Camera wobble on tripod plate

[Mark Hartopp]

I have a vinten vision 3 tripod and a sony dsr 370 and the other day notice it was impossible to get a steady shot, due to the camera moving from side to side in the tripod plate.

The camera is locked in but there is a small amout of play that allow the camera to wobble. I've check the plate - had it apart, cleaned it, made sure all screws are there, no springs missing, etc.

Does any ony have any idea way and how to fix it? Does any one have the same problem?

Any help greatful for.

Kind thanks in advance.

[Chris Soucy]

Aha, the old "lateral wobble on plate trick, huh, 99"?

First and formost, check the plate attachment screw for length with regard to the matching hole in the camera. Some screw/ hole combinations have the screw coming to a dead stop having bottomed out against the camera chassis before the camera is firmly affixed to the plate.

The cure for this is to put a non pliant but soft shim between the plate and camera base to take up the slack. The plastic lid from a 4 pint ice cream container works well here.

If that isn't the problem then it's most likely the rubber finish on the camera base having enough give to allow the camera to flex about it's rediculous single screw fixing.

The only option here is to actually pin the camera to the plate using a narrow webbing strap wrapped once around the upper handle then down each side of the camera and under the head where each end is connected and tightened. Most good camping stores will sell you a "Trangia" strap which is almost perfect for the job, dependant on the camera and head design.

On the Vision 3 mine tends to tilt the camera forward giving me a forwards/ backwards wobble instead of the side to side wobble.

Some genius will, one day, actually design a proper 4 point screw fixing system which will eliminate this sort of problem.

What am I saying?

I already have.

It's getting someone to actually adopt it that's the problem.


CS

[Peter Ralph]

you still have the screw, the pin and the plastic yoke right?

You could have the wrong screw as Chris says - Vinten supply 4 or 5 or maybe the parts are worn?

I use a professional canon quickrelease - around $120 I think - that protects the camera fittings - sony make a similar unit - they have an arrowhead shaped plate that you screw onto the camera - very slick, big improvement over the $50 bogen - yes, the plate attaches to the cam with 4 screws. Good investment in a fast paced heavy use environment.

[Mark Hartopp]

Thanks for your help - not having much look.

Peter - do you mean something like the Sony VCT-U14 quick release tripod plate. this what I'm using and having problems with or is the canon version better?

link:
http://www.creativevideo.co.uk/publi...r=sony_vct-u14

I'm coming to the idea that the plate is 5 years old and just had too much use over the years.

I'm still open to ideas.

[Tom Wills]

I've heard some Steadicam operators complain about how much wobble there is in the Sony tripod adapters. I've never had too much wobble in any of the ones I used, but I don't think any of them were 5 years old. Something you might want to try would be seeing if the back screw on the plate can be tightened any more. If it's loose, there can be some vibration introduced there, as the camera won't be seating tight enough to the plate. I don't know if it's actually something that's adjustable though, but it might be worth a shot. Maybe you can shim the back up with some gaff tape too, and see if that'll tighten it.

[Steve Phillipps]

I think the Sony tripod plate like the VCT14 is atrocious! It depends on what focal length you're on but on long teles they're just dreadful, wobbling all over the place. Chrosziel make a much better one which you have to push a lever in to lock it. Even better though is the Ronford Baker PAP and SAP plates which bolt onto the camera front and rear, solid as a rock! But no quick release, of course, but if everything you shoot is from a tripod then that's no problem. Alternatively in the past I've always tended to get mine made to measure by an engineer. Just machine a thin plate with the neccessary holes and bolts.
Steve

[Ivan Snoeckx]

It's not the VCT-14 that is causing this wobble. The VCT-U14 is the problem.

The VCT-14 is ocasionallly a plate is for cameras out of the DVW, HDW, MSW and PDW series and eliminates the wobble that occurs with the slightly cheaper VCT-U14 model that comes with the DSR, PDW-F series.

[Peter Ralph]

Mark - the canon plate I use looks very similar to the sony you linked to.

[Mark Hartopp]

Thanks to everyone for replying.

First up sorry for the delay getting back - I've only gone a twisted both ankles badly, so I on crutches at the moment. loads of time to fiddle around and try and fix it.

[Mark Hartopp]

I have the VCT-U14-F "F" must be the version number, anyone know what version they maybe on now.

Sticky tape and bits of plastic have not work

Just found the VCT-14 priced at £199 (about $330) Hmm bit pricey