Everything on your camera has been through a myriad of evolutionary changes. Well, almost everything.
We have auto this and auto that. We have ergonomic grips and comfortable straps, built in flash and they even fixed the way we focus with anti-shake and multiple focus points, wi-fi, exposure bracketing, wi-fi connection, a microphone and a tilting view. A computer runs everything inside your camera from the focus to the exposure to the way it records to your SD card. We can take video and stills at the same time. They have even given us a bunch of artsy-fartsy image solutions to make our images look more or less professional. The camera seems to have evolved. They seem to have thought of everything!
Or did they?
Are you as frustrated as I with that tiny tripod screw on the bottom of your camera? $#!% and %$#!
One of the most irritating things in photography is that annoying little screw hole on the bottom of nearly every camera ever built.
Oh Yeah, we all use it to mount a camera onto a tripod, a monopod, a grip and a whole slew of other gadgets. It has been a great place to fasten a camera to its case. But who uses cases anymore? I have even used it in a pinch with a pencil tip shoved loosely into the threads as a way to rotate the camera handheld for creating panos.
Have you ever tried mounting a camera to your tripod outdoors at night or in cold weather? How about mounting your camera when everyone is standing there waiting for you to shoot the picture. Maybe you have tried to carry your tripod over your shoulder with the camera attached only to find that it twisted just short of falling off. Or maybe it did fall off. How about the time it takes to screw your camera onto ol’three-legs while your subject screws off into the woods and laughingly chirps at you.
The truth about this little socket is that it kind of works most of the time for what most photographers need to do. I won’t even talk about the fact that there are at least two different socket sizes that have been in use since the early days, which in itself is problematic in certain situations. A few of my old box cameras had one on the bottom and another on the side so that you could mount the camera vertically as well as horizontally. If you wanted, I guess you could use two tripods.
My old Hasselblad had a screw socket and so did my Leica, Nikon, Pentax and Canon. So did my old Linhof, my Voigtlanders and Agfas, a Minolta 110 and my Yashica TLR. It is one of the few things that are completely standard on nearly every usable camera ever made. It must do something right – like a jack on a car I reckon.
I have always thought of the tripod screw as being invented by a plumber, an electrician or a mechanic. It seems like something they would think of. It might be that real engineers find that a solution is beneath them. Whoever did invent it must have realized that it might always be a simple solution for most users. It does work – just not very well. Most users are happy that they have one yet they may never use it or even really know what it is for. It takes very little space. The cost to the manufacturer is next to nothing. It solves a problem. If you need it, it is there. It also creates a few problems you might never imagine. Just don’t put a screw in too far or too tight.
Yes, I know about all of those fancy quick release solutions that are out there. They are all usually expensive, awkward or hang off the bottom like an unwanted appendage. I have used them all. Those things have their own problems. I know, I have to use a piece of Velcro to keep my ______ (starts with a B) mount snug or I risk it coming loose if I bump against it. Or breathe on it.
While there are many different quick releases on the market that can solve some of what I am talking about, they too need to be fastened using the same tripod screw hole as a mounting point. You have to really wrench most of them on to insure that nothing slips. I might add you probably shouldn’t over tighten it unless you want it as a permanent fixture. And if you do, you’ll never get it off without doing some major damage to the camera, the device or both.
Perhaps we will always need a tripod socket on our cameras. After all there are so many things that already fit. Everything out there with a ¼-20 thread has a means to couple with my camera or yours. It seems that all the engineering has produced an abundance of attachments with this capability.
I guess I really do love this thing. I have needed it so many times. I myself have used it to attach all sorts of paraphernalia that have certainly helped me make some of my best shots. I just want something better. I am frustrated because it seems an easy thing to fix. There is definitely room for improvement. Tripods are annoying enough without having to deal with the pesky screwy thingy.
Is there anyone out there who can find a real solution to this dilemma? Please!
You can read about my book “Rethinking Digital Photography” here. Please have a look at some of my other posts here.
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