Galen Rath
July 24th, 2011, 01:05 PM
I have two Merlins.
Merlin unit A: dovetail plate attaches tightly to the Merlin platform, and tightly to the three tripod adapter plates I own.
Merlin unit B: dovetail plate attaches tightly to the Merlin platform, but is loose on all three tripod adapter plates. I had a DSLR mounted to the tripod with the adapter plate, and didn't notice it could slide. I shot a couple of hours like this. Unfortunately it is not obvious it is loose at first glance, it seems okay when the head is level, and I wasn't looking for a problem. If I had tilted the tripod head further forward before noticing, the camera would have fallen off.
I see no adjustment possible to the lever on the dovetail plate. The lever on the good unit A requires more force to move than unit B.
Comments/suggestions, please!
Merlin unit A: dovetail plate attaches tightly to the Merlin platform, and tightly to the three tripod adapter plates I own.
Merlin unit B: dovetail plate attaches tightly to the Merlin platform, but is loose on all three tripod adapter plates. I had a DSLR mounted to the tripod with the adapter plate, and didn't notice it could slide. I shot a couple of hours like this. Unfortunately it is not obvious it is loose at first glance, it seems okay when the head is level, and I wasn't looking for a problem. If I had tilted the tripod head further forward before noticing, the camera would have fallen off.
I see no adjustment possible to the lever on the dovetail plate. The lever on the good unit A requires more force to move than unit B.
Comments/suggestions, please!