Another Cheap Contractor Tripod Hack for 8X10

[desertrat]

I bought a contractor tripod at the local Home Depot last year, enticed by the low price. One of the selling points for the Berger/CST tripod is that no rivets are used in construction. It is all done with screws that can be tightened to take up play that might appear with wear. I was a bit disapointed when I unpacked it and found out some of the fittings are plastic. After setting it up, though, it seemed quite rigid, with no looseness or play, and seemed quite stable. The first order of business was to find a way to get the 8X10 Seneca on top of it, preferably without modifying it if possible. The old camera should get as much support as possible, so a large plank was pulled from the woodpile and some hardware was scrounged up from Dad's collection of nuts, bolts, and washers.

Most boards aren't perfectly flat, but a good compromise can be found by selecting one that is flat lengthwise, and only slightly curved width wise. The camera gets the best support when the board edges curve up instead of down when installed.

A 5/8" X 11 nut is measured across the hex points (not the flats) and a hole is bored in the board just slightly smaller than this dimension.

http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh237/dezzertrat/Film%20Photography/Large%20Format/Cameras%20and%20Hardware/Caliper_nut.jpg

There are several ways to make the hole. A wood boring bit can be used, or a series of small holes drilled, overlapping slightly, in a circle and the core knocked out. Then a large round or half round file can be used to even out the hole and enlarge it to size. If a wood boring bit is used that is only slightly too small, the nut can be placed over the hole and marks made next to the hex points. Then a small round file can be used to enlarge the portions of the hole at the marks.

The object of this exercise is to make the hole just slightly too small for the nut to slip in. Then the nut is driven in with a hammer until the top is flush with the surface of the board. This will prevent it from spinning in the hole.

A large round washer is selected, and several holes drilled near the outer circumference just large enough to clear the wood screws that will be used. The length of the screws should should be not quite so long that the screw tips protrude through the top of the board. The washer is placed over the nut, centered, and the board pilot drilled for the screws. After the screws are installed, it looks something like this.

http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh237/dezzertrat/Film%20Photography/Large%20Format/Cameras%20and%20Hardware/Nut_washer.jpg

The washer and screw heads protrude from the surface of the board, but they fit inside the large round opening in the top of the tripod so they don't interfere with anything.

Then some 7/64 holes can be drilled in the board to accept a 1/4-20 thumbscrew that will hold the camera in place. The camera can be fastened to different holes to keep the center of gravity over the center of the tripod for different extensions. This thumbscrew and fender washer came from the local Lowes Home Improvement Center.

http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh237/dezzertrat/Film%20Photography/Large%20Format/Cameras%20and%20Hardware/Thumbscrew.jpg

Here is the Seneca on the tripod and platform.

http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh237/dezzertrat/Film%20Photography/Large%20Format/Cameras%20and%20Hardware/Seneca_tripod1.jpg

Panning is easy. Just loosen the plastic handled screw under the head, rotate the platform, and snug up the screw again. It doesn't have to be turned down real tight, either. Just lightly hand snug works fine.

Tilting takes a bit more work, involving adjusting the tripod legs. This is how it was done in LF 100 years ago. I was able to get about 30 degrees from horizontal with it. The camera was moved well forward on the platform to keep the whole setup from tipping over. I can only link to four images per post, so will link to an image of the tripod set up for maximum tilt in a later post.

There is a seller on Ebay who has an adapter with a 1/4-20 stud that fits on a contractor tripod, but I think a platform gives the camera a lot more support. The little 1/4-20 screw isn't subjected to any bending stresses this way, and has a lot less work to do. It only has to keep the camera from sliding in a horizontal plane.

How stable is this setup compared to a 'real' LF tripod and head? I can't answer that because I've never used one or even personally seen one. Compared to any other tripod I own, this tripod and platform is like the Rock of Gibraltar. There is no vibration. I can give the platform a good whack, and it moves very little, and immediately returns to its original position. Any vibration that occurs damps out almost instantly, and comes from the camera, not the platform/tripod as far as I can tell.

I've seen posts on this forum that contractor tripods with heads installed using adapters are prone to vibration, and I don't doubt that. This setup does not vibrate.

[desertrat]

Here is the tripod adjusted for maximum tilt.

http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh237/dezzertrat/Film%20Photography/Large%20Format/Cameras%20and%20Hardware/Tripod_tilt.jpg

I estimate the tilt at about 30 degrees from horizontal. The horizon is tilted a bit because I was leaning toward the ground at an awkward angle to get this shot. For something like this, it might be worthwhile to put another 5/8" nut and washer assembly near one end of the platform. This would allow hanging the camera out further toward the center of the footprint between the feet, and might give a little more stability. The rope is needed to keep the legs in front from splaying out and possibly tipping over the tripod if one of them gets bumped while moving around. I might buy one of those cheap adjustable cargo tie down straps from Harbor Freight to do this. The really small, thin ones with a buckle but no ratchet would be fine if they still have those.

This arrangement isn't as resistant to vibration as when the head is level, but it's still not too bad. For small amounts of tilt, shortening two legs instead of one might give more stability. Shortening one leg gives a little more tilt angle if it's needed.

I can't correct the first post now, but 7/64" holes is incorrect. It should be 17/64".

[Bruce Osgood]

Thanks for posting this. I am in a similar situation and wonder how this Tripod could be used with a monorail Sinar 8x10 that extends a few inches above the plate. Doe's this pod have a connect bolt like a photo head to secure the camera support?

Thanks,

[desertrat]

This platform arrangement works best with flat bed folding view cameras from the early 20th century. I have never worked with a monorail camera, but from the photos I've seen, the part that connects to the tripod has a small bearing area, so the stabilizing effect of of a big, flat, thick board would be lost. Could you post an image of the bottom of the piece of your monorail that connects to the tripod?

I'm beginning to think the only way you could take advantage of the large bearing area of the top of a contractor tripod would be to attach vertical brackets at each end of the plank that each end of the monorail could be solidly attached to.

[jp]

Looks great. I use a contractor tripod too. (with the pacific laser systems 1/4-20 adaptor)

A step up would be to weld the 5/8 nut to the washer you installed on the board. (and countersink the washer)

You can also adjust the composition aim and up down some without adjusting the tripod if the camera has rise and fall adjustments.

[ki6mf]

I have found camera adapters on e bay from time to time. I cant remember where I got this and it was not to expensive. It came from one of the surveyor supply houses and costs between $10-20. Good DIY Hack and it looks like it works. Also reminds me of the original tripods which often had a flat board for a camera support between the camera and the tripod!

[desertrat]

...You can also adjust the composition aim and up down some without adjusting the tripod if the camera has rise and fall adjustments.
Definitely. I use the movements when I can, but I have a couple of shorter lenses that just barely cover with no movements.

I won't be upset if anyone calls what I built what it really is...it's redneck engineering! :D

[Kerry L. Thalmann]

Thanks for posting this. I am in a similar situation and wonder how this Tripod could be used with a monorail Sinar 8x10 that extends a few inches above the plate. Doe's this pod have a connect bolt like a photo head to secure the camera support?

Doesn't Sinar make some sort of bracket that allows you to attach two rail clamps to it - one at each end? If so, modifying one of those (just drill out the mounting hole and tap it for 5/8-11 threads) would be the way to go - assuming you want to skip a head and mount the camera directly to the tripod, like the OP did.

In any case, with a monorail, you don't want a wide piece of wood. All that extra width is great when you have a comparably wide base on your camera, but won't do a thing to stabilize a much narrower monorail. For a monorail, a long metal bracket would be best. If I wanted to go headless with my ARCA-SWISS, I'd simply mount the extension bracket directly to the tripod. In the case of other monorails, I'd just use a square aluminum extrusion of the desired length and width with a tripod mount/rail clamp on each end. If you want to get really fancy, you could make a nice bracket using one of the extrusions from these guys (http://myworld.ebay.com/8020inc). They make lots of different sizes and shapes of extrusions, in both metric and inch sizes, lots of options in mounting hardware, and by buying their surplus left overs, quite inexpensive.

Kerry