Shaun
I have a Manfrotto and a Uni-Loc system 1700 which are both very sturdy but
weigh more than I care to carry in some situations. One of the problems is
the weight of the heads. The Manfrotto model I have weighs 1.7kg legs
only, and the 3 way head with quick release adds another 1kg. When I need
to travel light, I carry a cheap Slik 500G deluxe. This has 4 section legs
which have a very positive locking collar. The non replaceable head that
comes with it is next to useless. The camera platform has a 90 degree tilt
feature which does not lock positively and allows camera movement when the
shutter trips. I replaced mine by sawing off the old head, and getting a
short piece of aluminium turned to fit tightly into the end of the centre
column. I drilled & tapped a 1/4 inch thread into this and screwed in a
short length of 1/4 inch machine screw. This allowed me to fit a Manfrotto
model 210 ball head. Very small and light (90g) but solid enough for an OM
body with lenses up to about the size of a 135. ( I have used mine with a
200/5 with good results.)
To make it more user friendly I added a Uni-Loc 25 Quick Release which
matches nicely to the size & weight of the OM bodies. (These are obtainable
separately, and simply fit on to any tripod head with a 1/4 inch camera
mount thread.)
All up, weight is around 630g, folded length is 420mm, and max height is
1155mm. I avoid using it with the bottom section of the legs extended as
they are a bit flimsy. Used unextended like a table top tripod it is very
solid. I have a very sharp 12inch x 18 inch framed print of falls in a
rainforest, taken on Kodak Ektar 25, 8 second exposure, 50/3.5 macro, OM-4
self timer (mirror & aperture prefire), using this tripod.
Cheers
Ross Waite
-----Original Message-----
From: Shaun Edwards [SMTP:Shaune@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx]
Sent: Tuesday, July 27, 1999 4:19 AM
To: olympus@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [OM] Light weight tripod
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