Alonzo Guerrero
10-Sep-2006, 01:23
I just bought another used Majestic pod. The head is serial 1100; model 1400 and it came on a leg system that has a 1 1/4" shaft. It looks just like another pod and head that I've had for a bit, but there is a difference in size where the shaft enters the base of the head. My old head has a 1 3/8" opening, and it fits snug on the 1 1/4" shaft and bushing when just slightly tightened. Also, the old head has a retaining lip that keeps the shaft of the pod from entering the gear chamber. However, I was switching the heads around (I was going to take the old head off-line for servicing) and noticed that the new head opening is 1 5/8" and that it doesn't have a retaining lip to keep the shaft from entering the gear chamber. It actually hits the main thread. This is a problem even with the legs it came with. Also, because of the size difference, the metal tightening band has to travel that much further to tighten the head to the shaft. It seems that too much stress on the metal tightening band might fatigue the part early. There doesn't appear to be any damage to the gears or metal tightening band yet, but I don't want to put my camera gear on a head that might fail or cause a problem later. I looked on-line to see if there was some part I could order, but only found the converter that is used to mount the head on another type of leg system. But, for obvious reasons, I want to keep the head on the Majestic legs.
I've attached a picture of the two heads, looking down through the bottom, which shows the differences. Maybe someone has seen this before and has a good solution. Any information is certainly appreciated.
--ag
I've attached a picture of the two heads, looking down through the bottom, which shows the differences. Maybe someone has seen this before and has a good solution. Any information is certainly appreciated.
--ag