Damaged tripod socket by attaching monopod - safe practice?

[ed_avis2]

<p>I have a Gitzo G1578L monopod with ball head. I've previously used it with several DSLRs but when I got it out of my bag recently to attach to a Canon 1Ds II, the round disc had come loose from the top of the ballhead. This is an extra piece with cork on top which presses the bottom of the camera when you screw it in.</p>

<p>I couldn't work out how to reattach the round disc to the top of the ballhead using the nut that had also come off. Perhaps some washer or other piece was missing and got lost. But no matter, I thought; the bottom of my camera has a rubber matted area around the tripod socket, so surely I can just attach the screw from the ballhead directly to the tripod socket. Then I put the monopod over my shoulder and carried the camera attached to it.</p>

<p>However the camera came loose after a few minutes and I found that the screw thread on the camera's tripod socket had been ripped off, leaving a few loose curls of metal. I was surprised, since I didn't think I had over-tightened the attachment, and I had imagined the tripod socket on this camera would be strong enough to support the weight of the camera and a (fairly small) lens. The screw thread on the monopod appears undamaged; apparently the monopod is made of harder metal than the camera's socket, the reverse of what I would have expected.</p>

<p>Clearly I'm going to have to get Canon to replace the tripod socket on the camera, and get the monopod fixed too. But what did I do wrong? Was it because I attached the monopod directly without the cork-topped disc? If so it is surprising that this disc is removable from the monopod. Or is it unreasonable to expect to carry the camera dangling off the end of the monopod and have it stay in place? It's not as if I was bashing it against a mountainside or anything. Is there some intermediate mounting thing you can put between the camera and the monopod or tripod to avoid damage to the seemingly quite delicate tripod socket?</p>

[Hector Javkin]

<p>Without the disk and the cork gasket, the exposed part of the threaded screw on top of the ballhead is longer than the threaded socket on the camera. If you put in the screw and keep turning it, you will either drive a hole in the bottom of the camera or destroy the threads. Your nice Canon 1Ds II is evidently designed to have the threads come off. That's a good thing. It saved you from doing more serious damage to your camera.</p>

<p>In the future, before you drive a tripod screw into a camera, make sure that the socket in the camera is long enough to accept it.</p>

[ed_avis2]

<p>Hector J. - thanks. I guess there is no option to use the monopod without the disc, and I must work out how to reattach that before using it again.</p>

[h._p.]

<p>I have several camera supports and several cameras. After a few similar events to yours, Ed, I spent a bit of money on some Manfrotto RC2 heads. I found that you can buy very acceptable copies of the RC2 mounting plate and tripod adapter on ebay, so I have a mixture of the these and the original design. Now, the only thing that gets screwed into any of my cameras is the mounting plate and these all have very limited screw travel. There's also the advantage that all my kit works on the same rapid fitting.</p>

 

[mukul_dube]

<p>"It is surprising that this [cork-topped] disc is removable...". It cannot be permanently attached. The idea is that you do not screw the stud into the socket as far as it will go: you stop short of that and tighten the disc. I have lost three of the disc thingies (but over more than 35 years). They worked loose and fell off. I was unable to find any on eBay a year ago because I did not know what they are called.</p>

[danny_wong2]

<p>The disc is just glued in. That was what they did when I took my Gitzo for re-attachment. Tech used standard contact cement.</p>

[ed_avis2]

<p>Danny W. - thanks. So the disc *should* be permanently attached, but came loose. A bit disappointing in a not-cheap piece of equipment. I still have the suspicion some additional washer or whatsit has gone missing, so I will probably send the ballhead to Gitzo, if their repair feeis reasonable.</p>

<p>H.P. - using a quick release system and leaving the plate always on the bottom of the camera sounds like a good way to idiot-proof the process, thanks for the tip.</p>