I have been tempted to take my lens collars to a shop and have them milled for the clamps. Seems some version of not wise for the manf's to no mill it into the foot of larger tele'sOriginally Posted by jrw
I have been tempted to take my lens collars to a shop and have them milled for the clamps. Seems some version of not wise for the manf's to no mill it into the foot of larger tele's
If you see me with a wrench, call 911
The main issue is they are not long enough to balance the whole rig....but I have always thought the foot should be made so as not to need another $50 accessory. (ie lens plate)
There is also the matter of alloy and the hardening. I suspect the lens collars might be a little softer than desired for this. There are some differences between casting alloys and those intended for machining.
6061-T6, a common alloy and temper hardness (the T# designation) for bar stock, is a good choice.
Great consideration
If you see me with a wrench, call 911
I just wanted to post an update for anyone that may look at this thread in the future with the same dilemma as I was having. I just received the Wimberley Sidekick today and I think it is going to work out perfectly for me! I haven't tried it out in action yet but did mount my camera and lens to it to try maneuvering it and don't foresee any problems that I could encounter. It definitely will make it a lot easier tracking a BIF than just using a ballhead alone. I like not having to take the ballhead off and on as needed. Best part, I was able to snag a refurb of the sidekick from Wimberley saving more $ and it looks brand new!
Thanks again for everyone taking the time to help in my decision making process!!
I am having a Sidekick dilemma to a point of being highly frustrated with using it! When I use it (which only been a couple times so far), it loosens my Wimberley P30 plate so that the plate is just spinning around! Is it suppose to do this or am I doing something wrong? Is it going to make that plate come completely detached at some point? Then when I want to take my gear off of the tripod, I now have to carry my little toolkit to re-tighten the plate for hand-holding. Very annoying!
I am going to practice with it this weekend in the backyard so I can figure this out but feedback still greatly appreciated. To be honest, I've been frustrated with a few things as far as my photography skills go so much so that I've been considering hanging it up and this is just adding fuel to the fire.
The lens plate should have a small lip on it,,,,make sure this is snug against the rear edge of the lens foot. Get some Loctite liquid and put a small drop on each screw thread and tighten them as tight as you can. That should do it. It would be a horrible shame for you to quit, you have amazing talent
Anti-Twist Nubs
The P-10, P-20, and P-30 plates have anti-twist nubs at the back of the plate. These help to keep the plate from twisting if it is mounted with only one fastener. The unique dual-nub design (as opposed to a single continuous flange) provides better performance when butted against a curved surface. The P-40 and P-50 plates do not have anti-twist nubs because they should be attached with more than one screw.
One other thought....put the sidekick on the opposite side so any spin tendency would serve to tighten the screw rather than loosen it. Really though you should be able to balance it so it doesn't tilt much and really tighten that screw with Loctite.
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