[QuadList] OT: is this a tripod plate for a tk-76?--No plate. Flat bottom with screw hole

[Ted Langdell]

On May 18, 2012, at 8:34 PM, COURYHOUSE at aol.com wrote:

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If my memory serves correctly, TK76s had no plate. 

They had a hole for what I believe was a 3/8"-16 screw, the larger of the two common tripod screws setups a the time.

A tripod with a quick-release system, such as an O'Connor 50 was often used.  That's what I remember the TK-76 at the NBC Sacramento Bureau having when I worked there.

The TK-76 I sold years ago didn't have one either, as I recall.

When checking tripod holes for size and thread profile, be aware there are two thread profiles you may encounter:

^ 1/4 inch nominal diameter, 20 threads per inch, Unified National Coarse thread profile
^ 3/8 inch nominal diameter, 20 threads per inch, Unified National Coarse thread profile
^ 1/4 inch nominal diameter, 20 threads per inch, British Standard Whitworth thread profile
^ 3/8 inch nominal diameter, 16 threads per inch, British Standard Whitworth thread profile
While I think the TK-76 used the 3/8"-16 BSW, I have no way to tell.  It could have been the finer thread on a 3/8"-20-UNC.


Be careful—May the threads be with you:
One does need to be very careful and not in a hurry when mounting camera gear that has a larger hole..  

Back when both Calif. Governor Jerry Brown and I had hair, I once made the mistake of trying to attach a Frezzi LW-16 16mm sound camera with a 3/8" hole to a Miller fluid head with a 1/4" screw. Even as my mental alarm was trying to tell me "something's wrong here."

The threads caught, and as I lifted my hand off the camera... it remained atop the tripod head. "Wow!" I thought. For about two seconds.  And then the camera took a nosedive lens-first right onto the floor of the State Capitol Governor's News Conference Room in Sacramento.  In front of a couple dozen of my colleagues, and Governor Brown as a news conference was beginning.

I don't know that even a very skilled colorist with today's finest equipment and Power Windows could have removed  my shock and embarrassment.

Apparently the 3/8" to 1/4" screw thread adapter wasn't in the hole.

Fortunately, a backup camera (Chop-top Auricon, Frezzi-D battery inverter and MA-11 amp) was available, so I was able to quickly run across the street and fetch it... and carry on for the day. (It had a 1/4" hole)

We had to take the Frezzi and its 12-120 Angenieux zoom to San Francisco to have the lens checked for damage and to have it collimated.  Fortunately, no damage to the lens, mounting flange or camera.

Part of youthful learning to measure twice, cut once.  Or in this case check twice, mount once.

Ted

Ted Langdell
Secretary

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