On Tue, 16 Apr 2002 04:18:48 GMT, "Gary Jefferson" wrote:

>I have a couple of very good tripods (Gitzo) that I have used for years with
>still cameras. They have Foba ball heads and I love them. Does anyone know
>of an assembly that will allow one of these to be operated as a video camera
>tripod. It would be a plate that mated the camera to the mount and had an
>arm for camera movement. If not sold I will probably have a machine shop
>produce it. I've never seen a camera mount/tripod to compare with these.
>Thanks in advance for any help.

You can easily convert these (and convert them back, if you
want) to video tripods. You can unscrew the Foba head,
probably leaving a 3/8ths inch stud on the tripod legs to
which can be screwed a Bogen 3063 fluid video head (under
$100). Look for set screws that may need to be loosened.
If the stud is 1/4", get a cheap tiny 1/4" to 3/8" adapter
(at any well-equiped camera store, should be around a $1).
The requirements for good still and video tripods are
different, though. For stills, good damping (but not
necessarily rigidity) is important; for video, good
rigidity (but not necessarily good damping) is important.
The 3063 fluid action is a bit stiffer than ideal, and the
Gitzo legs may "wind-up" with motions - decelerate
motions to a stop gradually, and hold the arm long enough
for the legs to "unwind" before releasing it, or you will
see backlash motion (those doubled legs on video tripods
are there for a purpose...). Used with care, the Gitzo
should be OK.