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I have a tripod that is probably at least 30 years old and I would like to know the brand at least. It has a logo on it I have not been able to find nor interpret. Does it say GON? GOON? GOND? Something else entirely? Below is a picture of the tripod and the logo on the dial thingy. It has no other markings I can find. It belonged to my Dad.

Edit to add: probably doesn't help, but it was either purchased in NZ post 1975 ish or the UK (England/Wales) prior to that.

tipod Logo on the dial thingy leg of tripod tripod top disassembled

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    \$\begingroup\$ I have no idea, but it's also very possible the logo is just a G with a weird stylized person holding a camera inside and not meant to represent letter forms. But then again, sure could be letters too! \$\endgroup\$
    – mattdm
    Jun 14, 2018 at 1:42
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    \$\begingroup\$ Are you able to remove the pan/tilt head from the top of the central column of the tripod? there may be a clue or more information on the fitting plate at the top of that column. I was wondering Gitzo but I've had a google for old Gitzo models and they show the full word 'gitzo' as the logo, eg in the 5th image on here: ebay.co.uk/itm/Tripode-GITZO-FRANCE-GILUX-REPORTER-RN-2-Tripod/… \$\endgroup\$
    – laurencemadill
    Jun 14, 2018 at 11:05
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    \$\begingroup\$ Ok, it does come apart, but more importantly it is able to be put back together again, phew. No hidden symbols. You could hide a secret message in the hollow centre tube, but no one did. \$\endgroup\$
    – standgale
    Jun 14, 2018 at 22:50
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    \$\begingroup\$ I reached out to Gitzo's Contact Us, asking if the logo may have been a super early version for Gitzo, and they responded: "Good Afternoon Hueco, Thank you for reaching out to us regarding our Gitzo product. The attached item is not a Gitzo product. Additionally, we are unfamiliar with the logo so I am not sure who it may be. I am sorry I could not be more helpful. If you have any questions or require any additional assistance, please reach back out to us. Thank you Help Desk " \$\endgroup\$
    – OnBreak.
    Dec 20, 2018 at 22:18
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    \$\begingroup\$ added two more photos, not sure if they're useful ones. \$\endgroup\$
    – standgale
    Dec 21, 2018 at 1:07

4 Answers 4

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I found this tripod at my dad's house and was curious about its history when I found this topic. Mine is a little different from yours, but quite similar. It's made in Japan and the brand, as I can tell, is "Planet". I'm not a photographer so I don't have any knowledge about tripods, but as I can tell, this is a rugged one. Very stable and durable. Well, it is older than me (I was born in 1983). If you watch closely on mine there is something missing at the handle, and it is present on yours.

My dad bought here in Brazil in the late 70' - 80's, I believe.

image 1 image 2 image 3 image 4 image 5 image 6 image 7 image 8

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This is purely speculation, but perhaps the brand is "GOIN", Goin, or the like? Searching for "goin tripod uk", I came across several out-of-date Amazon.co.uk and eBay product links (unfortunately, without product images, hoping to find brand logos):

Other advertised brands for "Q-666C Tripod" are Afaith, Zomei, Supon, QZSD (Quingzhangshedai), and others.

Based on the fairly recent existence of branded tripods being sold on Amazon.co.uk, I'm going to assume that Goin/GOIN was a photography accessories brand in the UK, that like many brands, was acquired at some point by a Chinese company in the last 20 years.

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    \$\begingroup\$ Best lead anyone has — although I kind of wonder if this is actually just other random people trying to interpret that weird logo. \$\endgroup\$
    – mattdm
    Sep 24, 2019 at 21:50
  • \$\begingroup\$ @mattdm No other random people than me. =) I just thought perhaps "Goin" was maybe the brand, and searched for "Goin tripod", and tried to follow what I could. I wasn't able to find any other images of the logo anywhere else. The products in the links (hmm, outdated/defunct now) didn't have the logo in OQ. ¯_(ツ)_/¯ =) \$\endgroup\$
    – scottbb ♦
    Sep 24, 2019 at 22:41
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Is it not a very old Velbon? The leg sections and the clamps are reminiscent of early velbon tripods, and they were sold under various names and logos over the years. I have to admit that a search of older velbon tripod images did not however throw any light on the issue.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ That'll be Velbon, not Velbron... not sure that's the right answer, but my first tripod was a Velbon Victory 450. \$\endgroup\$
    – Jim MacKenzie
    Jul 21, 2018 at 2:29
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Could it be a Gitzo tripod after all? I know that user laurencemadill already looked into that option, but the logo you posted in the question looks like a (creative) rendition of the logo of Arséne Gitzhoven (the founder of Gitzo), which is a G with an A in it (can't include the photo due to copyright).

You could even interpret that the logo actually spells out Gitzo as follows:

  • The G is obvious
  • The I is the white rectangle
  • The T is rotated CCW by 90o. It is a combination of the white rectangle and the smaller black rectangle to the right of the white rectangle.
  • The Z is rotated CCW by 90o and looks like an N in your photo
  • The O is the black dot in the upper left inside the G.

Another thing that might point in that direction is the handle of the tripod-head arm. This seems to be a shutter release and looks similar to older Gitzo's shutter releases.
Then again, I'm not an expert so perhaps all older shutter releases looked like that.

Source: http://camera-wiki.org/wiki/Gitzo

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  • \$\begingroup\$ Additional source: camera-wiki.org/wiki/Gitzo_tripods - Which model for the win, I'll give you a upvote for now. Thanks. This was a burning question until it was forgotten. \$\endgroup\$
    – Rob
    Dec 19, 2018 at 17:18
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    \$\begingroup\$ All the Gitzo tripods I could find have round legs. The legs cross-section and lock mechanism looks more like the on found in Heiwa tripods. But I agree that the built-in release hints at Gitzo. Tripod and head could be from separate manufacturers. \$\endgroup\$
    – xenoid
    Dec 19, 2018 at 19:04
  • \$\begingroup\$ @xenoid, yes that's the issue I'm running into as well. All the Gitzo tripods seem to have some markings on the tripod, this one doesn't. So the separate head/tripod theory is likely. Unfortunately there are no more photos of the tripod or head, so unless the question asker returns, this is probably a dead end. \$\endgroup\$
    – Saaru Lindestøkke
    Dec 19, 2018 at 20:12
  • \$\begingroup\$ Gitzo is a stretch because too many letters need to be read sideways. \$\endgroup\$
    – xiota
    Dec 19, 2018 at 22:24
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    \$\begingroup\$ @Rob I reached out to Gitzo's Contact Us, asking if the logo may have been a super early version for Gitzo, and they responded: "Good Afternoon Hueco, Thank you for reaching out to us regarding our Gitzo product. The attached item is not a Gitzo product. Additionally, we are unfamiliar with the logo so I am not sure who it may be. I am sorry I could not be more helpful. If you have any questions or require any additional assistance, please reach back out to us. Thank you Help Desk " \$\endgroup\$
    – OnBreak.
    Dec 20, 2018 at 22:16

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