Nodal Ninja 3 MKII with RD3L 6-8-10 Rotator/EZ-Leveler-II Not enough clearance

[VinkoCM]

Hello everybody,

I recently purchased the Nodal Ninja 3 MKII with RD3L 6-8-10 Rotator/EZ-Leveler-II (link: https://store.nodalninja.com/Product...II-RD3L-6-8-10).
I just got it today and I am supper excited. From what I have seen so far it looks and feels like a top quality product whose craftsmanship is superb. It looks and feels awesome.

Unfortunately, I have noticed a slight issue. It appears that there is not enough clearance between the horizontal arm and the Rotator/EZ-Leveler to allow the nob that holds the vertical arm to get close to the center. I do not believe it will be an issue as the vertical arm, the camera mount (and in my case an additional T-Adapter) will take away a lot more distance. I have not yet tried my camera on the NN but I don't think I will have a problem.

Has anybody else had an issue with is? I can't wait to try it out and I will post my first results soon.

Thank you to Nodal Ninja for a wonderland product.

VinkoCM

[Bill Bailey]

Hi VinkoCM,
The unit should work fine but "may" be a little tight if you are using a small camera like a point and shoot. Can you post an image of your setup and let us know what camera and lens you are using? If you camera in fact does not fit we need to know it's make and model and confirm you had things setup correctly. And if this turns out to be the case we'll work you in finding a unit that fits your equipment and workflow or style of shooting.
thx
Bill

[VinkoCM]

Hello Bill,

At the moment all I have is a simple point and shoot. I actually have 2 but the one I want to use is a Canon PoawerShot A710 IS. I bought it in Europe, so I haven't been able to find much info on it here in North America. But, like I said before I don't think there will be much of an issue as the t-adapter, vertical arm and mounting plate should take up a significant amount of space.

I have not yet mounted the camera, but if I do come up with a problem I will let you know.

Thank you for the support.

[Bill Bailey]

Don't be fooled - the simple point and shoot's can create stunning panoramas and mosaics - please keep us posted on how you go.
cheers
Bill

[nick fan]

I recently purchased the Nodal Ninja 3 MKII with RD3L 6-8-10 Rotator/EZ-Leveler-II (link: https://store.nodalninja.com/Product...II-RD3L-6-8-10).

Unfortunately, I have noticed a slight issue. It appears that there is not enough clearance between the horizontal arm and the Rotator/EZ-Leveler to allow the nob that holds the vertical arm to get close to the center.

Some P&S are very tiny. RD3L takes up more space than other rotators. So your problem can happen.
To solve your problem, you need to add spacer to bring the camera closer to the rotator center. A spacer can be a QR system. Velbon makes some very nice mini-QR system.
If you don't want to spend extra money, just let us know the height from base to the lens center of your camera. I can offer you modified parts for free. It will take up to 20 days for the custom parts to reach you though.


nick

[DemonDuck]

Some P&S are very tiny. RD3L takes up more space than other rotators. So your problem can happen.
To solve your problem, you need to add spacer to bring the camera closer to the rotator center. A spacer can be a QR system. Velbon makes some very nice mini-QR system.
If you don't want to spend extra money, just let us know the height from base to the lens center of your camera. I can offer you modified parts for free. It will take up to 20 days for the custom parts to reach you though.


nick

Since the topic is spacers -- a useful part would be something like an extra thick T-adapter. That would also give more space between the camera and the tilt pivot. And that would be useful in reducing the shoulder print (like a foot print but from the side) that the tilt pivot can produce when using a fisheye on a compact.

If the the T-adapter was 1-2 cm thicker, that would help. And for compact cameras -- because they are so light -- it could be just dense plastic.

[VinkoCM]

Hello everybody,

Well, I finally had the time to mount the camera today. I did end up without enough clearance between the vertical arm and the rotater. But, like I said I would, I mounted the camera to the t-adapter (which wasn't big enough, so I had to flip the little metal piece that saves the spot) and the t-adapter to the camera mounting plate. Everything fit just right. The only thing that was uncomfortable was the the knob for the rail stop for the lower assembly actually fit between the rotator and the horizontal arm, so it was tricky trying to tighten it.

I would have to agree with DemonDuck. Had the t-adapter been a 10 or 12 millimeters thicker I would not have had to use the mounting plate. And, it would save me a lot of time every time I month the camera (camera -> t-adapter, t-adapter->camera plate, camera plate-> vertical arm). As for spacers, I basically used the camera plate as a spacer, which was just enough.

All in all, it fits perfect and it looks like some awesome results will come out of it.

I will post my first panoramas soon.

Thank you

[nick fan]

Hello everybody,

Well, I finally had the time to mount the camera today. I did end up without enough clearance between the vertical arm and the rotater. But, like I said I would, I mounted the camera to the t-adapter (which wasn't big enough, so I had to flip the little metal piece that saves the spot) and the t-adapter to the camera mounting plate. Everything fit just right. The only thing that was uncomfortable was the the knob for the rail stop for the lower assembly actually fit between the rotator and the horizontal arm, so it was tricky trying to tighten it.

I would have to agree with DemonDuck. Had the t-adapter been a 10 or 12 millimeters thicker I would not have had to use the mounting plate. And, it would save me a lot of time every time I month the camera (camera -> t-adapter, t-adapter->camera plate, camera plate-> vertical arm). As for spacers, I basically used the camera plate as a spacer, which was just enough.

All in all, it fits perfect and it looks like some awesome results will come out of it.

I will post my first panoramas soon.

Thank you

Hi VinkoCM,

You said the T-adapter was no big enough for your camera. which T-adapter are you using? Do you mean the T-adapter is not wide enough to compensate for the tripod offset or not thick enough to bring the camera to rotation axis?
I like DemonDuck's idea too. So I am going to make some plastic adapter for the T-adapters to make that "thicker". So a 15mm extra thickness will be fine for you?


Nick

[VinkoCM]

Hello Nick,

I am using a used 30mm t-adapter. It fits fine. The issue was that my camera's tripod mount is really really off to the side. The t-adapter comes with a little screw so that the mounting screw stays in the same position at all times (like a rail stop). Well, the little screw was to the left of the main mounting screw, all I had to do was rotate it 180 degrees so that it was on the right. It now fits fine.

An extra 15mm would not be bad at all. At the moment, I am using the camera mounting plate as a spacer and it is so large that it covers the mounting screw in the t-adapter. Therefore I have to mount the camera to the adapter, then the adapter to the CP and finally the CP to the rail. I have managed to flip around the CP (if that makes any sense) so it no longer covers the mounting screw. But and extra 15mm would be appreciated and would save a lot of time.

I will post images of my setup in the coming week.

Thanks for all the hhelp

[nick fan]

Hello Nick,

I am using a used 30mm t-adapter. It fits fine. The issue was that my camera's tripod mount is really really off to the side. The t-adapter comes with a little screw so that the mounting screw stays in the same position at all times (like a rail stop). Well, the little screw was to the left of the main mounting screw, all I had to do was rotate it 180 degrees so that it was on the right. It now fits fine.

An extra 15mm would not be bad at all. At the moment, I am using the camera mounting plate as a spacer and it is so large that it covers the mounting screw in the t-adapter. Therefore I have to mount the camera to the adapter, then the adapter to the CP and finally the CP to the rail. I have managed to flip around the CP (if that makes any sense) so it no longer covers the mounting screw. But and extra 15mm would be appreciated and would save a lot of time.

I will post images of my setup in the coming week.

Thanks for all the hhelp

HI VinkoCM,

I realize I have made some smaller knob to replace the camera mounting knob to bring the camera close to rotator center. This knob will also work for the lower rail. Send me you address by pm, I will send you this knob.

Nick

[VinkoCM]

HI VinkoCM,

I realize I have made some smaller knob to replace the camera mounting knob to bring the camera close to rotator center. This knob will also work for the lower rail. Send me you address by pm, I will send you this knob.

Nick

Hello Nick, I am sorry it took me so long to answer. I have been crazy busy.

Anyways, the smaller knob is not needed. After moving parts, flipping parts and rotating other parts, I have come to a perfect configuration (see images below). I have the camera mounted to the t-adapter, which is mounted to the large thin camera mounting plate, which is in turn mounted to the horizontal slider.





My first attempt was with just the t-adapter, and like I said in the beginning, I was not able to bring the vertical arm close enough to the center because the mounting knob was too thick. I then added the thin camera mounting plate and the horizontal slider. But I had the mounting plate rotated in the opposite directions in the images (the little L was up against the very end of the t-adapter) The issue with that was that the mounting plate covered half of the screw for mounting the camera on the t-adapter. So I had to mount the camera to the t-adapter and than all that to the mounting plate. I then rotated the mounting plate 180 degrees (the L is touching the inside edge of the t-adapter, and the other end sticks out away from the camera).

This new configuration works fine: I just mount the camera directly to the t-adapter, then I amount the whole thing to the swinging arm. In addition, all the extra plates (camera mounting plate and slider) add to much thickness, that the rail stop had to go in the inside (which was hard to tighten because it did fit between the leveler and the horizontal arm). So I do not need the smaller knob, but you may want to think about shipping it to new customers that purchase the same combination as I have.

Thanks again for all the help.

[nick fan]

After moving parts, flipping parts and rotating other parts, I have come to a perfect configuration (see images below).

looks perfect. Thanks for the tip.

Nick

[VinkoCM]

Yes, Nick, it works like a charm. Thank you for all the help and suggestions.