Size of Standard Tripod Screw

I want to buy a screw to mount my camera onto a wood board in an

ordinary hardware store. What's the size of it? What drill bit should

I use to drill a hole to the board? What's unc/bsw 0.25 inch?

Most cameras have a 1/4-20 (1/4" diameter, 20 threads per inch) socket for attachment to a tripod. This is a VERY common American thread size and will be found in any American hardware store, Wal-Mart, etc.

 

One caution - make sure that the bolt that you get is not too long. You do NOT want the bolt to bottom out in the camera's threaded socket. If you tighten a bolt which is bottomed out in the camera's socket you risk damage to the camera.

Skip,

 

Thanks.

 

Dave

More than you need;

 

Unified National Coarse, British Standard Witworth are general standards for threads. The other, bigger, less popular camera holding thread is 3/8-16. Just know there are other visually similar size and pitch configurations that can be incorrectly crushed into a hole.

Carry your camera into the hardware store and try it. Once you have found it, take the bolt to the drill bit section and place the bits up to the end of the bolt and see what bit fits your needs.

Thanks folks.

The length of the screw required; and max length varies from camera to camera. If too long; some break thru a camera's casting; and a piece of die casting will jam some shutters!

some european camera, including many sold in the usa, had the larger tripod thread, many camera stores had inserts to reduce it to the standard 1/4-20 thread. an old leica, for example , may already have the insert . take a closer look.....

also old tire valve caps were about the same as a threaded"leica type" cable release. try it carefully now!! If you ground off the WRENCH type cap carefully and threaded the hole with , i believe, a 6-32 tap . You could make a cable release adapter. ( this is the tire cap with a projection with a slotted end to remove tire valves.)

Dont carry you camera into Wal Mart they will accuse you of stealing it.

<p>for what it's worth: the standard thread that holds most lampshades in place is the same size as the thread in most cameras. if you ever find yourself in need of something to hold your camera, and you've got a lamp nearby, try it. <br>

you'll like it . . .</p>

<blockquote>

<p>Most cameras have a 1/4-20 (1/4" diameter, 20 threads per inch) socket for attachment to a tripod. This is a VERY common American thread size</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Actually, it's a British Standard Whitworth thread, not UNC. Same diameter and threads per inch but a five degree difference in cutting angle.</p>

<p>It most definitely is <strong>not</strong> common USA hardware store 1/4-20. You can usually manage to insert a common 1/4-20 into photo gear about 3 revolutions before it starts to bind. In some situations that's all you need, but won't work as well as a Whitworth thread 1/4-20. Is Whitworth thread even commonly available in the UK? Thought it was a spec from the 1800's.</p>

<p>It was used by the British car industry into the 1980s until they went metric.</p>