How about maybe a center column with a crank for your tripod?
tokengirl, I've thought about that, but I don't think I can get one for my gitzo carbon fiber tripod and my experience with the geared columns, at least on my giant bogen, is that the column wiggles around and any fine adjustments made on the other axis are lost and have to be redone. So I'd really like more precise control.
I would e-mail or call RRS customer service and discuss your needs. The RRS parts set is multi-use and versatile.
Steve, in fact I just did that and they are thinking about what might work for me. I'll probably just get a vertical rail and slide the camera up and down manually.
Thanks for your suggestions.
Paul