Ring-A-Ding String

As so often happens when one is very enthusiastic about a new discovery, one forgets that not everyone else will be so enthused nor will they be so well informed that they grasp immediately a concept that to the enthusiast seems “Elementary, my dear Watson.”

Fortunately when that happens to me one of you quickly steps up and says, “Now wait just a minute, Bucko, what in the heck are you talking about?”

And this was the case with my discussion of the String Tripod. I thought I had explained everything completely when in fact I had glossed over several very important points.

And one of you, who shall remain nameless, Susan, did step up and say, “Wait a minute, I want to know a bunch of stuff you’ve left out.”

So, herein, a bunch of left out stuff, now if it so happens you don’t give a farthing for any more stuff about the String Tripod feel free to go back to playing Zumba or Angry Birds.

The first thing Susan wanted to know was are all tripod sockets standardized and if so what size is that. They aren’t, but they do come in two common sizes. Most Point and Shoot cameras use a one quarter inch socket with twenty turns to the inch. Most bigger cameras, like some Nikons, Cannons and the large format cameras use 3/8 by twenty. You don’t really need to understand what all that means unless you plan on going into the construction industry.

Just ask for a one quarter by twenty sometimes expressed like, ¼ X 20, and you’ll be fine.

Once you have it what the heck do you do with it? I’m glad you asked, Susan. You tie the string, line, rope to the eye bolt and screw the bolt into the tripod socket of your camera.

Now that wasn’t so hard was it?

Oh sure now you want to know how to use it. Okay, I can tell you that too. You attach the line to the eye bolt, screw the bolt into your camera and find something you want to shoot. When you do, you let the line dangle down from the camera and if you are standing on something dry, step on it. (You can stand on the line if you are standing in a puddle or in the Pacific or out in a marsh, but it will get wet and then you’ll get it all over you when you roll it up and stick it back in your pocket.)

 

This isn’t the only way to use it, you can wrap it around your body holding on with one hand and pulling the line tight like you were in a tug-of-war battle or like I said in the first article wrap it around your arm like a rifle sling. There are no rules, just do it anyway you can and make it work.

The tension of the line pulling in one direction and of your hands pulling in the other will make a much more stable platform for your camera. More stable, fewer blurry pictures and you do know it is always the one you want that shakes, you know that.

String Tripod demonstration by C Miranda