2026-08-31 ACCURA Deluxe Tripod

This ACCURA Deluxe tripod is a bit of a puzzle as tripods go. Besides the fact it has one tripod tip and a part of the head—you can see a threaded hole—missing, it seems to not follow normal tripod rules.

For example the legs are not fixed at their angle to the hub. This would be usual in an early “Field” tripod, one used on mountain slopes and in uneven flower beds, but table top tripods need some way to have the legs reasonably fixed at a set angle as even one slip of the leg would lose the camera off a height.
So what makes me think this is a table top tripod?

Its limited height erected would lead me down that path. Fully extended with the legs at about a 30º angle the head is 1.07 m (42 inches) off the ground. This makes framing a shot a little difficult unless you are using a Twin Lens Reflex or a folding camera. Of course that is a good height for flower photographers.

With the legs collapsed and angled away from the hub the head is under 10 cm (4 inches) off the deck. With the legs at almost right angles to the head you certainly have a stable camera support!
Then we have the matter of the handle not really matching the tripod’s colour scheme. Black and Chrome and then a sort of beige handle. One can hope originally the handle was at least bone colour, although I would like black better.

That empty threaded hole needed the screw-in cap to keep the tilt head from pulling off the head. That is not a huge problems, as the tilt head is clamped by the handle, so you would have to really loosen the handle and pull the camera platform at right angles to the hub—which isn’t something you would do accidentally.

Folded the tripod is 33 cm (13 inches) long and pretty slim at under 8 cm (3 inches) —including the handle—at its thickest. It weighs 610 gm (1.3 lb.). Commonly these Japanese tripods came in leather cases, but this one has become separated from its sheath.

Comments

2026-03-14 - History and Evolution of the Kodak Logo

While working as a junior clerk at the Rochester Savings Bank, George Eastman first began commercial production of dry photographic plates in a rented loft of a building in Rochester, New York in April 1880. In the next few years, Eastman became very successful and expanded the company several times. His company started as the Eastman Dry Plate Company in 1881, later became the Eastman Dry Plate and Film Company in 1884, and soon after the Eastman Company in 1889. The last name change occurred in 1892, when the Eastman Kodak Company of New York was organized. The company has been called Eastman Kodak Company ever since. The word "Kodak" was first registered as a trademark in 1888. The letter “K” had been a favorite of Eastman’s, he is quoted as saying, "I devised the name myself. The letter 'K' had been a favorite with me; it seems a strong, incisive sort of letter. It became a question of trying out a great number of combinations of letters that made word...

2026-03-20-Manfrotto monopods

Sometimes collecting is a matter of persistence. The Manfrotto “GRUPPO” 434SSB monopod (shown top) showed up one day at my local thrift store. They had a price tag of $25 on it. I had bought the lower Manfrotto Compact MMC3-01 monopod at the same thrift store for $3. So I asked, “Why so much?” They answered their “expert” had found it sold for $200 on the internet. I find experts—who almost never clerk in the thrift store, so are unreachable—hard to deal with. There is also the matter someone might actually pay them $25 for a 2.27 kg (5 pound) aluminum pole, so I decided to let the Gods-of-Collecting decide if I was going to ever own it. For weeks I would pick it up, check the price tag to see if they had come to their senses, and return it to the shelf. I did try various clerks to see if they would lower the price, but they said they were not authorized to change prices. I plodded on, week after week without much hope. ...

2026-06-23 Olympus Camedia D-535 Digital Camera

The Olympus Camedia D-535 digital camera is a cute little camera, introduced September 16, 2004. It was modestly priced at about $175 list. It had the motto, “one button/one function.” There were four scene modes available, as well as movies (QuickTime / 320x240 at 15 fps for as long as the memory held out) and “Program-Auto” on the rotary dial. A four direction with a center “OK” allowed rapid access to (starting at 12 and going clockwise)— EV adjustments plus and minus 2EV in ½ EV steps Macro (including Super-Macro allowing shooting down to 2 cm (0.79”) Reset Self-timer (12 seconds) The three buttons under the 1.5 inch (130,000 dot) screen (from left) are delete, menu access and flash modes. The two buttons to the right of the screen are camera (top) and playback. There is a rocker switch for zooming that doubles as a magnification /file views switch on playback. The power-on button is inset into the top at the middle of the camera, with the shutter button ...

Edmonton Photographic Historical Society

Search This Blog