Restoring a FOBA C-40 Tripod.

[Daniel Unkefer]

Hi All,

I just received an old FOBA C-40 Tripod. This is the "Automatic Model" which was originally offered, starting in 1959. It came with a Norma Pan-Tilt Head, which was absolutely trashed (but has cleaned-up just great!). This tripod was missing a few screws, I have replaced them, and generally cleaned it up a bit. The legs (Combitubes) were coated in a black grease, which I wiped off. The whole thing works OK, but is still a bit sticky to operate. Has anybody here ever rebuilt one of these, can you offer me any advise?
Anybody out there use this tripod, and what are your experiences with it?

This tripod is awesome in combination with my 8x10 Sinar Norma (and it's in my original Norma literature).

[Daniel Unkefer]

I have always wanted one of these; Now I have two FOBA tripods!
Looks like the legs might also be extendable, with the combitubes.
Need to find some short ones, as well as the longer ones.
Does anybody know anyone selling combitubes for a reasonable price?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=120556982809&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT

[Sascha Welter]

At my father's studio they have one of these (maybe a bit newer edition), bought new somewhere in the early 90s. Don't worry about the legs being a bit "sticking", they were that way when new too. It's a good tripod, as long as it's the version without the center column. The (optional) center column thing makes it totally useless, because it makes the camera totally shaky.

[Daniel Unkefer]

Hi Sascha,
Thanks for that! It's good to know that those who own and use these FOBA tripods, really like them. My C40 does not have a center column, and the legs do stick a bit, they have some corrosion that did clean off.

[Gudmundur Ingolfsson]

I have one like this in a good condition although 40 years old. I call it my giraffe and usually add two Combitubes to each leg and thus reach the hight of almost 3 meters when shooting architecture.

[Daniel Unkefer]

This arrived today. Very nice and useful, now I have two FOBA tripods. This one will also support my 8x10 Sinar Norma easily, I have -nothing- like this...... I added my Leica M2 to offer a bit of scale.

[Daniel Unkefer]

Gudmundur,
Yes I want to use my C40 for photographing architecture. I need some of those "giraffe" combitubes, in short and long sizes.

[Gudmundur Ingolfsson]

Look for them on German E-bay under Studiozubehör. They can be added to both your
big and small tripods.

[Sascha Welter]

Apparently Foba is still in business. In case you want to buy "new", you can find a local reseller at http://www.foba.ch