Classic Camera - Lens - Tripod in Mannix Episode

[BuckSkin]

I was helping Mannix solve a case when I came upon a mystery of my own to solve.

Mannix - Season 4 Episode 4 - "Figures in Landscape" - 10-October-1970

Early on in the episode, Mannix is in a camera shop, admiring a tripod-mounted camera with a very long lens.

What took my eye is the tripod is most definitely in the Tilt-All family; however, it has a couple more knobs than my classic Tilt-All (which has four); plus, it has an elevator crank that the classic Tilt-Alls lack.

Also, it is of a color that I have never seen on a Tilt-All before.

Although I cannot make it out, it appears to have the early riveted Leitz emblem (as mine does).

The head is most definitely Tilt-All and the legs are Tilt-All.

I thought I was familiar with everything Tilt-All ever made, but this one is a first for me.

Can anyone identify this tripod ?

If I had a model number, I would be scouring E-Bay for one for myself.

How about the lens and camera ?


Oh....., by the way..., I love my Tilt-All.

[Chris]

Thank you for your post Buckskin. I think your best bet would be to contact the manufacturer to help you solve this mystery. Another possibility is to try a Google picture search of Tiltall tripods and see if you can spot something similar.

Out of interest, what are the positive features of Tiltall tripods that you like?

Kind regards
Chris

PS When I am hiking in the mountains, I take my carbon fibre 4 tier Manfrotto tripod with a ball head and quick release (model 055CXPro4). Carbon fibre is lighter than aluminium which makes it easier to carry around.

[BuckSkin]

Sept 21, 2022 19:58:55 GMT Chris said:

what are the positive features of Tiltall tripods that you like?

Tilt-All Tripods

The advantages to me are hard to narrow down; I like everything about it.

I especially like that it is bull-stout and that it is highly adjustable.

I added a big long-stem Arca-Swiss style clamp to the mount surface.

I have matching Arca-Swiss plates on all of my cameras AND on all of my tripod heads (plus Arca-Swiss clamps on those as well).

My Yelangu Gimbal resides on it most of the time; I can quickly remove the gimbal and mount a camera directly to the Tilt-All with no need for another head.

I like that it is tall without having to extend the column.

Our Slik 700DX is also bull-stout and tall and we really like it as well --- except that the Slik requires a head be added whereas the head is incorporated in the design of the Tilt-All.

Although I have never had a problem with the leg adjustment on the Tilt-All, I do prefer the flip-lock style of the Slik over the twist-lock style of the Tilt-All --- I have never had either tripod to slip.

If I come up with another Tilt-All column, I may retrofit it to the Slik and have the best of both worlds.


Plus, there is a huge COOL factor in using a classic Tilt-All.

[BuckSkin]

Okay, confirmed evidence that there was at least one Tilt-All made with an elevator crank column.

I stumbled upon THIS DISCUSSION, dated sometime in 2003, about a "Brilliant Professional", made by the Brilliant Screen and Tripod Company, that sold on E-Bay.

The E-Bay link is now a dead soldier, as may be the participants of the conversation of nineteen years ago.

The guy seems to have exhaustively searched for more information on the company and tripod to no avail.

I wish I could make out the brand-name on the label - on the TV episode - but it is just a blur to me.

Maybe I can stumble across another --- or that same one --- on E-Bay.

[Chris]

Buckskin, is this similar to the tripod you saw?

BRILLIANT SCREEN & TRIPOD INC. PROFESSIONAL TELESCOPING CAMERA TRIPOD 57" high
www.ebay.com/itm/133936675691

OR
BRILLIANT SCREEN & TRIPOD INC. TELESCOPING CAMERA TRIPOD 57" space age VTG 60s
www.ebay.com/itm/325144472951

I wonder if they were made by Tiltall for another company? Or maybe were made by the Brilliant Screen & Tripod Inc. company under licence from Tiltall?

Kind regards
Chris

[BuckSkin]

Sept 22, 2022 19:37:54 GMT Chris said:

is this similar to the tripod you saw?

The first link is standard classic Tilt-All design, lacking the screw-elevated column like the one I saw in the Mannix episode.

The second link is something else.

That first link would be worth grabbing anyway if the shipping weren't so high; by the time you add the high shipping, it is getting up there close to genuine Marchioni and Leitz Tilt-Alls.

Thanks for taking an interest in this quest; if you ever get your hands on a genuine Marchioni or Leitz 4602 Titl-All, you will be hooked.

[VickiD]

Grabbed a shot of the controversial tripod from the internet...and then HAD to watch the episode. Good one, BuckSkin!

[BuckSkin]

Sept 24, 2022 17:57:19 GMT VickiD said:

Grabbed a shot of the controversial tripod from the internet...and then HAD to watch the episode.

Thanks for taking an interest and digging in.

I have been helping Mannix solve two or three cases every day; I don't know what I am going to do when we get them all solved.

I never got to watch anything like that back when I was a kid so I am catching up now.

I love that they had REAL cars back then and not the disposable plastic junk most people drive nowadays.


As for the tripod, I just had a communication with the guy who owns THIS SITE and learned that he has one of the "Mannix" tripods in his collection.

[VickiD]

It was weird, BuckSkin ...I watched the episode on my computer and the film had been reversed!!! All the words were mirror images and the steering wheels on those 'real' cars were on the wrong side! I did enjoy it and got over the reversed view really quickly, although it did feel like I was in an alternate universe.

[BuckSkin]

Sept 26, 2022 2:00:13 GMT VickiD said:

I watched the episode on my computer and the film had been reversed!!!

That is weird.

FETV (Family Entertainment TV) has been playing the episodes in sequence for the last couple years; I caught it when they came back around to the beginning and set my DISH Hopper (DVR) to record/save them.

[VickiD]

Sept 26, 2022 2:52:11 GMT BuckSkin said:

FETV (Family Entertainment TV) has been playing the episodes in sequence for the last couple years

Awesome! I checked and Fios (my provider) has FETV (channel 245). Checked it out, added to favorite channels...they have some interesting shows in their lineup. Thank you, BuckSkin!