Minolta S414 Tripod Mount Demonstration

[stmarc]

One of the big weaknesses in the Minolta S414, which most of the reviews mention, is the absurd placement of the tripod mount screw. I didn't like it, so I made a new mounting plate. I cut a piece of plastic the same shape as the camera's bottom (I scanned the camera sitting on a scannerglass, then traced it) only I enlarged it a bit. I used a laser cutter, so I had it cut the hole for the tripod screw at the same time, but if I'd cut it by hand I would have used a drill press to make it. I countersunk the hole so the screw I used wouldn't stick out the bottom. Then I drilled (can't laser cut a hole to be tapped - not precise enough in this thick a material) and tapped a hole in the dead center of the plate for a tripod screw. (Most tripod screws are the VERY common 1/4:20 thread size.) Finally, I attached some latex-impregnated cloth that's sold in drugstores for sports bandages to the top of the plate with some double-faced sticky material called twin-tack.

Now I can fasten the camera to the plate and the plate to the tripod head, which means the camera's kiester isn't hanging out in the breeze because of the weird location of the tripod screw.

Here's a picture:



I did something similar with the flash bracket I had for my Kodak DC290 so I could mount it on a tripod without taking it out of the bracket. I'm not so much bragging - well maybe a little - as I am showing that it's not too hard to get around problems with the physical aspects of a camera with some imagination.

M

[KCan]

Great! You should post this also in the tripod forum
Did you tap the thread in the plastic? How about a metal insert to be more robust ?
( I have also that #115 manfrotto, very versatile)

[stmarc]

Originally Posted by KCan

Great! You should post this also in the tripod forum
Did you tap the thread in the plastic? How about a metal insert to be more robust ?
( I have also that #115 manfrotto, very versatile)

Thanks for the compliment. I'll run along over to the tripod forum and repost the message.

The hole for the screw that goes into the camera is a through-hole (I had the cutter cut it to .255) which is counter-bored to recieve a 1/4-20 machine screw which holds the camera on the plate. The hole for the tripod mount screw is tapped at 1/4-20. The plastic is a *VERY* durable material (a variety of polycarbonate) and there is no danger of the threads tearing out. If it got cross-threaded, I'd just drill another hole a few tenths over to one side - it wouldn't change the balance much.

The tripod head in the picture is actually mine, although that's our office camera. The one I bought for our office turned out to be too short for what I wanted to do with it there so I swapped. I've been very pleased with it.

M