FS7: Sachtler 20 and CF Legs Questions

V

Vintegreo

Well-known member
I'm perplexed by a tripod/head combo i just picked up from a friend and have some questions.

It looks like this is an original Sachtler 20? It's in good shape, pans and tilts nice and smoothly and all the drag settings work just fine. It also is rock solid on locking in its wedge plate. I don't recall what the red knob is for on the right side of the tilt head. Can someone tell me? Also, the mechanism to open up the plate is different than the newer ones I've used. I don't imagine it can be upgraded? Also, the tie down knob is flat, and I thought they were supposed to be concave....again, might be a feature on the newer ones I've used. Can this be upgraded? Finally, I'm thinking this head might actually be mounted on 75MM sticks. Can anyone confirm this from the pics and firsthand knowledge? They're far lighter than any I've seen in the past with a Sachtler 20 head.

All in all, I'd love to know if there are any "creature comfort" sorts of things that can be done to this old version of the head to make it a bit more like the more current models.

IMG_0553.jpgIMG_0551.jpgIMG_0550.jpgIMG_0546.jpgIMG_0549.jpg

Apologies for sideways pics, but you get the idea!
 
Looks perfectly normal to me but I'm not comparing to anything in front of me. A 75mm ball would be 3".
Sachtler changed a number of the mechanisms over the years but as long as what you have works it should be fine. No need to upgrade. The knob might be to to adjust the balance plate though they kept changing those configurations.
 
I also don't understand why you are perplexed. The opening of the bowl in the legs is as expected less than 100mm (3 15/16" ) because the bowl's profile is less than half of the sphere it is cut out from (which is 100mm in diameter), if it were exactly a half of the sphere then the opening would be 100mm wide and a 100mm bowl head would fit to deep in it not allowing much adjustment. I also don't understand why you are calling a very clearly not flat profile of that tie down flat? Isn't it clear that it's just the rim of it that touches the outside curvature of the bowl?
 
broughtonfilm said:
I also don't understand why you are perplexed. The opening of the bowl in the legs is as expected less than 100mm (3 15/16" ) because the bowl's profile is less than half of the sphere it is cut out from (which is 100mm in diameter), if it were exactly a half of the sphere then the opening would be 100mm wide and a 100mm bowl head would fit to deep in it not allowing much adjustment. I also don't understand why you are calling a very clearly not flat profile of that tie down flat? Isn't it clear that it's just the rim of it that touches the outside curvature of the bowl?
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What you're saying about the diameter of the bowl makes sense. It didn't initially, thus the question. As for the tie down profile, I agree that the outside rim touches the bowl. That said, I also thought perhaps that it was flatter than the current ones. When I release the tie down, the ball of the head doesn't roll around in the bowl as smoothly as other units I've used. So perhaps I should be asking why it feels "clunky" when it rolls around in there?
 
This looks like well-used mid or early 90's tripod. Those bowls (and especially the ball of the head) do wear with age/damage and can be replaced. That's probably why it feels so clunky.
 
Vintegreo said:
I don't recall what the red knob is for on the right side of the tilt head.
Click to expand...

Nice find, should last ages. I'm 99% certain this knob locks the fore-aft adjustment of the top plate for balancing different camera/lens CoG. That's the reason it's red, because you wanna make sure it's locked before trying any camera moves! ;-)

Also, FYI (as a Sachtler owner myself), It's good to know that there's a knock-off brand called Secced. Whilst I wouldn't recommend swapping parts all over the place, There are certain items (spreaders, knobs, balls, joints, etc) that you can save a LOT of money over the Sachtler spares (which are IMHO, pretty overpriced in general). For example, I'm considering swapping to a mid-level spreader, and the Sachtler is ~£500, whereas the Secced is only ~£100. Wouldn't mind saving £400 for what is essentially just three telescopic rods, joined at the centre!

jason
 
Wow--

I've never seen that Secced site. Pretty cheeky take on older Sachtler products. How do they get away with that?
 
I seem to remember that that red knob might only have been used to lock the head in a center position, in other words pretty useless, but that's just a dim memory.
 
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