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I made tripod head ;)

Grzegorz Pedzich

New member
Lorenz(X),
top plate (between goniometer and pano), I think, must be about 8-10 mm
bottom goniometer You can instal directly on bottom pano, but you must make threads into pano (if pano diameter is greater than the diagonal of the goniometer)
I recommend use bottom plate, may by 5 mm
 

Lorenz(X)

New member
Thank you VERY much Grzegorz!!! :)
Since I am already waiting for for more than an month to get my goniometers I just ordered another one,made of aluminium,and much much lighter.And with a length of each side of 70mm.But also with less travel.It can rotate 12 degrees in every direction.I think I will build that one first,and when the 60mm ones arrive finally (I hope they will!) I will just finish that one as well.And maybe,if I come to the conclusion that I need 20 degrees of travel,I will keep it.Otherwise I think I will sell it as a cheap alternative for the cube and the multiflex.I guess that I will not need the 20 degrees of travel,ususally its no problem to level with a maximum offset of 12 degrees fairly quick,and saving about 700g means that it can be my standard tripod head except for when I want to go really really lightweight!Again,this thread is amazing!Thank you very much for sharing all that and for your help with the details!
 

jlm

Workshop Member
here's a little something i don't think has been noticed. the Cube uses a curved rack and pinion drive with the knob and driveshaft perpendicular to the plane of rotation. one turn of the knob moves the rack one pinion gear circumference, about 1/2" for the Cube

the gonios show above use a worm drive, with the driveshaft and knob in the plane of rotation. worms have an inherent greater gear ratio, meaning the action requires less knob torque and conversely takes more turns per degree and has a finer resolution. one turn of the knob moves the rack one "pitch" of the worm gear, which i am guessing is about .060 to .090" of rack travel per turn, so maybe five more turns for the same amount of rotation as the cube does in one turn

another advantage of the worm is that the knobs are out of the way more (at least in one side of the movement per knob), so they can be longer and easier to grip
 

jotloob

Subscriber Member
. . . . . . .
the gonios show above use a worm drive, with the driveshaft and knob in the plane of rotation. worms have an inherent greater gear ratio, meaning the action requires less knob torque and conversely takes more turns per degree and has a finer resolution. one turn of the knob moves the rack one "pitch" of the worm gear, which i am guessing is about .060 to .090" of rack travel per turn, so maybe five more turns for the same amount of rotation as the cube does in one turn

another advantage of the worm is that the knobs are out of the way more (at least in one side of the movement per knob), so they can be longer and easier to grip
The LINHOF 3D MICRO has a worm gear as well , but the pitch is much higher than with the shown gonios .

What I like with the gonios 's worm gear is the very smooth and precise movement . If a lot of movement is required , you have of course to do more turns . I already got used to that . I usually don't do much movements anyway .

Regarding the topic of this thread , my intention is the build a "cube" smaller than the ARCA or LINHOF but also lighter .
Part one of the goal is achieved . Smaller .
I am checking for lighter gonios of the same size (60x60 stage) made of aluminium .
I have found that product now , but currently can't establish a contact to the seller .
 

Lorenz(X)

New member
Hi jotloob,
exactly my intention as well!And since the 6x6cm (or 7x7 in my case) are already smaller than the existing cubes and I think they are the perfect size for any gear I will use them with I am trying to one of these as light as possible without compromising strength.I think I can build one of these with a weight of about 880g wich is quite nice I guess.For really lightweight stuff I will use a ballhead (Arca P0,nice little head and really good at what it does.Can hold a lot of weight as well,but of course not as easily set up really perfectly as one of the gonio heads.)
Wich brings me to another point.I will use a sunwayfoto pano clamp as the lower rotating base and one as the upper one.I also ordered both with the dovetail adapter that screws to the clamp for using it with a non rotating clamp,one of these adapters will go to the base of the gonio,so I will not need a plate in between,and the total height of the hole thing will be pretty low.(As well as the total weight!The DDH-03 is still 80g lighter then the lightes pano base in that size)
With the other dovetail adapter I will make a leveling device.I ordered a very big circular spirit level with a crosshair.This way I got the leveling device exactly where the camera will go and hope to achieve the highest accuracy.I found one with 65mm diameter and a very good resolution.I don´t trust those levels that you put into the flash syncs of the camera.
How do you do that?
 

Lorenz(X)

New member
hi there,
so now my mini-cube or better the budget version of the linhof micro 3d is finished and i am absolutely in love with this thing.i just wanted to give a little summary of what i did,for those who want to build one for themselves :)
there have been some further changes since i wrote something about my plan the last time and now i am perfectly satisfied with the result.in the first picture you get an overview of all the stuff that is going to be built into this head. it´s 2 pano-clamps from sunwayfoto,i used the smaller ddh-02i. since the lever for locking the rotation was not long enough to be operated comfortably i asked the workshop to make a longer version for the lower rotating base (picture 1,2,3).the silver disc is exactly as thick as it has to be to get the upper pano-clamp high enough not to interfere with the goniometer while rotating (picture 6).the two very big knobs were coming with the gonios originally,but are too long and to big to be used,so i had two smaller knobs being machined.then there is the pretty big spirit level wich is glued to a dovetail adapter so i can use it either in the pano-clamp or in the nodal rail,exactly where the camera is going to be.the other dovetail adapter is going to the lower gonio so the lower pano-clamp can be clamp to that. (pictures 2,3) the workshop cut two m6 threads into the base of the lower gonio (picture 2) and one m6 thread into the upper part of the upper gonio for the pano-clamp (picture 5) finally (on picture 7) the whole thing is assembled. the knobs are really perfectly sized for smooth operating,and not too big,so accidental operating is not a problem.the lower pano base with the custom made panning lock lever works very nice this way.the lever comes nicely into reach,if i was using the original one (as you can see on the upper pano-clam on picture 7) it would be much harder.everything of importance falls well into reach of the right hand.so firstly you can use the lower pano to get the whole head into the right position,with the knob of the lower gonio facing oneself and the other knob to the right.both panning levers to the right as well,and both clamping knobs to the left,those are not really of importance once they are locked.on picture 8 you can see that the legs can stand in a very steep angle (actually one i would never leave the legs in,i would always level the whole thing a bit more) and the head is still able to be leveled.finally,on picture 9,you can see that the spirit level has a crosshair that is being used in conjunction with the x and y axis of the gonios,so leveling is a breeze.
the head without the spirit level or the nodal rail weighs exactly 1167g,so sadly it´s not lighter than the cube or the linhof,but much less expensive.in total it has cost me 420 euros,the labor at the workshop and toll fees included.
one thing that i noticed is related to the leveling.i got a bubble level on the upper pano,one on the nodal rail (those two show pretty much exactly the same thing wich seems to be off a little..) the big spirit level seems to be perfect,but when i rotate the upper pano about 90 degrees it´s not completely perfect any more.it´s not much,but of course it would feel better if it was otherwise... so i don´t know what to do about that,i think i will have to let this problem go! i read in another thread that it´s not uncommon that every single spirit or bubble level is showing something different.i think i will just use the big one i made and be okay with that.i stitched a pano containing 9 pictures and between the first and the last picture the offset was 12 pixels (negligable)
 

Audii-Dudii

Active member
While I have an Arca Cube for my "big rig" tripod and am quite happy with it, I also wanted a geared head for my ultra-lightweight travel tripod. But of course no such thing exists, so taking my lead from others who contributed to this thread, I assembled one myself and here is the result:



As shown above, the head weighs 5.8 ounces / 165 grams, which is a savings of 2.2 ounces over the ballhead I was using (Benro B00, which is the lightest, decent-performing ballhead I could find) and literally a fraction of the weight of my Cube. It was built using 25mm x 25mm Melles Griot goniometers and a Melles Griot rotational stage (I skipped adding a second rotational stage at the bottom of the stack because my tripod's center column rotates freely, making it unnecessary and saving a bit more weight and cash.) The clamp is a no-name one from China (but after I finished assembling this version last week, I found an even smaller and lighter one on eBay, so will try that once it arrives.)

Unlike most goniometers, the bodies of these are made of aluminum, not brass, hence their light weight. Unfortunately, this also means their load capacity is fairly low, but I'm using them with a Sony RX1 that weighs just over 1 lb. and so far, I've had absolutely zero issues with it. The control knobs would benefit from being a tiny bit larger (and I will investigate my options for replacing them down the road), but even with my large hands, I've had no problem using any of them.

Of course, the other downside is cost: All-in, I spent just under $400 on parts (including some other pieces acquired as part of a package deal -- a single-axis translation stage, a second rotational stage, and an XYZ (three-axis) translation stage -- which I didn't use and are not shown here) and I spent nearly a year acquiring them on eBay and from other internet sources for prices I was willing to pay, so if you're in a hurry, expect to pay more -- and potentially a lot more, as some sellers are mighty proud of them! -- for the necessary bits and pieces. (Note: There are also 25mm x 25mm goniometers and positioning stages made by other manufacturers and available both new and used, but for various reasons -- typically, they were too heavy or had too low a load limit -- I decided against using them.)

I initially attached the head to the tripod via an adapter plate, but now that I've proved the concept and am happy with how it works, I'm in the process of modifying the tripod's center column so I can mount it directly without using an adapter. Not only will this save an additional .8 ounces, it'll also make for a more rigid, direct connection to the column and provide a little bit more stability to boot. Unfortunately, the required modifications will be permanent -- there'll be no going back later! -- but I've just acquired a second, used tripod as a backup, so I'm okay with this.

Once completed, the final tripod / geared head combo should weigh right around 2 lbs., 2 ounces, which isn't too awfully bad. In fact, my complete travel outfit -- Sony RX1, modified Sony wide-angle converter for the 28mm/f2.8 lens, EVF, four spare batteries, four 32GB SD cards, 3" cable release, 49mm IR filter, microfiber lens cleaning cloth, and a Manfrotto Nano VI belt pouch to carry everything -- presently weighs a whopping 4 lbs., 6 ounces. Ultimately, with some other modifications I have in mind for it, I expect to get the weight of the tripod / head combo to just under 2 lbs. and the total weight of the outfit to 4 lbs., 2 ounces, but we'll see. (Yes, I know saving a few more ounces at this point is silly, but this project has become an intellectual curiosity -- how low can I go without sacrificing performance or ease of use? -- plus I'm presently unemployed, so have time on my hands hence why not?)

So thanks to all for the inspiration! (And if anybody wishes to follow in my footsteps, I'll be happy to answer any questions I can, although I believe this is a fairly simple and straightforward project. Honestly, the only difficult part of it was finding the necessary parts at reasonable prices.)
 

jotloob

Subscriber Member
Found it . It is the SUNWAY FOTO GH-PRO , is available in Europe and costs 474 € .
Seems to be a clone of the ARCA D4 HEAD .
 

tjv

Active member
A clone would indicate that someone actually managed to find an example of the original head to copy... I waited and waited and waited and... gave up waiting for stock and bought an alternative option instead. This one looks good though, although expensive for a rip-off product.

Found it . It is the SUNWAY FOTO GH-PRO , is available in Europe and costs 474 € .
Seems to be a clone of the ARCA D4 HEAD .
 

kdphotography

Well-known member
The Sunway Foto GH-Pro is actually slightly smaller then the Arca D4, and other than coloring, plays twinsies with the D4. The GH-Pro is fine for smaller mirrorless cameras such as a Sony A7r, but imho, the stated capacity of the GH-Pro is overstated. I never felt comfortable using a camera heavier than my Sony on the GH-Pro, hence I sold it. It also displays very slight lift under load, also mimicking complaints on the D4. And so my hunt for a smaller lighter geared head similar to the capabilities of the Cube continued....until I found the KPS T5 geared ball head. 88lb capacity and at a svelte 1.75 pounds. Huge step in quality well worth the added investment. http://www.getdpi.com/wp/2015/04/kps-t5-geared-ballhead/

ken

https://kendoophotography.wordpress...lhead-in-search-of-the-elusive-white-unicorn/
 

Audii-Dudii

Active member
As I previously mentioned, I found a smaller, lighter clamp than the one shown in the first photo I posted. It arrived in the mail this morning and I've now installed it on the head, as seen in the photo below with my RX1 mounted:



This new clamp has turned out to be substantially lighter -- one full ounce! -- so the finished head now weighs a mere 4.8 ounces. However, it may also be just a bit too small (narrow), as the camera now seems to have a few thou of movement side-to-side that I don't recall it had before ... we'll see.
 

Audii-Dudii

Active member
Alas, it's back to the drawing board, as my tripod head shown above has a serious problem that I must resolve. Specifically, the four M2 screws that hold the goniometer stack to the mounting plate that is attached to the tripod's center column are not strong enough for field work, where I like to carry the camera around between photos still mounted on the tripod. The goniometers have no problem with the load, but the mounting screws stripped, allowing the goniometer stack and attached camera to fall off the tripod's center column ... yikes! Fortunately, I had secured it with a piece of fishing line, just in case, so it fell only a few inches and not all the way to ground, and no other damage occurred. <phew!>

The solution, I think, is to enlarge the four mounting holes in the goniometers and rotational stage, then tap them for M3 screws (I can't go any larger without offsetting the mounting holes, which is beyond my capabilities, and even then, I am not sure there will be enough metal left afterward.) Another possibility is to drill and tap a fifth hole in the center of the bottom goniometer's base to accommodate the 3/8-16 screw already being used to secure the mounting plate (to which the goniometer stack is screwed) to the tripod's center column. But this will mean disassembling it, which I'd rather not do if I can avoid it.

This is not an insurmountable problem, thankfully, merely an inconvenient one, and one that should be fairly easy to address ... I hope! Otherwise, it has worked every bit as well as I hoped it would. :)
 
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