1940 Tripod, Tripod head, and double cable release help

[250swb]

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There are plenty of double cable releases with equal length cables available, what I think you need is the Nikon F/F2, Leica, Yashica, cable release adapter which screws on over the unthreaded button of Barnack Leica's, Nikon S, Nikon F etc.. 

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This allows a normal threaded cable release to be used without unscrewing the shutter button surround of the Leica. The Nikon AR-2 is a single cable release with this adapter fitted, so at a pinch use two of those, and the Nikon double cable release the AR-8 is unfortunately different length cables and only one has the adapter fitted so that wouldn't work. 

 

Edited May 3 by 250swb

[250swb]

On further investigation this OZWTO should work?

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But there seems to be many variations on the OZWTO theme.

 

[romanus53]

vor 1 Stunde schrieb 250swb:

On further investigation this OZWTO should work?

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But there seems to be many variations on the OZWTO theme.

 

the Leica-double cable releases will work with the mirror boxes, so there will be a delay between the two, on of them is also marked with a black ring around the collar (afaik the one for the mirror)

[pippy]

On 5/2/2025 at 5:44 PM, TomB_tx said:

Tiltall started production in 1946 as a family business in the USA and produced the head and then the tripod complete until 1973 when the design was bought by the USA  E. Leitz, Inc., in Rockleigh, New Jersey. I had borrowed one in college in the 1960s, and bought the Leitz USA version in the 1970s. It's a sturdy, simple no-frills tripod. I don't know when Leitz USA divested the brand, but I understand the Tiltall brand is now owned by a Taiwan company.

Thanks for the back-story of the Tiltall, Tom, as that was all new to me.

I've been using a (Leitz badged) Tiltall as my location tripod for 25 years or more. For anyone unfamiliar with the product they are made using thick-ish walled aluminium so although they are quite light in weight they are also, as you say, a sturdy piece of kit.

Assuming the brass baseplate seen in the OP has been provided with a centrally-positioned mounting-thread for a tripod I don't see any reason that a Tiltall would not be able to hold a pair of Barnacks unless they are both fitted with enormous and/or ludicrously heavy lenses.

Philip.

EDIT : Just out of curiosity I dug out the Sinar and put it atop the Tiltall. No problems whatsoever handling the weight / bulk;

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Edited May 5 by pippy

[250swb]

8 hours ago, romanus53 said:

the Leica-double cable releases will work with the mirror boxes, so there will be a delay between the two, on of them is also marked with a black ring around the collar (afaik the one for the mirror)

Thanks, I didn’t see the black ring.

[Amich35]

In my box of artifacts from 1940, I have two short, regular screw in cable releases.  If I understand this correctly, I can screw the Leica adapters on to each of these and then screw both onto the cameras?

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[Amich35]

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I just received the second, non working, Leica IIIb I purchased on ebay to help me recreate how the original photographer took pictures in 1940 and you can see that it's a perfect fit on the stereo bar, 

In case you weren't around when I first explained all of this, I'm a history professor working on a book about an unknown stereo photographer whose collection of images I purchased at a garage sale in 1996.  There are about 2000 Kodachrome images from 1940, most of them stereo.  The pics were taken all over the country, including 7 national parks, Niagara Falls, both world's fairs, and then a smattering of images around the country including Boston, Washington, Miami, New Orleans, San Antonio, Michigan, Indiana, Iowa, Denver, Albuquerque, Salt Lake, Hoover Dam, and Hollywood.  There are also about 60 slides dated 1939 showing Glacier National Park.  I know that these weren't taken any more recent because the photographer was murdered in October 1942.   As part of my work, I've been rephotographing his images using paired Sony cameras on a stereo bar and you can see those cameras as well.  I hadn't thought too much about the cameras till recently and thanks to all of you, think that I have figured it out.  

Thanks

Mike

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[PG Black nickel]

Hello everyone,
Just a technical remark, it was accepted by the first inventors of stereophotography (e.g. Jules Richard verascope, homeos...) that the distance between the lenses should be between 6 and 7 cm to get the perfect impression of relief. However, between the 2 lenses of these III b cameras, the distance is obviously much greater, so the stereo view will inevitably be very distorted.

[Amich35]

43 minutes ago, PG Black nickel said:

Hello everyone,
Just a technical remark, it was accepted by the first inventors of stereophotography (e.g. Jules Richard verascope, homeos...) that the distance between the lenses should be between 6 and 7 cm to get the perfect impression of relief. However, between the 2 lenses of these III b cameras, the distance is obviously much greater, so the stereo view will inevitably be very distorted.

Hyperstereo depends on several factors but having looked  at the 2,000 slides, I'd say that they're not.  

[chris_livsey]

This discussion, with calculations, concludes that both the far point and focal length need to be included in any separation, not my field at all and reading this a deep and twisting rabbit hole.

 Lens Separation in Stereo Photography

 

 

[Amich35]

A little update on my work to understand my 1940 photographer.  I purchased 2 of these cable release connectors and they attached perfectly to my two 1940 cable releases shown above in my photo and then, after unscrewing the knurled nut around the shutter on the cameras, connected perfectly and worked!

So from a photo and two artifacts, I have found cameras that perfectly fit the stereo bar and can now connect the period cable releases to the cameras. 

Thanks much to everyone for their help!

Mike 

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[250swb]

On 5/8/2025 at 9:00 PM, Amich35 said:

A little update on my work to understand my 1940 photographer.  I purchased 2 of these cable release connectors and they attached perfectly to my two 1940 cable releases shown above in my photo and then, after unscrewing the knurled nut around the shutter on the cameras, connected perfectly and worked!

So from a photo and two artifacts, I have found cameras that perfectly fit the stereo bar and can now connect the period cable releases to the cameras. 

Thanks much to everyone for their help!

Mike 

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You normally don't need to unscrew the shutter surround, but then the adapter and Leica's shutter surrounds may have design differences from one model to the next.

[dkCambridgeshire]

Berlebach have manufactured wooden (ash wood) tripods in Germany since th 19th C. and continue to manufacture using the same 'sliding leg' designs as made during the 1940s and prior. Could be worth checking eBay listings. Berlebach also offered their own tripod heads.  Brief history of Berlebach: https://www.berlebach.de/en/?bereich=firma

You might also consider researching sliding stereo bar 'supports / tripods' used during 1940s by approaching The Stereoscopic Society http://www.stereoscopicsociety.org.uk/WordPress/

EDIT: Just checked Dennis Laney's "Leica Collector's Guide 2nd Edition" and Jim Lager's "Leica An Illustrated History Volume III - ACCESSORIES" – both of which document and illustrate 1930s / 1940s, Leitz tripod heads. 

BW, dunk 

Edited May 11 by dkCambridgeshire
additionsl info.