Exact size of cold foot (metric)?

It seems I'll have to file a few plates that will go into camera hot shoes. - Does anybody happen to know their default dimensions? (It seems better to ask than to attempt measuring what other manufacturers considered good or close enough) Thanks in advance!

Without paying the extortionate price for the ISO 518:2006 document (money-grubbing bastards!), this is about as close as you're going to get to a dimensional drawing.

 

Why not just caliper a few camera hot shoes and subtract a small allowance for fitting tolerance?

I have found the trimming of a slightly too large plate to be very tedious with only a Dremel tool. If you can find a metal worker they can do it easily and neatly.

Without paying the extortionate price for the ISO 518:2006 document (money-grubbing bastards!), this is about as close as you're going to get to a dimensional drawing.

 

Why not just caliper a few camera hot shoes and subtract a small allowance for fitting tolerance?

 

US$38.26 may seem expensive, but the ISO and most national standards organizations depend on sales of their standards to fund their work.

 

If you are near a university or engineering school, you may find a copy to consult. If your local library participates in the interlibrary loan system, they may be able to get a copy for you to read.

only a Dremel tool.

Unless very practiced - be very careful with these -- easy to mess things up. I do use one but prefer high quality files and stones.

After measuring all the hotshoes I could readily lay hands on, they're 18.5mm wide by 2mm thick. The (front to back) depth varies, but is no less than 18.5mm and no more than 20mm.

 

The easy option is to make the plates square, at 18.5mm each side, and 2mm thick.

 

The ISO specification regulates the clearance around a hotshoe, as well as its dimensions. It could be summarised in one or two engineering drawings, and definitely isn't worth the €30 or €40 asked for its scant few pages..... money-grubbing bastards!

 

What point is having a standard if public access to it is limited? This stuff should be freely available and downloadable online. Otherwise how is a customer supposed to check if goods actually do meet claimed 'ISO standards'?

Or to see if there are loopholes in ISO testing methodologies? As there obviously are with the ISO 'specification' for measuring flash Guide Numbers.

 

How useful would it be to keep the metre or kilogram 'secret', and its dimension or mass only available on payment of a disproportionate fee?

Edited December 11, 2018 by rodeo_joe|1