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The Easy Tripod to Reflector Holder Conversion
Sat, 2008-07-26 23:25 — udijw
This is another fun project from the factory of reader Jerry Hamby.
It is a reflector holder from a $9.99 tripod, a 3ft long piece of PVC pipe, an elbow to fit, and a small clamp. (The Tripod is 9.99$ on July 26th on Amazon, but I bet similar tripods are always on sale somewhere). Like the previous project from Jerry, the Green Bean Hair Light, it's a short and fun project, and you don't have to make it in whole, if you like the idea, you can expand it to things other the tripods...
Needed parts are a tripod, a PVC pipe, a PVC elbow to match, a small clamp and a 3/16 bolt and wing nut.
The first step is to glue the elbow to the end of the PVC pipe and cut off the bottom 1/4 to 1/3 of the elbow with a hacksaw. This will provide a very flat bottom surface.
Then drill a hole though the PVC and the plate of the tripod. Thread the 3/16 bolt through both the PVC elbow and the tripod plate. Now use the wing nut to tighten the bolt to the plate and elbow. This makes it easy to remove the reflector holder from the tripod plate. See the closeup below for details.
To hold the reflector, place a small clamp on the top end. Attach the clamp to the pipe with a small bolt. You are done. See the image below for full details.
The tripod can tip the reflector up or down and elevate the reflector. In the picture you can see the reflector that Jerry uses - he always uses a 34" round reflector, so the post can be permanent. But, if you have several reflectors you can drill holes and place the clamp at different locations each time.
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Related Reading:
- Cheap DIY Homemade Reflector Stand
- Reflector Card Cheat Sheet
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Comments
it's missing one critical thing
it's missing one critical thing.
a cross bar
to prevent it from turning when it is windy or when the ground it uneven.
I agree - this should be easy, though
Just add a cross PVC fitting and add two pipes out if each side. this way, you can remove the crossbar for comfort moving, and you keep the bar at the same plain as the pole.
Excellent observation. I do
Excellent observation. I do have a Gravel bag on the bottom for stability. The crossbar would work very well for others. I am old, fat, handicaped and do only portraits inside, so I didn't consider your wind problem. Thanks for the addition.
C-Stand
This project (with a heavy sand bag) could easily be altered a bit to create a C-stand. Just eliminate the the step with the elbow and attach the pvc arm horizontaly to the tripod and get a couple of clamps instead of just one. Thanks for the idea, may be building a c-stand with this one.
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