Helios 1984
Member
I have a couple of these and they say "Made in Japan". There are variations on the construction; one even has a tilting center column that is geared. I think they were popular in the 1960's-70's as inexpensive accessories to push on the new camera buyer in camera stores.
Not a bad little tripod, but the legs are easy to kink and bend (as you can see from your example) if you don't take care when retracting the legs. Mine have a little wire locking pin on each extension that should be pushed in before collapsing the leg.
Good for display and tabletop with a light rangefinder, but fully extended it leaves a lot to be desired on anything other than a totally calm day.
I couldn't fix the light bent because the foot is on there so tight that I couldn't unscrew it without risking bending the tube. So, the fully extended days of this tripod are over. However, it still can be safely be used up to the 3rd extension tube which more than enough. I guess these were popular with people shooting with lighter cameras like Canonette, Trip 35, Instamatics or even Brownies.
I've seen those tripods on an old FotoQuelle magazine (late 60s) and they where also sold with some camera bags (for rangefinders and scale-focus cameras) that had some leather straps on the bottom for the tripod. I wold love to get one of those bags (with the tripod) for my Super-Sillete or for my Dacoras Super-Dignette...
You just gave me an idea for a new sewing project, I'll make a pouch for this tripod.
