I was wandering a car boot (yard sale, USA) when I saw a small tripod.
I picked it up to take a look, and was amazed at the low weight.
Everything seemed OK, so I bought it.
A quick bit of research when I got home showed it to be a Slik 500.
Sadly, closer inspection revealed that the lock-ring of the pan was broken, although it does still hold (almost...).
Further googling reveals that these heads are either weak "as made" or become brittle with time, because I found lots of posts about Slik 500s with broken heads.
Sadly, to keep cost and/or weight down, the head does not fit to the tripod with a standard screw; indeed the machine end of the vertical pillar is part of the head.
Here on this very forum, is a post showing the top of the pillar.
http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=40903
Would it be possible to saw off the head, tap for 1/4" x 20 TPI, and glue in a 1/4" stub to fit a normal head?
BugBear
I picked it up to take a look, and was amazed at the low weight.
Everything seemed OK, so I bought it.
A quick bit of research when I got home showed it to be a Slik 500.
Sadly, closer inspection revealed that the lock-ring of the pan was broken, although it does still hold (almost...).
Further googling reveals that these heads are either weak "as made" or become brittle with time, because I found lots of posts about Slik 500s with broken heads.
Sadly, to keep cost and/or weight down, the head does not fit to the tripod with a standard screw; indeed the machine end of the vertical pillar is part of the head.
Here on this very forum, is a post showing the top of the pillar.
http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=40903
Would it be possible to saw off the head, tap for 1/4" x 20 TPI, and glue in a 1/4" stub to fit a normal head?
BugBear