Old style Manfrotto 055 Tripod

I've got an old style 055 aluminium tripod which I have removed the bottom half of the central column to get it lower to the ground. However is there any way of removing the remaining part of the column - without sawing it off so I can get flat to the ground with this tripod

Many thanks

Taxboy wrote in post #2917092
I've got an old style 055 aluminium tripod which I have removed the bottom half of the central column to get it lower to the ground. However is there any way of removing the remaining part of the column - without sawing it off so I can get flat to the ground with this tripod

Many thanks

You could do what I did - buy the latest center column for the 3021/055 tripods. The newest column separates from a "full-length" column into one which is only a few inches long with the head mounting plate on it, and a leftover part.

With the column thus separated, you can get the 3021/055 (and 3001/190) family tripods right down on the ground by spreading the legs all out to a horizontal position.

Are you talking about this?

http://www.bhphotovide​o.com:80 …EG&addedTroughT​ype=search

airshaq20 wrote in post #2917457
Are you talking about this?

http://www.bhphotovide​o.com:80 …EG&addedTroughT​ype=search

Nope. The part number for what I was referring to is the 055TSB. Here it is at B&H.

Here is a photo from the Bogen web site that may show it a little better:

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You unscrew the knob at the lower end, and the long portion comes away from the top (short) portion. The head stays intact - no messing around with remounting the head.

This center column, by the way, is STANDARD ISSUE with the 3021BPro sold these days (new, of course).

But is the Bogen / Manfrotto 055LLA going to work in his application too?

SkipD wrote in post #2918229
Nope. The part number for what I was referring to is the 055TSB. Here it is at B&H.

Here is a photo from the Bogen web site that may show it a little better:

[ HOSTED PHOTO DISPLAY FAILED: ATTACH id 157376 does not exist. ]

You unscrew the knob at the lower end, and the long portion comes away from the top (short) portion. The head stays intact - no messing around with remounting the head.

This center column, by the way, is STANDARD ISSUE with the 3021BPro sold these days (new, of course).

airshaq20 wrote in post #2918547
But is the Bogen / Manfrotto 055LLA going to work in his application too?

While the 055LLA could work, using it means that you would have to remove your head from the original center column, then remove the center column from the tripod, then mount the 055LLA, then mount the head to the 055LLA. To go back to a full center column, you have to go through all the steps in reverse. Every time you want a short column, you repeat all the steps again.

To me, that is WAY too much work.

With the new style center column, there is only ONE step. That is to unscrew the extension that makes the center column a "column". You don't have to remove the head, reinstall the head, or any of that wasted effort.

Thanks for your comments - I'll make some enquiries