Tripod Mount at *End* of PowerShot! Why?

On Jan 17, 11:29 am, David Dyer-Bennet wrote:
Lots of consumer P&S cameras I've seen over the years have a
thoroughly offset tripod mount.

As to "why", I'd guess it's because of wanting the internal space in the
middle for something else.

Thanks for the input. I'm trying to decide if the IS will be offset by
this positioning. If so, I might return the camera for a A630. Thanks
again for suggesting I'm not alone in being confused by this.

On Jan 17, 10:44 am, bugbear wrote:

Yes; I have a canon a510, which also has it's tripod
point over on the far left.

This is no problem at all on a large tripod,
with the camera sitting horizontally.

If however, I use a table top tripod,
the off-centre C of G of the camera becomes an
issue.

If I use my tripods ball
head so that the camera is facing down (e.g
for photographing a book) the camera wants
to pivot around the tripod mount, since it's not
supported at it's C of G.

To circumvent these problems, I made
a small adapter plate, with a central
1/4" thread HOLE and and off-centre
1/4 thread BOLT, which worked very well.

Bugbear, does your camera have IS? My point in making the original
post was that image stabilization is almost ludicrous if you have a
camera mounted in a place on a tripod where tilting is a SURE THING.
Thanks for the input.

On 17 Jan 2007 10:47:55 -0800, wrote:

On Jan 17, 11:29 am, David Dyer-Bennet wrote:
Lots of consumer P&S cameras I've seen over the years have a
thoroughly offset tripod mount.

As to "why", I'd guess it's because of wanting the internal space in the
middle for something else.

Thanks for the input. I'm trying to decide if the IS will be offset by
this positioning. If so, I might return the camera for a A630. Thanks
again for suggesting I'm not alone in being confused by this.

You're going to return ANOTHER camera?
Why not just learn to tighten the camera down to the tripod?

--
Arnold Schwarzenegger was at
the Golden Globes Monday to
give away the award for Best
Motion Picture Drama. He's no
newcomer to the winner's circle
himself. The Consumer Electronics
Show in Las Vegas once voted him
most lifelike over Al Gore.

wrote:
On Jan 17, 11:29 am, David Dyer-Bennet wrote:

Lots of consumer P&S cameras I've seen over the years have a
thoroughly offset tripod mount.

As to "why", I'd guess it's because of wanting the internal space in the
middle for something else.


Thanks for the input. I'm trying to decide if the IS will be offset by
this positioning.

What? Why would it care? This make no sense. Please explain
your thoughts.

BugBear

wrote:

Bugbear, does your camera have IS?

I'll leave you to look up thew specs of a a510 for yourself.

My point in making the original
post was that image stabilization is almost ludicrous if you have a
camera mounted in a place on a tripod where tilting is a SURE THING.

If the tripod plate is a reasonable size, why
do you consider tilting a sure thing(*)?

BugBear

(*) at least with the plate horizontal, see other posts

wrote:

: Bugbear, does your camera have IS? My point in making the original
: post was that image stabilization is almost ludicrous if you have a
: camera mounted in a place on a tripod where tilting is a SURE THING.
: Thanks for the input.

Is it possible that you may be confused about what IS does? IS does not
protect against the camera tilting away from the horizontal, but instead
smoothes out any small shakes (like from hand holding). If your movements
with a tripod are sharp and abrupt enough that IS comes into play you are
using the tripod wrong. If the camera is somehow held steady, in any
position, for more than a small portion of a second, the IS circuit will
be stable and have no direct effect on the image. Now the IS circuit may
have an effect on the shutter delay (like the auto focus and such) but
otherwise a stable platform like a tripod should not do anything that
would activate the IS circuit itself. So it shouldn't make any difference
what orientation the camera is in (horiz orient, vert orient, pointing up,
pointing down, etc), as long as the camera is not currently moving the IS
circuit shouldn't do anything.

Maybe I am misreading your problem and if so, "never mind".

Randy

==========
Randy Berbaum
Champaign, IL

On Jan 17, 6:35 am, John Bean wrote:
Position of the tripod bush is
probably just a design convenience though many
well-respected cameras have had it at the end of the bottom
plate, Leica for example. It's not very convenient if you
use a small wobbly tripod but no big deal if you use a
decent one. You still need either a cable release or
self-timer, no matter what camera/support is used.

Well, thanks, John Bean, for an honest answer. I suppose I'll have to
time all my tripod-mounted shots from now on. I didn't have to do this
with my "cheap" (not) A620, but I've been wanting IS ever since the
A620 didn't come with it.

Thank you again for the two respectful answers.

wrote:
On Jan 17, 6:35 am, John Bean wrote:
Position of the tripod bush is
probably just a design convenience though many
well-respected cameras have had it at the end of the bottom
plate, Leica for example. It's not very convenient if you
use a small wobbly tripod but no big deal if you use a
decent one. You still need either a cable release or
self-timer, no matter what camera/support is used.

Well, thanks, John Bean, for an honest answer. I suppose I'll have to
time all my tripod-mounted shots from now on.

Only if your tripod is "wobbly" - is it? If it was
deemed "secure enough" for your 620, it's probably
secure enough for the 710.

BugBear