when my camera had a great fall...

[monochromeFan]

I had no idea why i found it, and tripod, laying on the floor. I had no idea why, or how, the side to side tilt, up and down tilt, and camera stud were all 4 or 5 turns loose.

the only damage i can SEE is that the ground glass has a few tiny chips on it. And that after measuring, the front and rear standards are no longer parallel with each other.

omega view 45d. The rear standard, the left side with the bubble level, is about 1/8" farther from the front standard than the other side.

Camera has always been left in "neutral"using the handy dandy detents in the stampings.. Should i be concerned,

[Tin Can]

No

I have found many undamaged LF camera have lousy alignment

I don't trust tiny short bubble levels

I use my eye and longer levels or my iPhone built in level

[Tin Can]

Many expensive tripods fall down if your knee touches a leg lock

[domaz]

I had a heavy camera setup on my carbon fiber tripod recently and I just barely averted disaster as I noticed one of the legs was very slowly giving way. I hadn't tightened one of the leg sections enough.

[monochromeFan]

wasnt using the levels for measuring, just for geological reference point.

[Andre Noble]

I'd be more concerned as to why I do not know how it happened, especially considering the detail that someone unloosened screw but can't remember having done so.

[BrianShaw]

If the standards were parallel before the fall and aren't now... you have a problem. It might not be really noticable in some types of photography but might in others. Me... I'd start looking into how to correct the situation.

You might also want to look at the tripod and see if it needs an overhaul. After about 3 decades my tripod head started slipping and couldn't be tightened enough to compensate. It took about 38 minutes and a bit of damping grease to disassemble, clean, re-lube, and reassemble. No fear of slipping anymore. And like Andre...

[Conrad . Marvin]

Large format photography is a lot about maintaining the tools. Tripods need to be checked often. Cameras will show wear in anything that can be tightened or moved often, and must be dealt with before a disaster happens. And, and, and . . .

[monochromeFan]

been spending alot of time with it, trying to teach myself to get used to the orientation in the ground glass. So i have been checking tightness very often. Normally every 3 days.

Been carefully looking at things, and the further apart the standards get, the less and less i can tell any difference in the measurements.

[Duolab123]

Use until it's a problem. Luckily it didn't go kaboom.

[Cor]

The ground glass will tell you what is sharp and what is not (finger crossed the fall did not damage anything there, so what is sharp on the ground glass, is sharp on the negative), if that is still fine, do not bother too much about it.

Good luck,

Cor