Tripod Clamp?

Glenn NK

I'm looking for a clamp that attaches to the lower leg of a tripod that will accept a ballhead to get the camera very close to the ground. Beanbags have been suggested, but their bulkiness make them less than practical to carry around in the field.

I've seen a Manfrotto one in a camera shop, but it seems to be a bit heavy and bulky (my Lowepro AW300 is pretty well full).

I have a Manfrotto 190 series which will lie flat on the ground, but the centre column has to be taken out to achieve this. When I'm on a flower shoot, I find that I'm continually taking it out, replacing it, taking it out, etc. whereas a clamp on the bottom leg could remain there permanently.

Another problem is when I'm out in the field with wildflowers, the legs in the "flat out" position, effectively trample other greenery (flowers in later stages of blooming), and I'm not too keen on leaving damaged botanicals in my wake. Three points on the ground can be managed carefully to avoid damage.

I have added extensions to the (optional) Manfrotto spikes which consist of 10 mm coupler nuts and 10 mm bolts (with the heads cut off and sharpened to a point). These longer spikes can be pushed into the ground up to 100 mm (4 inches), which really stabilizes the tripod on soft ground (where flowers grow and where landscapes so often are).

With the legs straight out and flat, the spikes are useless and the tripod isn't particularly stable on the forest floor.

Somehwere on some forum I saw an image of a clamp that didn't look too large, but I can't recall where.

Any help on this would be appreciated.

Glenn

Robinivich

If you want a clamp to support a camera, I'm pretty certain I own the manfrotto one you mention, along with a sort of flexible arm for it that weighs a ton and sports a 3/8" screw at one end and a 1/4" at the other. Yes, it is big and heavy (both look built to survive a nuclear attack, the arm in particular could be a vicious blunt weapon to defend yourself from attack), but I'd pay in convenience for the safety of knowing my camera isn't taking nose dive. For a pro SLR with a 180-200mm macro you'd be pushing the limits of even this arrangement though, so it depends on the setup you use.

More likely you want to find a tripod with a reversing center column, assuming your current one doesn't have one, which I'd want to be certain of before going shopping, and this arrangement would occupy the same space you're already using for your current tripod, not to mention looking crazy weird

ian408

You mention you are constantly removing the column. Why not turn it around?
So that the head is between the legs?

Would this do what you want?

Pindy

The Bogen Magic Arm / Super Clamp combo is what you want, and you can get a magic arm with the standard Manfrotto QR clamp on one end. They are big and heavy, yes, but adore mine and they constantly get you out of a bind when you don't know how otherwise to support the camera.

Manfrotto/bogen make a smaller one but it wouldn't hold up to the weight of what you're using.

Glenn NK

Robinivich wrote:

If you want a clamp to support a camera, I'm pretty certain I own the manfrotto one you mention, along with a sort of flexible arm for it that weighs a ton and sports a 3/8" screw at one end and a 1/4" at the other. Yes, it is big and heavy (both look built to survive a nuclear attack, the arm in particular could be a vicious blunt weapon to defend yourself from attack), but I'd pay in convenience for the safety of knowing my camera isn't taking nose dive. For a pro SLR with a 180-200mm macro you'd be pushing the limits of even this arrangement though, so it depends on the setup you use.

More likely you want to find a tripod with a reversing center column, assuming your current one doesn't have one, which I'd want to be certain of before going shopping, and this arrangement would occupy the same space you're already using for your current tripod, not to mention looking crazy weird

http://www.manfrotto.com/Jahia/site/manfrotto/cache/off/pid/2718?livid=53&idx=54

Yes, this is the clamp I have seen, and I concur with your comments - my description might tend towards "clunky" though.:D

I have the Manfrotto 190 series tripod (with a reversible column). I can mount the camera with the column reversed and it's great if you don't mind having your camera upside down. I tried it once and darn near went crazy - the camera was nice and close to the ground, upside down, and I had to change some settings (ISO, f/stop and shutter speed).

Yesterday I took the centre column out, put the ballhead mount on top and screwed on the ballhead and mounted the camera and splayed the legs straight out so that the camera was about two inches off the ground (but at least is was right side up ). I was taking a picture of moss flowers (yes, they really do have flowers). Being on moss which is soft and springy, it was very unstable, and I was trying to do take multiple images for a focus stack - it didn't work too well.

A clamp is what I want - I'm hoping to find one - a small one - that I can get into my pack or my pocket. The Manfrotto that I looked won't fit in any of my pockets.

Robinivich

I'm not sure I could trust a smaller clamp with my camera, admittedly I doubt the mossy ground would hurt it much, you might try bypassing the clamp part entirely, and adapt one end of whatever arm setup you want to use directly to your current ballhead or the mounting threads on the tripod.

Here's a quick and dirty illustration of the (absolute limit) of my combo's strength:



: Disclaimer! :
This amount of weight not reccomended! Lose the tubes and the battery grip and it's reasonably within limits, you get the idea though, the magic arm that Pindy's indicated looks much better suited than the flexy bar, even though the thing weighs a pound and a half, rock solid it ain't. The clamp is awesome, I use it with the camera on tripod to hold odds and ends, usually the flash.

:edit: it occurs to me that something that does the same job as a tripod ring might be another solution, even an L bracket for the camera combined with a drop slot on the ballhead would let you orient things better