Hello All:
I’m looking for recommendations for the shortest possible mount for the GigaPanEpic Pro. The Manfrotto’s I use can get me to just about 16" but with a huge spread of legs that is often too wide. I need someting compact and close to the ground (more or less sitting on the ground with an option of up to 6" above it) with good stability. If my Gorillapod was just a touch steadier it would be just about perfect.

Thanks in advance.

joel*
photography@CREATiVENESS.com

Hi -

I looked into this as a while ago and spent a few hours with the good folks at B+H discussing the options, as low level tripods don’t usually provide the stability we all need with the Pro unit. The final conclusion was that all that was needed was a trip to a machine shop for a big chunk of u-shaped aluminum, attach screws with rubber feet to the four corners and mount the Pro unit directly in top of that U-shaped piece of aluminium. The screws allow some fine-tuning for uneven ground and you need piece of extrusion around 8 inches square (8 inch seems be the optimal size, but is very hard to source…).

I used my Gorillapod at the Top of The Rock on top of stone lintels there (no tripods allowed) and it worked barely adequately during the day, but was a catastrophe at night with wind. The alternative would be to rig a metal bar and mount the Pro on two Gorillapods, giving you six legs.

Here are two views of a cheap homemade support I made for my Epic 100:
http://tnphoto.com/giga/TriangleMount1-w.jpg
http://tnphoto.com/giga/TriangleMount2-w.jpg
I used scrap Melamine-coated particle board shelf material. For the Pro, just make the base bigger. I put little rubber feet on the bottom so the 1/4×20 screw that attaches the pan head would have clearance. They don’t really have to be adjustable as mine is.

I also made a larger rectangular base that I use with a small sandbag when I want extra security.

You may find this interesting:
http://digital-photography-school.com/a-project…