I was not in the least bit offended and I do hope that you took no offence
from anything I said as none was meant.
My reaction was entirely because the original basis of the topic was
advice to someone contemplating the purchase of a tripod. I felt you were
potentially doing the intended recipient of the advice a disservice by
misrepresenting a piece of equipment and its characteristics through no
fault on you part other than unfamiliarity.
If you do decide to take another look, and I hope you do, let me share
with you the secret of taming the beast. when initially setting up the
tripod and trying to get an even leg spread slacken off the main lever
quite a bit so all the parts of the main joint are really loose, position
the legs and central column as you want them and then tighten the lever.
If you only slacken the main lever just enough so the legs and such can
just be moved you will not have given the components which comprise the
joint enough freedom of movement to establish new relationships with one
another and take on a different configuration. Once the basic
configuration of the setup has been established you then only have to
slacken the main lever just a enough to allow a bit of movement for fine
adjustments.
By slackening of the main lever a lot on initial setup I have never felt a
need for handles on the wedges as they just seem to fall into place of
their own accord when they have enough room to move.
If you think a Benbo 1 is heavy you should see a 5! There is a picture of
one in a brochure and I think you could just about use it to prop up a 747
while you work on the undercarriage. It goes to 8'5" and weighs 8kg.
Giles
Ilona Lemieux wrote:
> my crack about the "lead alloy" was apparently an insider joke(inside my
> head only) I am actually a more capable machinist than jokester. What I
> meant to say is that the alloy, whatever it is, seems to be very heavy(that
> lever, for example seems to be a whopper)
> about my reservations, I seem to have offended some users with my comments,
> but I certainly didnt intend to. The "benbo mystique" I referred to I
> As for the geometric characteristics of the leg spreads, based on the
> comments, I better go a have another look! Maybe my disgust over the fit
> and finish clouded my observations! If so, I apologise in advance. The
> comment about the wedges needing a post to aid adjusting surely blows my
> statement of the wedges being cast (fixed ridgidly) to the center post. I
> cant(easily) go look again as I don't own one. What? - the "mystique"
> knocks at my door again?!!?
>
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