let me explain it to you. safelock is not as effective as advertised. its looks good on paper but it is not a reliable locking surface. i can do as well with a bare aluminum surface as i have for the past 20+ years.
Nov 18, 2009 at 01:42 PM
Lars Johnsson Offline • • • • • • • Upload & Sell: Off
I have not been writing about if the safelock is as effective as advertised
Or if a bare aluminum surface is better or worse
The question was if you can use the safelock without loctite and still be safe
1) Notice the 486 has a recessed Bottom Plate. This means the contact patch with the SL Ring is reduced to a mere 3mm doughnut! So that certainly contributes to the problem.
2) The 234 has a relatively uneven Base due to it being cast alloy. Furthermore, it has the webs together with the hollows. Again... not very good contact with the SL Ring.
3) the 484's Base is slightly smaller than the diameter of the SL Ring .. however not by much... and it's fairly flat. This is the best suited to attach securely.
BUT!
NO.... IT DOESN't!! Both the 'Pod> SL Ring contact AND the SL Ring>Head contact are relatively poor & definitely not as tight as with NO SL Ring & using my plastic washer between bare 'Pod & any of the 3 Heads.
I conclude that for me, Gitzo have a downright cheek advertising the Safelock as a beneficial feature!
Nevertheless with the aid of a cut-up credit-card Washer or a tube of Loctite, the Gitzo 'Pod is an awesome bit of kit!
You don't need the safety thing do you? Looks optional to me. My QR clamps just go right on top of the monopod. I never use the hand strap, useless and just takes up space...YMMV on that.
I use Wimberley C-10 and it has a set screw...no way anything is coming off with that...and that is just metal to metal with no locktite...been using this way with nary a problem for 6 years, literally it has never some loose with various 1D bodies with at 400 2.8 IS over the shoulder constantly.
Also looks like you can flip that washer thing safety thing...does that help with the fit?
MSC wrote:
You don't need the safety thing do you? Looks optional to me. ....
.........................
....Also looks like you can flip that washer thing safety thing...does that help with the fit?
MSC ... No, As I pointed out... I'm OK without the Safelock... & no... it doesn't work flipped either.
MSC wrote:
... I never use the hand strap, useless and just takes up space...
The Strap is pretty crap in it's original form ..... I've already modified mine. But hey! ...surely that deserves it's own Thread!
"POWER DISC The new tripod upper disc is called "Power Disc". It is made of machined solid aluminum and it now features two locking screws, one to lock the head, the other to safely lock the disc onto the column. The“"Power Disc" gives a rock solid connection of the whole system for additional safety and stability"
taken fom the Bogen website
note the word "now" in the second sentence. the original "safe lock" lacked the second retaining screw for the head as it to is missing on my GT2540ex. which of course is now the GT2541ex. now of course you can order up the "updated" part for an additional contribution to gitzo
it seems even they realized the "safe lock" was a little less then its name implied
Looks like they are designed to solve the Gitzo plate from falling off problem as opposed to the loosening tripod head problem (if either one is really a problem).
Guess I have been on the moon - first I've heard about the safelock innovation, but now that I've seen it, I'm wondering why I shouldn't just use some contact cement to glue a thin layer of some soft higher friction material to the plate - like gasket material or cork?
I've been making cork washers for the interface between my ballheads and tripods for a few years. One can buy a roll of cork gasket material at an auto parts store for just several $, and you'd have enough material to make 100's of them. As a skilled, yet amateur mechanic, it just pains me to see two bare metal surfaces contact one another, but the benefit of the cork is that it does provide a nice high-friction surface for keeping the ballhead snug on the tripod platform. I think the stuff I have is 3/32" thick, but I may be mistaken.
i think the attempted point of this material not including cork is to have a rigid yet high friction surface. cork is rather mushy and will allow movement. it then will permanently compress until things tend to loosen. the material RRS is using on their stage/platform of thir tripod has a higher "connectivity" then the product on my 2540ex
