From knobs to levers - tripod head modification

[Sigurd Veronetta]

I have a Manfrotto 460MG 3D tripod head which I like very much. However since starting to use a Mamiya C3 I found it rather difficult to turn the knobs sufficiently to stop the camera from slowly tilting - on one occasion it wasn't very slow and crushed my finger.

After spending far too long looking at new tripod heads I thought I'd try a little modification - replacing two of the knobs with levers.

I can report that the levers are indeed very effective and at £8 the pair off eBay a very economic solution.

I offer this in the hope that it might be useful to anyone else with incipient arthritis or an unnecessarily heavy camera.

Sig.

 

[Moose22]

Yeah man, that's a way to go. C3 isn't heavy so much as the weight is way above the mount, so it's really nice to be able to clamp it easily. Wide base cameras in general make it weird getting to some knobs, too.

I don't like knobs on tripods. My arthritis isn't bad, but it's still a lot easier to feel and have leverage that way. Especially in the cold, like a sunrise or night work.

Glad it worked out for you.

 

[Sirius Glass]

Great upgrade and saving the fingers in one swell foop!

 

[AgX]

The typical disadvantage of levers is that they stay unwantded positions, necessitating shimming. These "modern" levers enable to easily adjust their direction any time.

 

[MattKing]

I updated your thread title, to make the thread easy to search for and find.
Because your idea is a really good one!

 

[Sigurd Veronetta]

Thanks Matt.

The idea occurred to me when I was looking for a lever to replace my Paramender's broken one.

The lever's thread is M6 x 20mm. When removing the original knob the spring needs to be removed as well.