Hi--

>The biggest problem with getting stability is flexiness in the camera
>body, not the tripod. I have a Nikon 8008, and it really sucks. The
>female thread on the bottom is fastered into the metal part of the
>body, but what pulls down onto the tripod head is just some very
>flexible plastic. I can mount my 70-210 zoom (the longest lens I
>own), and lightly touch the end of the lens, and watch the whole
>thing move. I tracked down where the movement, and discovered that
>the tripod head was not moving.
>
>My brother, who has access to a machine shop, made a big fancy brace
>that goes under the camera, and clamps around the cylindrical back
>part of the lens just in front of the aperture ring. With that
>accessory, the system is really rigid. BTW, my tripod is a Bogen 3221
>with the 3029 head.
"David M. Jacobson"

There may be more going on... for some reason, the 8008 tripod
thread extends slightly from the camera bottom - if the tripod
screw tightens down the camera to an ungiving surface, the
8008 will rock. You can add the rubber washer Nikon used to provide
with FE-type bodies, or get a Really Right Stuff 8008 plate, which
fits perfectly, provides a rigid bottom surface, and has a rear
lip that prevents rotation (it also has a 1/4" thread in it).
This works fine for me. On tripods, I find as long as the rig
isn't swaying in the breeze, a tripod with good damping (bad
joints and lack of cross-bracing help, as with the Husky tripod)
is more important than one that will hold up a bus...;-)