Gitzo tripod head 3/8 or 1/4?

Dear all;
I recently lucked into a small Gitzo tripod
at a car boot sale.
It was cheap enough that I took a risk...
The head plate has multiple drillings that
are all tapped for 3/8".
The camera fixing bolt is mainly 3/8", with a short
section of 1/4" at one end.
I believe 3/8" is the size of fixing used for larger
cameras, even though the tripod is quite small.
Here are a coupla' photos.
http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f234/bugbear33/gitzo/gitzo_main.jpg
http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f234/bugbear33/gitzo/gitzo_head.jpg
Can anyone tell me how I fix a "normal" camera with a 1/4" socket
onto this head? Do I need an adapter of some kind?
And (secondarily) can anyone ID the tripod as a whole?
BugBear

Bugbear

Re: gitzo tripod head 3/8 or 1/4?

...
Why not just get a brass 3/8 - 1/4 sleeve and a 1/4-20 screw about 3/4"
long. Screw it through the head into the camera and turn the camera the last
half turn or so. Or put that adaptor screw in backwards. Or get a junk video
QD. They're cheap. Or a 1/4-20 butterfly screw. Bogens have a 3/8 with a 1/4
spring loaded inside. Or, screw in a soft brass 3/8 and solder in. then
drill it out with a 17/64 drill.
Bob Hickey

Bob Hickey

Re: gitzo tripod head 3/8 or 1/4?

On 12 Sep 2006 09:00:51 -0700, "Pat" <groups@artisticphotography.us>
opined:
Well, after years of wanting to learn machining, I finally found a
cheap lathe that's suitable for these sorts of tasks, & it currently
lives on a bench maybe 3 metres from my camera gear, so yeah, I'm
currently looking at lots of problems in a lather-oriented sort of
way. ;)
But more seriously, the OP's problem is the kind of thing I used to
(pre-lathe) solve with a Dremel, files, & some elbow grease.
I'm still learning machining, so a task like that's way ahead of my
current abilities. But boy, I'm sure looking forward to the day when I
can take on things like that. :)
--
W
. | ,. w , "Some people are alive only because
|/ |/ it is illegal to kill them." Perna condita delenda est
---^----^---------------------------------------------------------------

Lionel

Re: gitzo tripod head 3/8 or 1/4?

On Tue, 12 Sep 2006 18:54:41 +0100, "Bandicoot"
<"insert_handle_here"@techemail.com> opined:
Exactly. If he'd spent real money on it, the answer would be to buy
the correct part as a spare, but the mod's easy & free, so why spend
money on it? ;)
--
W
. | ,. w , "Some people are alive only because
|/ |/ it is illegal to kill them." Perna condita delenda est
---^----^---------------------------------------------------------------

Lionel

Re: gitzo tripod head 3/8 or 1/4?

That was no nutter, that was Tony Spadaro! As I recall, he had a lemon of
an F2, and took it a little too personally.

Matt Clara

Re: gitzo tripod head 3/8 or 1/4?

Google (and the Gitzo website)
says it's TATALUX.
http://www.gitzo.com/products/metric/tripods/45classic/rightscreen.php3
BugBear

Bugbear

Re: gitzo tripod head 3/8 or 1/4?

Further to the ID question, there's some text
on the head-plate of the tripod that may help;
http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f234/bugbear33/gitzo/gitzo_plate.jpg
It says:
GITZO
made in france
brevete S.G.D.G
GILUX
TOTOLUX
(or possibly TATALUX;
the A/O thing is a triangle)
BugBear

Bugbear

Re: gitzo tripod head 3/8 or 1/4?

(OT - sorry to the photo guys)
There's nothing on USENET for you, but there is one
decent (stunning) mailing list and several hand tools forums.
http://www.brendlers.net/oldtools/oldtools.html (mailing list)
http://www.woodcentral.com/newforum/handtools.shtml
http://www.forums.woodnet.net/ubbthreads/postlist.php?Cat=&Board=handtools
I've also heard sawmill creek favourably spoken of.
BugBear

Bugbear

Re: gitzo tripod head 3/8 or 1/4?

[SNIP]
That would more or less turn this bolt into a match for the one that would
have been originally supplied - a better solution than trying to work with
the non-original bolt as it stands and, necessarily, finding it very
inconvenient as as result.
Peter

Bandicoot

Re: gitzo tripod head 3/8 or 1/4?

...
It's a Gitzo Reporter. I have one of that vintage with three leg sections,
and a later one with adjustable leg angles and four sections. Very good
tripod, and very rigid for its weight - not that it's exactly light. Good
with 35mm up to reasonably long glass, and OK for MF work (maybe not a
Pentax 6x7 though.)
The head is one of Gitzo's offset ball designs: a very ingenious head, and
very flexible. Some people really can't get on with them, but if you find
you like it, it is good - though the ball can be just a little 'grabby' at
times compared to, say, an Arca-Swiss (which will only cost you 100 times
what you paid for the tripod, after all...)
That bolt in the head, however, is not the original, and therein lies 100%
of your problem. The original has, from the top, a section threaded 1/4"
(or 3/8", you could order either) then a short section threaded 3/8", then
an unthreaded, narrower, section, then a longer section threaded 3/8", and
then a knurled knob.
In use, the plastic nut that you have is threaded on to it and turned down
onto the bottom threaded section, next to the knob on the end of the bolt,
and then the short upper 3/8" threaded section is screwed through the plate
of the head. This sits below the top of the head in the recess that
surrounds the hole, and the bolt is now held so it won't fall out, but it
will turn freely on that unthreaded section with just the 1/4" section above
the top of the plate. To use it, you put your camera on the 1/4" section
and screw that in, then turn the plastic nut up the lower thread in the bolt
so it bears on the bottom of the head and pulls the camera down snug and
tight. All this is very easy to see and quick to do, more lengthy and
difficult to explain in words...
Your options I guess are: get a QR system - the Arca-Swiss, with plates and
clamps from Kirk, RRS, or similar, is the best, but not cheap; order a new
threaded bolt from Gitzo - they still stock them and they are not that
expensive; or file down a section of the threads in the right place on the
bolt that you now have so that it works more or less as I described above -
cheapest option, though lacking a knob on the bolt itself, not quite as easy
to use.
It's a good tipod and head, so worth a bit of work or small expenditure to
be able to use it.
Peter

Bandicoot

Re: gitzo tripod head 3/8 or 1/4?

I just opened mine: The "slips" or gaskets are brownish but are
definitely synthetic.
If I hold my 'pod upside-down and loosen the rings, the legs easily &
smoothly collapse from their own weight.
Something isn't working properly...