I have a Velbon Victory 451 consumer grade tripod. It's a good 10 years old, but lightly used and in good, almost like new, condition. But I've been having trouble with getting the camera to mount on the tripod so that it doesn't rotate on the base. It's almost as if the tripod socket on the camera isn't deep enough for the attaching screw to get a good grip. This has never been an issue with any of my other cameras and this tripod. Anyone else having tripod issues? If not, what sort of tripod (brand and model) are you using?
We have Feisol tripods. Where the 3 legs converge is called the spider. In the center of the spider is a 3/8" threaded post. The post is for screwing on a device such as a ballhead. We use Sirui K-20X ballheads as they are relatively small and light and yet can hold a large load of camera body and lens. On top of the ballhead is a clamp that holds the de-facto standard of an Arca-Swiss plate. A plate comes with the ballhead and is screwed into the bottom of the camera body. I have not had problems using Arca-Swiss clamps and plates. I avoid proprietary clamp designs such as Manfrotto.
What kind of a head is there on the tripod or is there just a screw sticking up from the base plate where the legs attach? A picture of the tripod head would help.
I have no problems at all and would guess that it has to do with your base plate. If It's an arca swiss compatible plate you can get a cheap replacement, or try to add some rubber or similar material to your base plate.
It is a quick release platform that screws into the base of the camera. You press a lever on the head, insert the platform and release the lever, at that point the camera is mounted on the tripod. It works great with other cameras. I'm having some trouble posting photos on this new (to me) site. I'll keep working on it and post a photo when I get it figured out. Edit: It is that QR platform that spins on the camera both before and after the camera is mounted on the tripod. I'm reluctant to tighten it too much since it sort of 'feels' like it has gone as far as it will go.
I wouldn't screw the base/plate too much ... you might scratch the bottom of your camera. To me it almost sounds like the plate is just out of metal or plastic and doesn't have any rubber on it at all to provide some grip?
Yes, the mounting 1/4" thread is a bit shallow in these Olympus cameras (E-M5 is the same) & two things can be done with that tripod. Either grind the screw a little shorter or add a layer (1.5-2.0mm) of cork or rubber on the tripod's camera mounting plate & that should solve your problem.
Yes, I've determined that is what I should do. The tripod is old(ish) now, and I suspect the rubber on the attaching plate has gotten old and hard. I'll go out and look for something suitable (and maybe thicker) tomorrow. Thanks to all.
Some tripods have a second thumbwheel that shortens the length of screw that protrudes from the hole.
^^^ This... I'm not sure why companies stopped providing this. My small Adorama CF tripod doesn't have it on the plate but my manfrotto and my old JTL from 40 years ago had it. You tighten the main screw as far as it will go, then you turn the "drawback" thumbwheel. It causes the screw to pull the camera down onto the tripod head and get a very firm coupling.
I've the same issue with my M5 and MeFOTO backpacker. It drives me sometime crazy, especially when I'm at the beach. That said, I've thought about a piece of rubber and glad it was confirmed here that it'll do the trick
That's the easiest quick solution, but if you're using the same cameras with the tripod gear, then maybe it is worthwhile grinding the screw a little shorter to not be issue in the future.
But if the issue is that the rubber is hard and slick when in the past it was softer and 'grippier', it's new rubber that will save the day!
I found a solution. I thought about using one of those rubbery plastic dashboard pads that allows you to rest your smartphone on the auto dashboard. I had an old one and tried to cut it down, but it was too thick. So I went to the automotive department of Walmart and bought a "Get-a-Grip" pad (about $4.00 US) that works perfectly for this usage. I hope I've uploaded these photos correctly! (They were taken with the world's worst smart phone camera!) Sorry, I can not for the life of me figure out how to insert a photo into a post!
Acratech gps, Manfrotto 190procx3, RRS boem1 camera plate. Rock solid setup. The ballhead and tripod were a carryover from my dslr days.
