I've recently been given an assortment of large format things, basically an 8x10 Burke & James field camera and all the stuff that goes with it.
I have a problem with the tripod, which has no identifying model name or number on the tripod or head but which was identified in the inventory list that came w ith the stuff as a "Linhof Gigante."
The problem I have is that the connection between the head and the tripod doesn' t seem very solid or stable and that the camera can and will move side to side a nd even tilt up and down when the pan/tilt/etc mechanisms are supposedly locked down.
The connection at the top of the base/legs (sorry, I'm new to large format and d on't know the lingo yet) part is a threaded hole about 1/4" across that projects up about 1/8" from the top of the center column. The head attachment is like so : there is a disk that sits directly under the lower pan disk and has a short sc rew projecting from its center on each side: one that screws into the bottom of the pan disk on the head, and the other that screws into the threaded hole at th e top of the tripod base/legs part. This screw is very short and there doesn't s eem to be any way to secure it tight, so it can unscrew when the camera is on it , especially when I'm wrestling a film holder into the very tight back on the ca mera.
I'm also afraid that before I finally realized that the camera was turning on th is screw, I kept thinking that the pan screw wasn't tight enough and I kept tryi ng to tighten it harder, and I'm afraid I've stripped that screw.
Any ideas short of a new tripod, which is what I'm thinking? Thanks, Katharine Thayer
Bookmarks