Worth1000.com | Photoshop Contests | Are you Worthy™ | tutorial
The swivel is optional. If you’re using a tilt and pan head, skip it. However, if you have a ball head, it’s a lot easier to include it than try to adjust the ball head every shot. First, cut a piece of wood for the base. Use a piece of very flat, thick (5/8” or so) oak plywood or a plank of hardwood. Make it about 5” by 4” (12 cm x 10 cm). Next, cut the side. To make sure the camera has enough clearance when you swing it down, make it a little over 5” tall. The width would be the same 4” as the base. Line up the two 4” edges so that the side is sitting on top of the base to form an “L” (see the picture above). Drill holes up through the bottom of the base into the side and screw the two together. A little glue and maybe some bracing might help – this less flex the better.
Page 4 Now we need to drill a couple holes. The size of all the holes in this project except the last one are up to you, depending on what size fasteners you bought. The first hole needs to go in the base -we need to drill a hole near the center. The exact distance from the side is critical – it will need to run through the center of the lens. So, put your camera down on a table. Measure the height from the table to the center of the lens – that’s the distance the hole in the base needs to be from the side.
If you’re not using a swivel under the base, you’ll need a fairly large hole here, as you’ll need to install a socket (or “insert nut”) so the tripod can screw into the tripod head. The dimensions of that socket depend on your tripod – if you’re planning to mount this to the screw that normally attaches to the camera, you want a “1/4-20” socket. Here's what an insert nut looks like:
The hole in the side is where the arm will pivot. As such, it needs to be in the same plane as the hole in the base. In other words, if you’re looking at the unit from the side, the side hole will appear directly above the base hole. Make the hole in the side about 4 1/2 to 5 inches above the base – your camera will need room to swing downwards when you’re shooting a picture of the sky.
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Next, cut the arm. To figure out the length, start with that previously measured distance between the entrance pupil and the screw socket (the one that was 4 1/8 inches on my Canon) – this distance is shown in green above. Add a half inch to an inch on either side. The width need only be a couple inches. Drill a hole at one end for the arm to attach to the side piece where it will pivot. Drill another hole 4 1/8 inches (or whatever your measurement is) down the arm towards its other end. This last hole is where the camera attaches, so it needs to be 1/4" wide. Insert a 1/4-20 thumb screw through this hole (1/4-20 means 1/4” wide, with a thread pitch of 20, which is the most common pitch).
file:///C|/Worth1000/09.htm (2 van 3)13-6-2006 23:17:02