I'll check the weight again when I get home
I'll check the weight again when I get home
Sometimes love just ain't enough.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/pierre506/sets/
Relative to other makers of 11x14 cameras, I have grown appreciative of the beefy extended base support members that Deardorff employs particularly when I put a long heavy lens on the camera. As Jim Fitzgerald commented earlier, sometimes one needs to be appreciative of the weight particularly when it is involves structural stability and/or functionality. It will be curious what your newer V11 weights. I would be it is close to 30# since it has a leather handle and not the metal handle I have on mine.
I know that my 14x17- 20x24 comes in at 31lbs. Now it does have a nice solid 80/20 aluminum base that is wrapped in solid Walnut. The Walnut is about 1/8" thick and where the tripod mounts it is nice and solid. It has to be when you get size and weight into the picture. Just has to be.
The way the plate was secured was certainly STUPID, but I would see this as an opportunity to make/use a new plate (out of aluminium) that extends front to back of the bed with a line of tripod mounting holes, that would allow you to choose different mounting points (to allow you to trim the camera balance better for different set-ups, different weight lenses, etc)...
I'm shocked that Lotus would NOT offer an upgrade service for this!!!
Securing the old plate with screws was a no-brainer... :-@
Making the best of this situation...
Steve K
You should rather say - making the worst of this situation. If the OP did what you suggest he would be just out for the next disaster. To have a tripod hole made in aluminium for a tripod screw made of steel is an invitation to a quick surprise - the steel screw will damage the soft aluminium hole thread in no time. You could try to fasten a camera of this weight just several times and you would see that the aluminium thread could not withstand the damage the steel screw would cause.
Read other people's opinion - http://www.eng-tips.com/viewthread.cfm?qid=401337 Maybe you will be surprised.
Even small SLR cameras have on their bottom a steel insert to attach them to a tripod. So what gives?
welllll
Opinions are opinions
It's is better to cite experience
I made an 8x10 camera with a small aluminum plate on a small wood backing, and ripped it almost off in the field
Wish I'd read Jim's experience
So when I got home I replaced the entire bed with a solid piece of aircraft plywood, and used Dread Aluminum which I tapped for the tripod socket- no more problems
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