Kodak Master and RRS plate?

[david_hempenstall1]

hi,

 

anyone put an Arca Swiss style plate on the bottom of a Kodak Master 8x10?

 

i'm standardised on RRS on all other formats (35-6x7-5x4).

 

figured i'd use one of their flat long lens plates, and have to some how add

another tripod socket to the bed of the camera.

 

is there a different approach? diiferent plate?

 

cheers,

d.

[anthony_j._kohler]

Haven't tried anything like this on a Kodak Master, but I had to do so on both of my Zone VI's (4x5 & 8x10). It's not really a matter of another tripod socket, but something to stabilize the plate. I drilled a hole into the bed and (carefully!) screwed in a threaded brass insert with 1/4-20 threads inside. They're a standard hardware item; they have coarse threads on the outside to screw into wood with machine screw threads inside, and you can get them in a wide range of sizes. Works like a charm, and very little splintering of the wood.

 

A bit of advice if you go that route: the inserts have a slot for a screwdriver. Don't use it. Take a bolt of the appropriate thread, add a couple of nuts and washers to hold the insert near the end of the threads, and use this to drive the insert into the wood. And apply plenty of pressure to a well-supported bed so that the outside threads actually bite into the wood rather than splintering it. The inserts are cheap; practice on scrap wood first.

 

It's almost harder to describe than it is to do it.

 

Tony

[david_hempenstall1]

sorry,

 

i should have been more specific.

 

the kodak master 8x10 is a metal camera.

 

thanks for the idea tony!

 

i guess it would work on the 2D (isn't that the wood one?)

 

dave.

[brian_ellis3]

I have a large square Arca style plate that I got from Kirk some years ago. It's about 4" x 4" and I used to use it with a 7 lb or so camera. It worked well. I've never tried it on my 8x10 because I don't use an Arca head with that camera but I think it would be better than a long, narrow plate. You might check with Kirk (or maybe RRS also makes one). As I recall it was fairly expensive, maybe $100 or so.

[michael_kadillak13]

I have an Arca plate on the bottom of my Kodak Master 8x10 that I use in an Arca Swiss B1 head on the top of a Gitzo 1349 carbon fiber head. I had Steve Grimes machine the threads away near the head of the bolt (as is standard on the Arca bolts) because I needed a 1/4 screw. It is my light weight 8x10 setup and works great.

[david_hempenstall1]

many thanks to brian and michael for the leads!

 

i figured a long plate running nearly the length of the bed would give me more control over where to place the camera relative to the head (ie depending on extension, angle of camera etc). that may be muddled thought on my behalf!

 

michael, do you only use the one screw to hold the plate to the camera? do you have any twisting problems? i thought i'd need to have another tripod socket tapped in so as to secure the plate. looks like i might not...

 

it's going on top of a B1/gitzo 410, and like the technika (on a smaller tripod), i'll be throwing the tripod/camera over the shoulder to cruise around. thought this might cause enough torque to slip a single connection point. the technika has a lip on the plate which stops it moving.

 

cheers,

dave.

[michael_kadillak13]

David. Here is what I did with the plate on my Master 8x10 to address the issue twisting. On my magnesium camera, there are grooves from front to the back of the bottom plate. I went to Michaels (the hobby store) and purchased a small piece of compressed black (you can get a whole host of other colors) felt material that I cut into two strips that are about the same width (+/-) of the grooves in the bottom of the camera and I used double stick tape to hold it in place.

 

It serves a dual purpose. First, it acts as a buffer to the tension required on the plate to hold it in place and secondly, it keeps the plate from loving by the aligned in the grooves. As a result, I have not experienced a problem with plate movement. I also used a larger piece of the felt to put on the top of my A250 Ries double tilt head and protect the camera base and prevent grooving of the camera base should it ever move slightly.

 

Cheers!

[michael_kadillak13]

My apologies for the misspelling. It is late here. Loving (where did that one come from?)should (obviously) be "moving" in my post.