Is the Sinar pan/tilt head usable with a flatbed camera?

[Plungefrog]

Greetings all,

I have a question for owners of the Sinar pan/tilt head. I owned one many years ago and it worked very well with my Sinar cameras. What I am wondering is how well will the head work with a flatbed camera? I appreciate the the standard answer is to get a Gitzo low profile head, or similar, to gain the advantage of a large support area. However, I am trying to minimise bulk and I have no need for lateral adjustment as I am using a video tripod with a bowl and leveller. My concern is that -from memory, which may not be reliable -the locking handle on the Sinar head may interfere with the bed of the camera depending on the tilt angle of the head. Can anyone comment on this please? Thanks!

[Greg]

You are correct, the locking handle interferes with mounting a flatbed view camera when you move the handle to lock in the head. You can mount the flatbed camera on the head, but you will not be able to lock the head(been there, done that). It is possible to reposition the handle, but that involves drilling a hole in the base of the handle and repositioning the hollow locking pin. Thought about doing just that but decided not to because I wasn't sure that the second hole would weaken the handle or not..

[Plungefrog]

Thanks for your reply, it confirms what I thought. I will look at other options.

[Louis Pacilla]

My Sinar head has a clutch locking handle and can easily be pulled out and re positioned at any place in a 180 degree circle unless it hit something and in that case I can always find a new position that allows me to tighten the tilt and so I feel the Sinar head is very usable with about any camera whether being flat bed, clam shell,rail camera & on & on. Maybe the Norma period Sinar heads did not have this option but mine is a later all black model and certainly does.

So My feeling is as long as you use a tripod w/ bowl crown for leveling or addition of a leveling unit along w/ the "all black later" Sinar head should work fine with all types of cameras.Again IMHO
Though I'll say I like many here own and use many different types of tripods/heads/studio stands so I tend to leave my Sinar head coupled with my Sinar cameras where it's function is PERFECT.

[David Lindquist]

Louis beat me to this. I have an all black model which has the handle that can be repositioned. I also have an earlier model, not the "original" gray-green but a combination silver and black one. Its handle is in a fixed position via the spring pin that Greg describes.

David

[Greg]

Louis beat me to this. I have an all black model which has the handle that can be repositioned. I also have an earlier model, not the "original" gray-green but a combination silver and black one. Its handle is in a fixed position via the spring pin that Greg describes.

David

Mine is black with the handle in fixed position, must be an early black model before the clutch locking handle was added on.
reg

[Plungefrog]

Thanks for the replies. I hadn't realised that the later heads have a repositionable handle. I'll give it some thought.

[David Lindquist]

I'd forgotten this, the position of the handle on the earlier models can be adjusted. On the side opposite the handle is what I'll call the end cap. It has six holes around its periphery. If you loosen the handle about two turns and push it in, the end cap will be pushed out enough that it can be rotated; it has to clear two pins that engage two of the holes when snugged up. Rotate the end cap to engage the next pair of holes, re-tighten the handle and see if now it's in the desired position when tightened. I don't know if it matters which way you turn the end cap, it takes a little bit of fiddling back and forth.

David

[Greg]

I'd forgotten this, the position of the handle on the earlier models can be adjusted. On the side opposite the handle is what I'll call the end cap. It has six holes around its periphery. If you loosen the handle about two turns and push it in, the end cap will be pushed out enough that it can be rotated; it has to clear two pins that engage two of the holes when snugged up. Rotate the end cap to engage the next pair of holes, re-tighten the handle and see if now it's in the desired position when tightened. I don't know if it matters which way you turn the end cap, it takes a little bit of fiddling back and forth.

David

Thanks Dave, Did it on mine and it works. On mine (black model without clutch locking handle), you only have to loosen the handle a little bit to be able to freely rotate the end cap. It was my understanding that Sinar made subtle changes in the manufacturing their equipment on a regular basis.
Greg

[Bob Salomon]

Thanks Dave, Did it on mine and it works. On mine (black model without clutch locking handle), you only have to loosen the handle a little bit to be able to freely rotate the end cap. It was my understanding that Sinar made subtle changes in the manufacturing their equipment on a regular basis.
Greg

All manufacturers make changes/improvements over the life of a product. It was not a Sinar exclusive. If you want an obvious difference look at a picture of an early Master Technika and a current one.