Work Light / Flood Light Meets Camera Tripod

This mod comes in pretty handy and on the cheap if you own both a work light and a camera tripod.

If you are an amateur photographer like me, you will probably own some kind of tripod for your camera, but you probably won´t have it attached to the camera all the time, like a pro wildlife or sports photographer.

Often there are situations where you need proper illumination whilst not taking photos; like building or fixing things, renovating or cleaning your home, car or bike, accent lighting for next bbq, etc. pp.
And if you are into some of the latter, you might as well own some kind of work light or flood light, maybe even several.

So why not let them meet (or better, mate) and save some bucks (and precious storing space) for an extra work light tripod.

Pros:

• free / cheap
• repurpose / double benefit of owned items
• single-handed adjustment of light-beam
• switch to original use as camera tripod within seconds (if you own two or more quick release plates, but still less than three minutes if you don´t)

Cons / Notes:

• Be sure to check the max. weight your tripod can support before you attempt to convert it.
• This modification is not supposed to substitute rugged heavy-duty equipment used in harsh conditions, aka building sites or alike. For responsible hobby-use only.

Materials:

• work light / flood light (LED or incandescent, just make sure to check it´s weigth)
• camera tripod equipped with a quick release plate
• M5 screw (or imperial equivalent) (may vary depending on tripod type)
• M5 nut (or imperial equivalent) (may vary depending on tripod type)
• M5 washer (or imperial equivalent) (may vary depending on tripod type)

Tools:

• wrench
• (optional) another wrench or pliers to counter
• (optional) clamping ring removal tool

Detach the screw for mounting the camera from the quick release plate. Insert the M5 screw instead.
(This may vary depending on the type of tripod you have, on some (higher quality) tripods you might need to remove a clamping ring before beeing able to remove the original screw. Mine is relatively cheap and the screw is only held back by a rubber plate, turning the screw counterclockwise whilst pulling a little on it worked fine for me.)

Place the mounting plate of the work light over the M5 screw, put a washer and the M5 nut over it and tighten those using a wrench. You might need to counter the screw using another wrench or some pliers. I used my hands, worked fine.

Attach the work light mounted to the quick release plate to your camera tripod.

• Easily adjust the beam (tilt and pan simultaniously) of the work light single-handed
• Use of the wide range of positions a camera tripod allows for (some tripods can even be converted to "upside-down" installment for a "worm's-eye view", in this case e.g illumination of the bottom of your car).
• Attach or detach the work light or switch to camera-mode within seconds*

Hope you like it :)

Thanks for comments, suggestions, "made-its" and don´t forget to vote if I happen to find a contest to which this might comply to.

Check the next step for a little teaser of my next `ible in progress, the
"Modular Magnetic Stainless Steel Wallmounted Jewelry Organizer" which I made as a gift for my girlfriend.

(BTW: I´m not a native English speaker, I just try my very best, so if you find expressions or phrases which seem uncommon for a native speaker, feel free to suggest a better expression.)

* In case you have a second, third or several quick release plate(s) mounted to your camera or other stuff. Otherwise it should take about 2 minutes to restore your quick release plate. But those plates are relatively cheap if you order online and it proved to be useful to have at least two of them.

This will be a little more detailed `ible and the result already proved to be pretty useful while looking fine, too.

But, ...well..., I definitely have to think about some shorter and sexier name for that build...

CU