The monopod topic has me thinking- I have one. But cannot use it. The reason being that my tripod blew over in a wind gust. The threaded part of my camera split through the threads in about three places. Yes, plastic. Anyone know of a repair kit? It's a Fuji S5100, which works just fine. I'm quite happy. But the cost of repairs would be more than my camera is worth. I thought about helicoil, but how do I keep the split area from opening up under pressure of the coil? Boxcab E50
Ace hardware has threaded inserts. Maybe there's one you could find with the correct thread count. I'd epoxy it in. The outside diameter would be the biggest issue--whether or not it'll fit. Should be a cheap fix. Helicoils are great, but they require special tools, and prolly won't work that great in plastic. IIRC, that's a 1/4-20 NC thread.
The cheap solution would be a thick piece of steel (about 1/4" thick) with a tapped out tripod hole. Then you'd just have to attach the plate to the camera. It may not look pretty, but it'd work.
I might check into the thread insert idea. Had thought about attaching something to the camera bottom. But must be able to access batteries. So that isn't possible. Boxcab E50
Ken, Consider Helicoil, http://www.helicoil.in/helicoil.htm. Helicoil is a thread insert product that comes in many sizes, both SAE and Metric. I used them years ago and was very satisfied with the results. I'm not sure where you might find them, but auto or industrial supply stores come to mind. Maybe you have a friend in the auto, truck, or machine repair business....? Good luck.
We use them all the time at work, but I dunno how well it would install/hold in plastic. Our usual medium is some sort of metal. Steel, aluminum, stainless, etc.
I'm quite familiar with Helicoils. Have used them many times. The problem here is the medium is plastic. And it's split. I am afraid a Helicoil will put outward pressure on the plastic, causing the split to spread open. Also, there's not much depth. Even using a bottoming tap, I might not succeed. But the tap would also cause the split to spread open... Boxcab E50
Rats, I was hoping that the failed plastic was an insert surrounded by the solid metal case which would provide strength for Helicoil expansion. Oh well, back to the Drawing Board.....:tb-frown:
Hank- The cracked plastic area, is actually part of the body. Which is the reason repairs would be so much money. When the tripod blew over, it pushed the body away from the front piece! Yikes! Camera still works fine. I squeezed it all back together nicely. Boxcab E50
Tripod blew over? Wind? Montana? Never!! Looking at my old S5000, the tripod thread well is seemingly a seperate piece? Is yours?
I tore into my 5-year-old one, to see if that tripod mount well is a seperate piece--It is, and it isn't. The following narrative will void any warranty on your camera, FYI! The back face comes off with 5 screws; 2 on bottom, one on the memory card door side, 2 on the other side. Remove those 5, the Xd card, and the batteries. Wiggle the back face off, by grasping the bottom, and sides just aft of the neck strap mount. It snaps into place, so some wiggling is necessary. The piece that's broken is attached to the battery well. I didn't disassemble that piece from the camera to see how it comes out, but assuming the tripod mount on your camera is like mine, you could, in theory, remove it from the camera, repair the mount, and reassemble it after any adhesive you used cures. If you want to get into your camera, I can dig into mine to see how it comes out, without destroying anything. I fired mine up after I disassembled it, and it works fine.
Hmmm. I'd be curious. Must also look more closely at mine. I'd wish that a repair part might be of sturdier materials! Boxcab E50
Ken, Have you considered epoxying a same-thread nut to the bottom of the camera, right over the ruined hole? I've done that to repair a plastic bracket where the embedded nut broke out. I built a good fillet around the nut. If you place it right over the hole, the tripod head screw can still go up into the hole. I also did something similar when the bellcrank on my Fiat carburetor broke, and there were no replacement parts.
If your tripod has a quick release pad I suppose you could glue a spare one permanently to the bottom of the camera and just make it dedicated to that particular one. I thought these would be hard to find, but I just picked up two out of the used equipment selection at my neighborhood to replace the nonexistent one for a tripod that my wife bought probably ten years ago (and that we'd already been prepared to write off).
Boxcab, Was wondering, do you ever just sit the camera on a flat surface to make shots for any reason? If not, you could just find a nut that fits the screw on you tripod and epoxy it right to the bottom of the camera. Should work for using the tripod plus possibly put some support in the area of the cracks which could possibly keep them from spreading. Just a thought
The idea of epoxying a nut would work. But as suggested, I do many times set my camera on a flat surface to steady it. I did consider the thought of attaching the monopod top. But that has two drawbacks. Battery access is blocked. And then I cannot use my tripod. Boxcab E50
You could use a metal plate with your monopod top/adapter epoxied to the bottom. Make the metal plate so it covers the entire bottom of the camera. Use Velcro straps to attach this mounting plate to the camera. That way you can access your batteries just by undoing the velcro straps.
