Marchioni Bros. History in Leitz Brochures

Leitz Tiltall brochure below, c.1974. Courtesy: Richard Haeseler, New Port Richey FL USA Leitz Tiltall brochure below, c. 1981. Courtesy: Pacific Rim Camera, Salem, OR 97302

Current Leg Bushing Modified to fit Leitz

Hi Gary, IT WORKED!!!! I have attached pictures of the before and after process. My friend Gary (Hmmmm  Something going on with that...) cut the flat non beveled part and then whittled it down to the right thickness He put the piece over a wooden dowel and duct taped over washer then he used a small saw (hacksaw) with a fine tooth blade and cut it by hand I guess you could use a dremel, but this seemed the better choice. I am holding on to the other washer as is and if over time the current resized washer works, then I will go ahead and make another...  If not, then I will not cut off the non beveled section and then whittle it all down...  that leaves the washer a little wider, then I can (hopefully) slide that elongated thin part under the larger/upper leg... if that makes sense to you Anyhow, I don't claim to know the parts of the tripod so...  if you would like to share these pictures ...  I will leave the description up to you. We used a dremel with a sanding barrel tip to widdle it down Thanks Gary, Beth Pauze

StarD. . .Mystery Resolved?

On Sun, Apr 1, 2012

Subject: Tiltall Story

Message: The Tiltall story still seems to be a bit foggy. I intend to update the story at photoscala.de and would like to mention your website.

Since the Davidson Optic company is now a subsidiary of a German company in Wedel, I'll ask them for any details. I'll let you know about their answers.  Best regards, Christoph cj@photoscala.de

Dear Christoph,

Yes, please link me and I am remiss not to have linked to you earlier and will do so - actually, now. . .this email is immediately upload to the blog.

Foggy indeed.  Two days ago I had a quick conversation with Steven Tiffen (CEO, TIFFEN Filters, etc and son of the founder of TIFFEN).  Steve was a teenager at the time but added this hint to the fog.

According to Steve:  PhotoBarn's Fred Albo bought the trademark "StarD" from Davidson in the late 70s or early 80s when they decided to stop their manufacturing of their tripods.  PhotoBarn had been a "StarD" tripod retailer up to then.  Fred also either had or would shortly acquire the rights to the TILTALL mark and its design from Lietz.  Fred then split the TILTALL design into two versions -  a low end "StarD" for "mass marketing" and the Unifot Tiltall for pro stores which more or less continued the Marchioni/Leitz features, except for simplification of the leg bushes (no brass). I think we are close to closing the case.

--no fooling!  Gary