Trying to take close-ups of chips, is there some kind of stand/tripod
to hold a camera pointing downward onto a desk surface?

What do you call it/where do you get it?

...Jim Thompson
--
| James E.Thompson, CTO | mens |
| Analog Innovations, Inc. | et |
| Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems | manus |
| Phoenix, Arizona 85048 Skype: Contacts Only | |
| Voice480)460-2350 Fax: Available upon request | Brass Rat |
| E-mail Icon at http://www.analog-innovations.com | 1962 |

I love to cook with wine. Sometimes I even put it in the food.

In article , To-Email-Use-
says...
Trying to take close-ups of chips, is there some kind of stand/tripod
to hold a camera pointing downward onto a desk surface?

What do you call it/where do you get it?

...Jim Thompson

You can get macro lenses with illumination rings just for such things,
and a mini tripod to hold the camera steady.

In article ,
Jim Thompson writes:
Trying to take close-ups of chips, is there some kind of stand/tripod
to hold a camera pointing downward onto a desk surface?

What do you call it/where do you get it?

If you want really good pictures...

Microscopes usually include good illumination setups.
They often have a 3rd port setup for a camera.
Some have no eye-ball ports, just USB to your computer.

For a chip, you don't need high magnification, at least
relative to what many other people need.

Try searching for inspection microscope or disecting microscope.
Most of what you find will probably be more expensive than you
will like but you might find something that catches your eye
or get some ideas.

--
These are my opinions, not necessarily my employer's. I hate spam.

On Wed, 24 Mar 2010 14:09:34 -0500,
(Hal Murray) wrote:

In article ,
Jim Thompson writes:
Trying to take close-ups of chips, is there some kind of stand/tripod
to hold a camera pointing downward onto a desk surface?

What do you call it/where do you get it?

If you want really good pictures...

Microscopes usually include good illumination setups.
They often have a 3rd port setup for a camera.
Some have no eye-ball ports, just USB to your computer.

For a chip, you don't need high magnification, at least
relative to what many other people need.

Try searching for inspection microscope or disecting microscope.
Most of what you find will probably be more expensive than you
will like but you might find something that catches your eye
or get some ideas.

I don't need that magnification... I'm just talking macro shots of I/C
packages on PCB's.

...Jim Thompson
--
| James E.Thompson, CTO | mens |
| Analog Innovations, Inc. | et |
| Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems | manus |
| Phoenix, Arizona 85048 Skype: Contacts Only | |
| Voice480)460-2350 Fax: Available upon request | Brass Rat |
| E-mail Icon at http://www.analog-innovations.com | 1962 |

The only thing bipartisan in this country is hypocrisy

On 3/24/2010 11:05 AM, Jim Thompson wrote:
Trying to take close-ups of chips, is there some kind of stand/tripod
to hold a camera pointing downward onto a desk surface?

What do you call it/where do you get it?

...Jim Thompson
Macro lens

Depends on the camera you have/want.

hamilton

On Wed, 24 Mar 2010 12:13:22 -0700, Jim Thompson
wrote:

On Wed, 24 Mar 2010 14:09:34 -0500,
(Hal Murray) wrote:

In article ,
Jim Thompson writes:
Trying to take close-ups of chips, is there some kind of stand/tripod
to hold a camera pointing downward onto a desk surface?

What do you call it/where do you get it?

If you want really good pictures...

Microscopes usually include good illumination setups.
They often have a 3rd port setup for a camera.
Some have no eye-ball ports, just USB to your computer.

For a chip, you don't need high magnification, at least
relative to what many other people need.

Try searching for inspection microscope or disecting microscope.
Most of what you find will probably be more expensive than you
will like but you might find something that catches your eye
or get some ideas.

I don't need that magnification... I'm just talking macro shots of I/C
packages on PCB's.

...Jim Thompson

I have a giant copy board with lights around the outside, and the
DSLR mounted above, and controlled from my computer's USB port. I have
a macro lens and ring flash for very close work. Also a couple
portable diffuser boxes for product shots (one home-made from
instructions on the net using plastic tubing from Home Despot, and one
smaller portable commercial one).

Or, for occasional use and no cost, take a white pizza box, add
background if you want, haul it outside on a cloudy day, and point the
camera on a tripod down at the ground. Use a remote release dongle or
just use the internal timer set to a second or two to avoid shake.
You could probably simulate the cloudy day on a sunny day by draping a
K-mart bed sheet over some kind of supports.

Once you get a good high-res photo using diffuse light, you can fix
anything else (like the PCB not being 100% straight or minor
keystoning, color balance, contrast and brightness) in Photoshop or
your favorite image editing program. Photoshop makes it particularly
easy to do rectangular PCBs with the perspective crop feature.

"Jim Thompson" wrote in
message ...
Trying to take close-ups of chips, is there some kind of stand/tripod
to hold a camera pointing downward onto a desk surface?

What do you call it/where do you get it?

I have a "copy stand" which is for taking photos of photos; but I use it for
photos of PCBs. It has a camera mount which slides up and down. I bought a
camera with macro mode; but I think you get better depth of focus with the
camera further away on high zoom. If you have any perfectionist tendencies,
you can spend ages with lighting / shadows and squaring the camera up
perfectly to the object.

Jim Thompson wrote:
Trying to take close-ups of chips, is there some kind of
stand/tripod
to hold a camera pointing downward onto a desk surface?

What do you call it/where do you get it?

...Jim Thompson


All the tripods I've used (which is not many and are not
expensive ones) can tilt the head so that the camera points
downward, including a $40 Vivicam. I use floor tripods (not table
top types). I just place the tripod on the floor close to the
table. Here's a picture I took with that method of a LAN chip
that was literally blown up by lightning:
http://s48.photobucket.com/albums/f2...Blown_chip.jpg

Please note that -
1. This was not in macro
2. It was a casual snap: no great care was taken to get a pro
grade image
3. It was taken on my porch under natural lighting
4. This picture was heavily downsized and compressed to reduce
the file size (I was still on dial-up when I uploaded it)

I have other pictures, but this is the only one on my on-line
album at the moment.

On 3/24/2010 3:13 PM, Jim Thompson wrote:
On Wed, 24 Mar 2010 14:09:34 -0500,
(Hal Murray) wrote:

In ,
Jim writes:
Trying to take close-ups of chips, is there some kind of stand/tripod
to hold a camera pointing downward onto a desk surface?

What do you call it/where do you get it?

If you want really good pictures...

Microscopes usually include good illumination setups.
They often have a 3rd port setup for a camera.
Some have no eye-ball ports, just USB to your computer.

For a chip, you don't need high magnification, at least
relative to what many other people need.

Try searching for inspection microscope or disecting microscope.
Most of what you find will probably be more expensive than you
will like but you might find something that catches your eye
or get some ideas.

I don't need that magnification... I'm just talking macro shots of I/C
packages on PCB's.

...Jim Thompson

A copy stand.

Cheers

Phil Hobbs

--
Dr Philip C D Hobbs
Principal
ElectroOptical Innovations
55 Orchard Rd
Briarcliff Manor NY 10510
845-480-2058
hobbs at electrooptical dot net
http://electrooptical.net

Jim Thompson wrote:
On Wed, 24 Mar 2010 14:09:34 -0500,
(Hal Murray) wrote:

In article ,
Jim Thompson writes:
Trying to take close-ups of chips, is there some kind of stand/tripod
to hold a camera pointing downward onto a desk surface?
What do you call it/where do you get it?

If you want really good pictures...

Microscopes usually include good illumination setups.
They often have a 3rd port setup for a camera.
Some have no eye-ball ports, just USB to your computer.

For a chip, you don't need high magnification, at least
relative to what many other people need.

Try searching for inspection microscope or disecting microscope.
Most of what you find will probably be more expensive than you
will like but you might find something that catches your eye
or get some ideas.

I don't need that magnification... I'm just talking macro shots of I/C
packages on PCB's.

...Jim Thompson

A decent basic tripod that allows the pan tilt head to be attached to
the top or bottom of the rising centre stem would probably do what you
want and be flexible enough to cope with most things.

You might also want to get a set of extension rings so you can push the
macro scale a bit further for higher magnification close ups.

A ringflash is an optional extra but they are expensive. Handy if you
need to do a lot of close up macro work without worrying about lighting.
Otherwise a north facing window and a steady hand will do it.

Regards,
Martin Brown

On Wed, 24 Mar 2010 17:33:14 -0400, Phil Hobbs
wrote:

On 3/24/2010 3:13 PM, Jim Thompson wrote:
On Wed, 24 Mar 2010 14:09:34 -0500,
(Hal Murray) wrote:

In ,
Jim writes:
Trying to take close-ups of chips, is there some kind of stand/tripod
to hold a camera pointing downward onto a desk surface?

What do you call it/where do you get it?

If you want really good pictures...

Microscopes usually include good illumination setups.
They often have a 3rd port setup for a camera.
Some have no eye-ball ports, just USB to your computer.

For a chip, you don't need high magnification, at least
relative to what many other people need.

Try searching for inspection microscope or disecting microscope.
Most of what you find will probably be more expensive than you
will like but you might find something that catches your eye
or get some ideas.

I don't need that magnification... I'm just talking macro shots of I/C
packages on PCB's.

...Jim Thompson

A copy stand.

Cheers

Phil Hobbs


Fry Electronics or toys-r-us

Digital imaging microscope from the telescope boy at Celestica.

On 25/03/2010 4:05 AM, Jim Thompson wrote:
Trying to take close-ups of chips, is there some kind of stand/tripod
to hold a camera pointing downward onto a desk surface?

What do you call it/where do you get it?

...Jim Thompson


I had good results with a mini tripod ($10), daylight and some extra
room lighting. The most important thing was to manually white balance
the camera. Of low cost cameras CANON have by far the best optics and a
"super" macro mode that focuses down to 1 cm (0.4 inch). A remote
shutter release is a good idea but you can work without it.

Jim Thompson
wrote in
:

Trying to take close-ups of chips, is there some kind of
stand/tripod to hold a camera pointing downward onto a desk
surface?

What do you call it/where do you get it?

...Jim Thompson

Many of the tripods I've used allow you to move the tilt/pan
head from the top of the elevation post to the bottom. This
places the camera in a position that works great for shooting
straight down at an object, like a copy stand, I've also found
that, when shooting at extreme close-ups, pushing the trigger
can vibrate the camera and blur the image. I use the timed
trigger to eliminate that.

Ken

On 25/03/2010 4:05 AM, Jim Thompson wrote:
Trying to take close-ups of chips, is there some kind of stand/tripod
to hold a camera pointing downward onto a desk surface?

What do you call it/where do you get it?

...Jim Thompson

Mini tripod $2.30 delivered (taller "mini tripods" available too, no
minimum order)

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.11187

Photo of 44 QFP using tripod cannon powershot A470 (bottom of the range
digital) super macro, timer, color balanced and *indoor ambient light*
(outdoor light or bigger sensor would have removed the digital noise).
Total cost of gear was under $80.

http://www.filedropper.com/insidelighting

On 25/03/2010 4:05 AM, Jim Thompson wrote:
Trying to take close-ups of chips, is there some kind of stand/tripod
to hold a camera pointing downward onto a desk surface?

What do you call it/where do you get it?

...Jim Thompson

Mini tripod $2.30 delivered (taller "mini tripods" available too, no
minimum order)

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.11187

Photo of 44 QFP using tripod cannon powershot A470 (bottom of the range
digital) super macro, timer, color balanced and *indoor ambient light*
(outdoor light or bigger sensor would have removed the digital noise).
Total cost of gear was under $80.

http://www.filedropper.com/insidelighting

In article , To-Email-Use-
says...

Trying to take close-ups of chips, is there some kind of stand/tripod
to hold a camera pointing downward onto a desk surface?

What do you call it/where do you get it?

...Jim Thompson

I just had a gooseneck from a UPC scanner with a 1/4" screw on one end,
and a 1/4" socket on the other that accepted a 1/4" screw. Took a peanut
tin and a couple of washers (One on either side of the hole you punch on
the bottom).

Fill with rice for ballast, or lead if you want really heavy ballast.

In message , Jim Thompson
writes
Trying to take close-ups of chips, is there some kind of stand/tripod
to hold a camera pointing downward onto a desk surface?
Would it not be easier to move the chip so you can sit the camera in
front of it?

What do you call it/where do you get it?

...Jim Thompson

--
Clint Sharp

On Wed, 24 Mar 2010 11:05:48 -0700, Jim Thompson
wrote:

Trying to take close-ups of chips, is there some kind of stand/tripod
to hold a camera pointing downward onto a desk surface?

What do you call it/where do you get it?

...Jim Thompson

Duh! I should get out what I have...

http://analog-innovations.com/SED/Co..._UseTriPod.jpg

before I worry :-)

Looks like all I need to do is make some kind of stand-off so I can
get the camera vertical and the field of view free of the tripod legs.

...Jim Thompson
--
| James E.Thompson, CTO | mens |
| Analog Innovations, Inc. | et |
| Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems | manus |
| Phoenix, Arizona 85048 Skype: Contacts Only | |
| Voice480)460-2350 Fax: Available upon request | Brass Rat |
| E-mail Icon at http://www.analog-innovations.com | 1962 |

The only thing bipartisan in this country is hypocrisy

Jim Thompson wrote:

On Wed, 24 Mar 2010 11:05:48 -0700, Jim Thompson
wrote:

Trying to take close-ups of chips, is there some kind of stand/tripod
to hold a camera pointing downward onto a desk surface?

What do you call it/where do you get it?

...Jim Thompson

Duh! I should get out what I have...

http://analog-innovations.com/SED/Co..._UseTriPod.jpg

before I worry :-)

Looks like all I need to do is make some kind of stand-off so I can
get the camera vertical and the field of view free of the tripod legs.


http://www.mountsandmore.com/Peerles...10-PE0164.html is a smaller
version of the wall mount I was thinking of.

http://www.harborfreight.com/manuals...4999/94030.pdf is $9 and
would be very easy to convert, plus there are several stores close to
you.


--
Service to my country? Been there, Done that, and I've got my DD214 to
prove it.
Member of DAV #85.

Michael A. Terrell
North Central Florida

http://www.flickr.com/photos/materrell/

On Fri, 26 Mar 2010 14:26:19 -0700, Jim Thompson
wrote:


Looks like all I need to do is make some kind of stand-off so I can
get the camera vertical and the field of view free of the tripod legs.

...Jim Thompson

---
a standoff doesn't buy you much.

How about a bracket to offset the camera by 90 degrees?


+---------------+
CAM | +-------------+ TRIPOD
\ | | | | /
+--| | +-+-+
| | | |
+--| | |
| +-+ |
| |
/ \ /|\
COPY

JF

On Fri, 26 Mar 2010 18:44:36 -0500, John Fields
wrote:

On Fri, 26 Mar 2010 14:26:19 -0700, Jim Thompson
wrote:


Looks like all I need to do is make some kind of stand-off so I can
get the camera vertical and the field of view free of the tripod legs.

...Jim Thompson

---
a standoff doesn't buy you much.

How about a bracket to offset the camera by 90 degrees?


+---------------+
CAM | +-------------+ TRIPOD
\ | | | | /
+--| | +-+-+
| | | |
+--| | |
| +-+ |
| |
/ \ /|\
COPY

JF

The "head" _will_ rotate a full 90°, but the tripod legs are in the
view. But perhaps your approach would be better. I suspect a counter
weight will be needed as well.

Or maybe make a stand...

______CAMERA_____
/\ [_______} /\
/ \ O / \
/ \ / \

;-)

...Jim Thompson
--
| James E.Thompson, CTO | mens |
| Analog Innovations, Inc. | et |
| Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems | manus |
| Phoenix, Arizona 85048 Skype: Contacts Only | |
| Voice480)460-2350 Fax: Available upon request | Brass Rat |
| E-mail Icon at http://www.analog-innovations.com | 1962 |

The only thing bipartisan in this country is hypocrisy

On Fri, 26 Mar 2010 16:59:52 -0700, Jim Thompson
wrote:

On Fri, 26 Mar 2010 18:44:36 -0500, John Fields
wrote:

On Fri, 26 Mar 2010 14:26:19 -0700, Jim Thompson
wrote:


Looks like all I need to do is make some kind of stand-off so I can
get the camera vertical and the field of view free of the tripod legs.

...Jim Thompson

---
a standoff doesn't buy you much.

How about a bracket to offset the camera by 90 degrees?


+---------------+
CAM | +-------------+ TRIPOD
\ | | | | /
+--| | +-+-+
| | | |
+--| | |
| +-+ |
| |
/ \ /|\
COPY

JF

The "head" _will_ rotate a full 90°, but the tripod legs are in the
view. But perhaps your approach would be better. I suspect a counter
weight will be needed as well.

Or maybe make a stand...

______CAMERA_____
/\ [_______} /\
/ \ O / \
/ \ / \

;-)

---
Ugh!

JF

On Fri, 26 Mar 2010 19:22:14 -0500, John Fields
wrote:

On Fri, 26 Mar 2010 16:59:52 -0700, Jim Thompson
wrote:

On Fri, 26 Mar 2010 18:44:36 -0500, John Fields
wrote:

On Fri, 26 Mar 2010 14:26:19 -0700, Jim Thompson
wrote:


Looks like all I need to do is make some kind of stand-off so I can
get the camera vertical and the field of view free of the tripod legs.

...Jim Thompson

---
a standoff doesn't buy you much.

How about a bracket to offset the camera by 90 degrees?


+---------------+
CAM | +-------------+ TRIPOD
\ | | | | /
+--| | +-+-+
| | | |
+--| | |
| +-+ |
| |
/ \ /|\
COPY

JF

The "head" _will_ rotate a full 90°, but the tripod legs are in the
view. But perhaps your approach would be better. I suspect a counter
weight will be needed as well.

Or maybe make a stand...

______CAMERA_____
/\ [_______} /\
/ \ O / \
/ \ / \

;-)

---
Ugh!

JF

What? You don't like my ASCII "art" ?:-)

...Jim Thompson
--
| James E.Thompson, CTO | mens |
| Analog Innovations, Inc. | et |
| Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems | manus |
| Phoenix, Arizona 85048 Skype: Contacts Only | |
| Voice480)460-2350 Fax: Available upon request | Brass Rat |
| E-mail Icon at http://www.analog-innovations.com | 1962 |

The only thing bipartisan in this country is hypocrisy

On Sat, 27 Mar 2010 02:18:53 -0500,
(Hal Murray) wrote:


Looks like all I need to do is make some kind of stand-off so I can
get the camera vertical and the field of view free of the tripod legs.

Mine doesn't have that lower leg support like yours, though, it's just
three legs with a pole down the middle and leg flair is 'stopped' by
the central hinge.

Some tripots let you take the central pole out and stick it
back in upside down. Then you place the legs straddling the
target and ...

If you can't do that, it might work to make one leg (much)
longer so the tripod is tipped on its side holding the camera
out away from the two close in legs. You would probably
have to place a weight on the long leg to keep it from tipping
over.

Good advice on using a std tripod for this type of shot.

Looks like all I need to do is make some kind of stand-off so I can
get the camera vertical and the field of view free of the tripod legs.

Mine doesn't have that lower leg support like yours, though, it's just
three legs with a pole down the middle and leg flair is 'stopped' by
the central hinge.

Some tripots let you take the central pole out and stick it
back in upside down. Then you place the legs straddling the
target and ...

If you can't do that, it might work to make one leg (much)
longer so the tripod is tipped on its side holding the camera
out away from the two close in legs. You would probably
have to place a weight on the long leg to keep it from tipping
over.


--
These are my opinions, not necessarily my employer's. I hate spam.

"pimpom" wrote in message
...
Jim Thompson wrote:
Trying to take close-ups of chips, is there some kind of stand/tripod
to hold a camera pointing downward onto a desk surface?

What do you call it/where do you get it?

...Jim Thompson


All the tripods I've used (which is not many and are not expensive ones)
can tilt the head so that the camera points downward, including a $40
Vivicam. I use floor tripods (not table top types). I just place the
tripod on the floor close to the table. Here's a picture I took with that
method of a LAN chip that was literally blown up by lightning:
http://s48.photobucket.com/albums/f2...Blown_chip.jpg

Please note that -
1. This was not in macro
2. It was a casual snap: no great care was taken to get a pro grade image
3. It was taken on my porch under natural lighting
4. This picture was heavily downsized and compressed to reduce the file
size (I was still on dial-up when I uploaded it)

I have other pictures, but this is the only one on my on-line album at the
moment.

For just a tripod with a good swivel/tilt head, I bought a cheap spirit
level with laser line projector for £5 in a dicount store, its no more than
DIY stores charge for just a spirit level and the screw fitting fits my
camera (and webcam). So far I've used the spirit level a few times but the
tripod now lives with my camera and I've yet to use the laser projector.

On Sat, 27 Mar 2010 02:18:53 -0500,
(Hal Murray) wrote:


Looks like all I need to do is make some kind of stand-off so I can
get the camera vertical and the field of view free of the tripod legs.

Mine doesn't have that lower leg support like yours, though, it's just
three legs with a pole down the middle and leg flair is 'stopped' by
the central hinge.

Some tripots let you take the central pole out and stick it
back in upside down. Then you place the legs straddling the
target and ...

Good suggestion. But the central pole won't come out :-(

But it might work to get another tripod head and figure out how to
mount it to the pole slide.


If you can't do that, it might work to make one leg (much)
longer so the tripod is tipped on its side holding the camera
out away from the two close in legs. You would probably
have to place a weight on the long leg to keep it from tipping
over.

That's a good possibility.

...Jim Thompson
--
| James E.Thompson, CTO | mens |
| Analog Innovations, Inc. | et |
| Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems | manus |
| Phoenix, Arizona 85048 Skype: Contacts Only | |
| Voice480)460-2350 Fax: Available upon request | Brass Rat |
| E-mail Icon at http://www.analog-innovations.com | 1962 |

The only thing bipartisan in this country is hypocrisy

On Fri, 26 Mar 2010 14:26:19 -0700, Jim Thompson
wrote:

On Wed, 24 Mar 2010 11:05:48 -0700, Jim Thompson
wrote:

Trying to take close-ups of chips, is there some kind of stand/tripod
to hold a camera pointing downward onto a desk surface?

What do you call it/where do you get it?

...Jim Thompson

Duh! I should get out what I have...

http://analog-innovations.com/SED/Co..._UseTriPod.jpg

before I worry :-)

Looks like all I need to do is make some kind of stand-off so I can
get the camera vertical and the field of view free of the tripod legs.

...Jim Thompson

Could you put the object-to-be photographed on a board supported at an
angle - then you wouldn't have to point the camera straight down - and
you could select the angle to keep the tripod legs out of the picture.



--
Peter Bennett, VE7CEI
peterbb4 (at) interchange.ubc.ca
GPS and NMEA info: http://vancouver-webpages.com/peter
Vancouver Power Squadron: http://vancouver.powersquadron.ca

On Sat, 27 Mar 2010 09:03:50 -0700, Peter Bennett
wrote:

On Fri, 26 Mar 2010 14:26:19 -0700, Jim Thompson
wrote:

On Wed, 24 Mar 2010 11:05:48 -0700, Jim Thompson
wrote:

Trying to take close-ups of chips, is there some kind of stand/tripod
to hold a camera pointing downward onto a desk surface?

What do you call it/where do you get it?

...Jim Thompson

Duh! I should get out what I have...

http://analog-innovations.com/SED/Co..._UseTriPod.jpg

before I worry :-)

Looks like all I need to do is make some kind of stand-off so I can
get the camera vertical and the field of view free of the tripod legs.

...Jim Thompson

Could you put the object-to-be photographed on a board supported at an
angle - then you wouldn't have to point the camera straight down - and
you could select the angle to keep the tripod legs out of the picture.

That would work for those pieces that didn't want to slide.

What I'm looking into is a cheap head that will attach to the bottom
of the pole slide.

...Jim Thompson
--
| James E.Thompson, CTO | mens |
| Analog Innovations, Inc. | et |
| Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems | manus |
| Phoenix, Arizona 85048 Skype: Contacts Only | |
| Voice480)460-2350 Fax: Available upon request | Brass Rat |
| E-mail Icon at http://www.analog-innovations.com | 1962 |

The only thing bipartisan in this country is hypocrisy

"Hal Murray" wrote in message
...

Looks like all I need to do is make some kind of stand-off so I can
get the camera vertical and the field of view free of the tripod legs.

Mine doesn't have that lower leg support like yours, though, it's just
three legs with a pole down the middle and leg flair is 'stopped' by
the central hinge.

Some tripots let you take the central pole out and stick it
back in upside down. Then you place the legs straddling the
target and ...

If you can't do that, it might work to make one leg (much)
longer so the tripod is tipped on its side holding the camera
out away from the two close in legs. You would probably
have to place a weight on the long leg to keep it from tipping
over.

A strip cut from a sheet of roofing lead could be wrapped around one of the
legs as a weight, or better still lead flashing for roofing can be bought
with self adhesive coating on the back and should be available in smaller
quantities.

On 3/27/2010 10:46 AM, Jim Thompson wrote:
On Sat, 27 Mar 2010 02:18:53 -0500,
(Hal Murray) wrote:


Looks like all I need to do is make some kind of stand-off so I can
get the camera vertical and the field of view free of the tripod legs.

Mine doesn't have that lower leg support like yours, though, it's just
three legs with a pole down the middle and leg flair is 'stopped' by
the central hinge.

Some tripots let you take the central pole out and stick it
back in upside down. Then you place the legs straddling the
target and ...

Good suggestion. But the central pole won't come out :-(

But it might work to get another tripod head and figure out how to
mount it to the pole slide.


If you can't do that, it might work to make one leg (much)
longer so the tripod is tipped on its side holding the camera
out away from the two close in legs. You would probably
have to place a weight on the long leg to keep it from tipping
over.

That's a good possibility.

...Jim Thompson

I haven't looked at tripods for a few years, but the heads of the ones I
used in the past would unscrew from the top of the mast and reattach at
the bottom. See if yours is threaded -- mine has a 1/4-20x3/8 stud.
Lock the mast and give the pan/tilt handle a good counter-clockwise
whack. I suppose newer stuff might omit this feature to save a few
pennies, but you might get lucky.

Ken

On Sat, 27 Mar 2010 09:18:56 -0700, Jim Thompson
wrote:

On Sat, 27 Mar 2010 09:03:50 -0700, Peter Bennett
wrote:


Could you put the object-to-be photographed on a board supported at an
angle - then you wouldn't have to point the camera straight down - and
you could select the angle to keep the tripod legs out of the picture.

That would work for those pieces that didn't want to slide.

Use poster putty or somesuch to hold the thing in place.

What I'm looking into is a cheap head that will attach to the bottom
of the pole slide.

Tripod threads are 1/4-20 - get a piece of 3/4 x 3/4 thin angle from
Home Depot, and a short 1/4-20 bolt and a couple of nuts. Drill a
1/4" hole in one face of the angle, near the end, for the camera
mount, and one in the other face, a suitable distance from the end,
for the tripod.

...Jim Thompson

--
Peter Bennett, VE7CEI
peterbb4 (at) interchange.ubc.ca
GPS and NMEA info: http://vancouver-webpages.com/peter
Vancouver Power Squadron: http://vancouver.powersquadron.ca