I have a tiny tripod that I like to bring with me when I go backpacking, climbing, or anywhere I can’t afford to bring something larger. It’s great for its size and weight, and it sets up easily. The only problem is that it’s not very stable, particularly with longer lenses.
I wanted something lightweight and packable that would let me use my longer lenses in conjunction with this tripod. It had to be robust, too, to withstand being jammed into a backpack, bashed against a rock, or dropped off a cliff. And it had to be simple enough that I could set it up in the field with minimal tools.
The design I came up with allows you to adjust the position of the camera body with respect to the tripod by way of a hex nut that slides within the body of the adapter. The nut interfaces with the head of the tripod, and when it’s clamped, it fixes the position of the camera. The nut is held in place by a bolted joint between the two halves of the adapter; 12 4-40 screws interface with brass inserts in the lower race. In hindsight, joining these parts with epoxy may have been easier for both design and assembly. However, the bolted joint allowed me to make some modifications that wouldn’t have been possible had I bonded these together.
The camera itself is mounted via a captive screw to an offset plane. The screw is captivated by another hex nut held in place by the surrounding plastic at this interface. Moreover, the nut is preloaded against the screw by way of an O-ring sandwiched between the nut and the body of the adapter, preventing the screw from rattling around when it’s not in use. In order to fasten the camera to the adapter, a hex key can be inserted from below.
Most of the adjustment range of this adapter is located ahead of the camera interface in order to compensate for longer lenses when mounted horizontally. However, at upward angles, the additional height imparted by the adapter requires the tripod interface to be located behind the camera body. Hence, a small amount of adjustment range exists behind the camera body as well.
After using it once or twice, I think I’d like to rework the design a bit - the torsional stiffness is a little low, leading to significant vibration. This iteration was printed in ABS by an online service, which worked pretty well. For the next version, I’ll probably print it at home using PET-G.