and the collar is simple to remove, so your issue may not be the same as mine.