Gary Gruber
Well-Known Member
Having recently acquired a new 180-600 for my Nikon Z8, I noticed something a little odd about the tripod foot: It is threaded for a standard 1/4 x 20 bolt, but the other thread is a more robust 3/8 x 16 rather than the standard 5/16 x 18. After mounting an adapter plate I found that the balance point was way off for my ball head.
Since I have a machine shop in my garage (doesn't everyone?), I scrounged around and found a long 3/8 x 16 bolt, cut it off, chucked it up into my lathe and turned one end down to 0.250 for about 3/4 of an inch. I then threaded that to 1/4 by 20 , put a nut on both ends and mounted the adapter to the larger hole. I was overjoyed to find that this arrangement provided absolutely perfect balance, even with the tensioner completely loose on the ball head.
While it only took me about 20 minutes to knock out the adapter bolt, I wouldn't be surprised if these can be purchased commercially. I strongly advise this arrangement to provide proper balance for the camera / lens combo:
Since I have a machine shop in my garage (doesn't everyone?), I scrounged around and found a long 3/8 x 16 bolt, cut it off, chucked it up into my lathe and turned one end down to 0.250 for about 3/4 of an inch. I then threaded that to 1/4 by 20 , put a nut on both ends and mounted the adapter to the larger hole. I was overjoyed to find that this arrangement provided absolutely perfect balance, even with the tensioner completely loose on the ball head.
While it only took me about 20 minutes to knock out the adapter bolt, I wouldn't be surprised if these can be purchased commercially. I strongly advise this arrangement to provide proper balance for the camera / lens combo:
