Vinten blue on Libec T-72 legs

[Wayne Zebzda]

Will the vinten vision blue fit on the Libec T72 legs? It's the pod that came with the H38 head.
Aloha,
Z

[Les Wilson]

Absent someone who has both those components, I can describe the issue and with research, you may discover the answer.

A bowl is a bowl and if the head and legs are the same (commonly 75mm or 100mm), then the bowls will mate just fine. The compatibility issue is with the head's tiedown cup and the design of the tripod legs where they attach to the bowl. There needs to be enough room to get your hand in there and tighten/loosen the head's handle that screws into the bottom (tiedown cup) and pulls the head snug into the bowl of the legs.

Tie down cup designs that may be a problem are short and knobby. Here's an example of a design that could be problematic:
http://www.adorama.com/images/product/CCD514.jpg

Here's the Vinten Blue design:
V4092-0001 Vinten Vision Blue Pan and Tilt Head with 75mm Ball Base, High Contrast Blue LED illuminated Levelling Bubble, 4.6 to 11.0 lbs Payload, Black

Designs that overcome this restriction work regardless of leg design are like the Sachtler. Their design is a long handle that puts the knob down below where the legs join the bowl. Here's the Sachtler design:
3905 Sachtler Kit Clamping Screw for 75 mm Fluid Heads

Manfrotto makes bowls to attach to flat bottom heads. The tiedown cups that come with them are long and have no knobs at all. They are covered with a nice grippy rubber. However, the threads in the Manfrotto tiedown cup may not match the threads on your head. I had this situation mounting my Cartoni Focus on Bogen 542ART legs. The Cartoni dealer rethreaded the Manfrotto tiedown cup and now it all works great. YMMV

So it comes down to: does the design of the Libec bowl area have adequate room to manipulate the tiedown cup of the Vinten Blue head?

[Wayne Zebzda]

Thank you Les,
That was extremely helpful.
Wayne