On 7/12/2011 11:47 AM, Larry Jaques wrote:

Jewelcome. BTW, what -are- you going to be doing? What's the package
weight on the head, ball'n'all?

I'm overbuilding with an eye toward some long lenses down the road.
Have read some real interesting articles on rigidity and vibration, it
really can be an issue. And, one day I just might go old school and try
a large format camera.

There is the chance things might sour here with the economy and I will
end up unable to afford to ship my shop down under. So trying to to
build a few really nice things now just in case.
I could just save up and buy, but I derive a lot of pleasure from making
something that I can use. The other even bigger project is a geared
cubic head along the lines of this:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/629979-REG/Arca_Swiss_8501000_1_C1_Cube_Geared_Head.html

These are the bomb for precision framing in macro photography, but WELL
out of my price range. But I can certainly design and make something
similar that should work nearly as well. When my brother was up, we
dabbled with some extreme close up macro work using a bellows. My camera
was mounted on his RRS ground tripod with RRS's large ball head. Even
with that primo setup, it was a bit of a pain trying to make fine
adjustments to the camera.

I'm on the slippery slope now, and gaining speed... G


Jon