Question on transit tripods

I have an old brass Craftsman transit with apparently an 11/16" - 27 mounting thread, slightly larger than the 5/8"-27 thread of a microphone stand. The owner had driven over the tripod and threw it away.

Google gives several standards. 5/8"-11 seems common.

jsw

The surveyor who lived in my house before me left an old tripod and you can have it for the postage cost if you like. It has a 1" long,

1/2-5/8" tapered mount, telescoping legs, and half a black crinkle-paint finish left on the top section. There is no bracing, but that's easy enough to fab up. It's 2 lb 10 oz without packing.

New tripods appear to have a 5/8"-11 stud mount. There's a screw in the top of this one, so it may be replaceable.

-- Win first, Fight later.

--martial principle of the Samurai

You'll find lots of info on using transit tripods if you search for DIY telescope tripods. People have used surveying tripods from Goodwill or whatever, crafted their own from beautiful wood, or hammered together some 2x4s etc.

For those who choose to spend a fair chunk of money, ONCE, I'd suggest RRS (Really Right Stuff). Not sold in stores. Really, really nicely made in the good old USofA. I have a Manfrotto, with their BH55 ball head, but I'm sure their carbon fiber tripods are nice.

Like any good tool, they just 'feel' right.

As mentioned by others, most modern survey tripods use a male 5/8x11 stud t= hat screws into the bottom of the instrument. Older tripods had a 3-1/2 ma= le inch dia. thread cast/machined onto the tripod head.

BTW, quality survey tripods are still mad of wood due to thermal expansion.= I've tried many aluminum-legged tripods over the years and just a few de= grees of temperature change throws of the precision of your set-up.

Further above somebody offers to send you a tripod weighing only 2=B1 pound= s. Probably not a survey tripod. I've never seen a decent tripod weighing= less than 10-12 pounds.

Ivan Vegvary, (45 years of engineering and surveying)

I've got a Majestic tripod for the heavies, has a geared head. $40 at the local camera swap. Weighs in at 15 lbs. Had been hacked about over the years, nasty leg tips, crummy cheap fastener replacements. Still being made(but not for $40). See

They're out there, sometimes for pretty cheap, all metal, U.S.-made. Had at least a dozen at the swap. The local college AV guys are getting rid of them. Have seen them on camera swap sites, too. Would be a better deal than trying to modify something not meant for photo use. Had to straighten the worm wheel shaft on the gear head and regrease, replaced most of the cheap fasteners with some decent stuff and waxed up the telescoping legs. Works great now. Originally had a three-way level on it, that's missing. Extends up to about 8-9'. As a plus, when I replaced the leg tips with some decent rubber ones, I found several sets that would fit into my Husky tripod dolly, So it can be wheeled around now. And it makes a great mount for the giant binoculars. Bencher has several different platform types for the gear head, too.

Stan

On Jul 12, 10:52=A0am, Ivan Vegvary wrote:>

Or the lack of it:

I've tried =A0many aluminum-legged tripods over the years and just a few degrees of temperature change throws of the precision of your set-up.

This also matters for EA's project if it will be shipped or stored in the garage.

jsw

That's going to be far too light for what I want to do with the camera, but I sure appreciate the offer!

Jon

Oh, do they ever feel and look 'right'! I've started with an RRS L-plate, and will certainly be buying more of their stuff, especially for macro and pano work. My brother was up for the 4th weekend and we went on a photo safari. I fell in love with his RRS ground tripod and BH55 ballhead.

It is sinfully gorgeous and sexy, and unaffordable right now... :(

My brother turned me on to a great forum for Minolta and Sony A mount cameras. The general consensus is to buy once and buy the best. Well, that works great if one has the money.... I don't want to wait years to get going, so looking to combine my ability to make stuff, with scrounging for used stuff, to get going faster. Down the road, will be upgrading, that's for sure.

Jon

Thanks for the link, that 6300 series looks like a nice sturdy tripod! Where are you at that you can find camera swap meets? That's one of the first things I searched for and asked about. But being rural has it's drawbacks, can't find reference to anything near by. Not even in Sacramento. Doesn't mean there aren't any, just haven't found any info. There seems to be only 2 -real- camera stores in Sacramento anymore, plane to get to at least one and ask. Also might try a run up to Reno this summer and hit some pawn shops. Always nice to have a specific make and model to search for, so maybe one will turn up on CL.

Always on the lookout for yard sales now that mention cameras. I have seen surveyor's tripods at yard sales, the type I am looking for, but now that I want one....

Jon

Jewelcome. BTW, what -are- you going to be doing? What's the package weight on the head, ball'n'all?

-- Fear not those who argue but those who dodge. -- Marie Ebner von Eschenbach

I have two Majestics- they're hands down the most solid tripods you can actually pick up and carry around.

They're a bit less exciting if you actually carry one over your shoulder with a view camera.

bencher is worthless to try to deal with directly, but calumet photographic can get you any parts they have drop shipped at fair prices.

I'm overbuilding with an eye toward some long lenses down the road. Have read some real interesting articles on rigidity and vibration, it really can be an issue. And, one day I just might go old school and try a large format camera.

There is the chance things might sour here with the economy and I will end up unable to afford to ship my shop down under. So trying to to build a few really nice things now just in case. I could just save up and buy, but I derive a lot of pleasure from making something that I can use. The other even bigger project is a geared cubic head along the lines of this:

These are the bomb for precision framing in macro photography, but WELL out of my price range. But I can certainly design and make something similar that should work nearly as well. When my brother was up, we dabbled with some extreme close up macro work using a bellows. My camera was mounted on his RRS ground tripod with RRS's large ball head. Even with that primo setup, it was a bit of a pain trying to make fine adjustments to the camera.

I'm on the slippery slope now, and gaining speed...

Jon

Cool. Don't the long (400mm+) zooms require a -lens- mounting?

Whoa! Page 3 - I'd never seen a perspective control lens before. Weird.

Go for it!

Oh, yeah, at that price, making one is a given.

I hear ya. Macro is tough.

Atta Boy!

-- Fear not those who argue but those who dodge. -- Marie Ebner von Eschenbach

Yeah. But still, mass and vibration damping are important.

Cool! Arax and Lensbaby are similar to this lens, though not sure how they really compare as that's an area of photography I don't anticipate getting into. It sure do look nice though!

Jon

But of course! Electronically controlled shutter release is a must. Wind shielding is a necessity.

Yeah, who wants to photograph man-made stuff?

-- Fear not those who argue but those who dodge. -- Marie Ebner von Eschenbach

My Dad's 'old' Craftsman (circa 1950's) measures 11/16" - 24. Actually .6868" major dia. of the male thread on the transit. HTH rgentry at oz dot net

Transits typically use a large (3.5"-4" or so) threaded mount so there can be a hole in the top of the tripod (the threads are on an open ring) to allow the plumb-bob to be connected directly to the transit. I'm not really sure what that size typically is, or how many variants there may be - in both the instances I have experience with, the transit and tripod have lived as a set, and not been interchanged with anything.

In the age of total stations (the fancy laser range-finder devices virtually all real surveyors use these days, since they are much faster and probably more accurate) this may be more of a historical tid-bit than directly relevant (my understanding is the total station does not need to be set in any particular spot, so a plumb bob is not needed.)

Some tripods provide a way to mount something on a small thread as well as the large ring thread. If you find one new enough to not be marked up for antique value (ie, not brass) you might well be able to get the matching threads and a really nice turntable by butchering the obsolete instrument you can get with the tripod, but may folks pretend they still have values based on what they used to cost (heck, some places still sell the things new, god only knows why at this point.)

I've had my current powder-coated Japanese-built German-branded unit on loan for the better part of 20 years from someone who switched to a total station and does not want the thing back, though I occasionally remind him I still have it. I myself find a laser level (and the leveling rod from the transit set) faster and more useful for much of what I used to use the transit to do (ie, not real transit work, things a dumpy level could have done.)

Thanks everyone for all the replies. I found the solution to my problem in a German manufacturer of very nice wood tripods, Berlebach. Can't afford to buy a new one, but with patience I will score one of the models I'm interested in on eBay sooner or later, at a price I can afford.

Jon