I used to be able to make hand-held exposures of up to a full second
without blurring anything. Not so anymore, so I am having to improvise in
order to enable my tripod to assist in situations where no tripod accessory is
available or is too bloody expensive. And besides, it's winter and I have
plenty of time to tinker in my shop.
One accessory of interest was an extendable boom. I tried improvising
with a monopod clamped in a Manfrotto Super Clamp, but that was a disaster
waiting for an opportunity to happen. However, while rummaging in a thrift
store I came across a Focal 20-08-41 tripod, which consists of a less than
adequate set of legs with a quick-rise column, a mediocre 3-way head, and a
nicely designed tilting crank-up boom. I quickly made a new 1-piece base for
the boom with a 3/8" threaded mounting hole, and the result, named Frankenpod
01, is to be seen here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/64004640@N03/8292007631/in/photostream
Frankenpod 01 is a combination of a Manfrotto 3001 tripod, the crank-up
boom from the Focal 20-08-41 tripod, a Velbon PH-250B head, and a Manfrotto 323
quick release adapter. It seems to function as well as I had expected, and
only time will tell if it is worth the effort.
Next project, Frankenpod 02, is a salvaged telescope equatorial mount
modified to serve as a tripod head with vernier tilt and pan adjustments. I
only came across a distressed Meade 395 telescope the other day which donated a
broken mount for this project, and it will take a few days to finish the
modifications. The 90x1000mm f/11 telescope proper is a very worthy
restoration project, and the tripod legs are carefully stored away as spares.
Chris
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