3D Printed Tripod Quick Release

DIY Quick Release

Why buy one when you can print it yourself? Our goal was to create a fitting so that we could quickly move from tripod shots to close-ups. In a small studio with only one "fancy" camera, we tend to use it for everything. The design features a captive 1/4"-20 nut to attach to the standard tripod bolt. The foot attaches to the camera with a short 1/4"-20 machine screw.

We've shared the STL files and build instructions on Thingiverse.

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Replacement Cam Locks for Manfrotto Digi 718B Tripod

After surviving the sandy cliffs of Dogon Country in Mali, the crowds of downtown Dhaka and many rides strapped to the back of a moped in Vietnam, our camera tripod finally broke during a photoshoot at a Boston medical center. Specifically, we broke one of the cam-locks on the tripod legs. In removing the broken latch, we broke another latch on the same leg. Tim has developed a sentimental attachment to this tripod, given that it's almost as old as DtM.

Apprentice camera crewman Abel Edon packs up the tripod after a DtM photoshoot outside Parakou, Benin on a hot afternoon in August 2003

We were about to dive into some tedious CAD work when we discovered that Thingiverse member frubino had already created models of our broken cam lock parts. Hooray Thingiverse!

Our remix adapts frubino's design to our Manfrotto Digi 718B camera tripod. Using Autodesk Inventor's Direct Modify tool, we made the inner walls of the medium and the large latch housings wider all around by 0.5mm for a sliding fit—thanks frubino for posting IGS files!. We also created new thinner pads for inside the cam, which allowed us to fit the cam hinge pin though both the printed part and the original thumb-lock.

The replacement cam-locks

The cam locks files are here.

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This "Design Experience that Matters" series is provided courtesy of Timothy Prestero and the team at Design that Matters (DtM). As a nonprofit, DtM collaborates with leading social entrepreneurs and hundreds of volunteers to design new medical technologies for the poor in developing countries. DtM's Firefly infant phototherapy device is treating thousands of newborns in 21 counties from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe. In 2012, DtM was named the winner of the National Design Award.