tripod crown size

[Ron Bose]

Ries tripods use a 4" crown on their J series and their C series tripods. However, the H series, which apparently falls in between the J and the C in the weight bearing catagory, only has a 2" crown. Why would anyone worry about a 2" versus 4" crown ?

Btw, the A, J and H series use the excellent tri-lock leg clamps, while the C series has a less robust version.

So why would I need to consider the crown size if I intend to use a Linhof tripod head (2" base) and not a J250 (4" base) ?

Any clues ?

Cheers,
Ron

[David K.]

Hey Ron, just got my GT 5530S, it is really excellent.....very light !!

Of course none of this answers your question :-)

Just thought I'd give you an update :p

[Struan Gray]

It's not so much the size of the crown as the spacing of the two sides of the leg attachment. Thin leg attachements can twist, which allows the crown to twist about the vertical axis and/or sag. Survey tripods and those made for heavy tv and film cameras always have widely-spaced leg attachments to avoid this, as so do the more traditional photographic legsets.

My Gitzo's legs attach with relatively short bolts. When they loosen even a little the legs can wobble sideways slightly, and when erected the crown can do it's twist-and-tilt thing. It's worse if you have a narrow leg spread to try and gain height.

[R Mann]

Crown size differs to match head mounting size - you have a 2" head mount, so you would probably want a 2" crown size.