Historically correct head for a Kodak 2D

Hi everyone,

I have a lovely old 5x7 2D; the purchase passed muster with my wife on aesthetic grounds, basically. (-"I, um, bought a camera..." -"You WHAT???" -"It's wood and brass!" -"Ooooo...") Without too much trouble we found a suitable Crown tripod to go with it (I forget which number, but it's beefy enough for the camera).

Unfortunately, what sits in between the camera and tripod at the moment is a modern Manfrotto head, and it just looks Wrong.

I gather that Graflex/F&S did make tripod heads, but I don't remember ever seeing one. Have they all worn out or been discarded by people who didn't know what they were? Is it possible to find a reasonably historically accurate *and* functionally competent head to go with this tripod/camera combination?

-NT

Baco or Ries tilt head, or a similar self made device seem to be the more popular I've seen.

A flat, tilting base would be pretty traditional. Hard wood or metal. Think of it like a book divided in two sections front & back.
One end is hinged, the bottom piece has a female thread for the tripod and the top is male. A guide between makes it adjustable. You see this kind of hardware on some music or jewelry boxes. They're usually brass finish & either craft or hardware store should have them.

Is this what you are after?



Eddie has a couple for sale over at the Large Format Forum.

I have my 5X7 Kodak 2D on a Berlebach tripod with a Bogen 3047 and sometimes I use the Manfrotto 410 with it and thoroughly enjoy the camera. The extension rail makes it sing, I got lucky and the original extension rail came with it and the racks match and are smooth. Someone before me put a new bellows on it but instead of the full length it is only 21". There is some rail left over when fully extended. That's minor though, I can fully use the camera in any extension with no leaks. The only thing I don't have is the base slider that repositions the camera on the tripod head. I intend to make one for it, it's really simple to make.

I made an adapter, 4 1/2" Sq. to Linhof, that uses the cameras original hardware without modifying the camera any. I like to use some lenses on it that I use on my 4x5 which takes only Linhof boards. Those which don't fit on Linhof boards go on the 5X7 board and they can be used on my Calumet 8X10 and 8X10 Kodak 2D cameras with another adapter, 6X6" to 4 1/2"X4 1/2" board. I can further use say my Schneider Symmar 210mm, which is on a Linhof board, on the Calumet C1 8x10 with the 8X10 to 5X7 reducing back from Calumet on it.

Have fun with the camera, I get a lot of comments when I'm out photographing with it.

Curt