Tripods

[seany65]

Hello all,

I was wondering if anyone knows of a traditional style tripod, with 4 section, centre-braced legs, geared centre column, 3-way pan and tilt head (with single arm on the left and the horizontal/vertical camera platform) that has a removable head so that I can put one of those "tripod leveling head" things on, which would give some of the adjustability of a ball and socket head and then put the normal tripod head on top so that I don't have to spend an hour adjusting the height of the legs in order to get the head properly horizontal?

I'm fairly sure this may be a tall order, but I thought I'd ask anyway.

Thanks for any help anyone can provide.

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

Professional level tripods rarely have center braced legs, and the legs are usually 3 section except for lightweight travel tripods (which are never center braced). If there a reason for those unusual requirements?

 

[Darthfeeble]

Seems everything you have issues with will be solved by a good ball head. I tried a geared head and at my price level they are clumsy to use, not very precise which seems to negate their use. I have a three way that I find much easier to adjust but even so I go back to my ball heads. I do mostly landscape and nature, I only do studio type work when prevailed upon by friends or family so that might influence my opinion.

 

[seany65]

Thanks for the replies.

I was thinking of 4 section legs in the hope that the tripod would be a bit smaller than a tripod with 3 section legs as I'd be carrying it on trips into the countryside but I don't have my own transport, so much of it would be by foot and a smaller tripod seems less cumbersome.

At present I have a Neewer 64" tripod, and while the legs fold up towards the head for storage making it a bit smaller than what I'd call a "standard" tripod, there's nothing really stopping the legs being pushed towards the centre column, especially by a clumsy clot like me, so that's why I want centre-braced legs.

If I've got the tripod set up but I need to raise the camera a little bit, I have to undo the collar at the top of where the legs join together so that I can raise the head, but that doesn't stop the head with the camera on it turning to either side of where it was aimed and so I have to faff about re-aiming the camera at the subject, which is why I want a geared centre-column.

I have a ball and socket head and when I want to tilt the the camera up or down I have to undo two control knobs (one of which has a grip rubber that now turns without loosening that knob), but when I do that the camera platform tilts up and down and left and right and so I have to re-aim the camera yet again and that's why I want a pan and tilt head.

I've had "standard" tripods with pan and tilt heads with spirit bubbles on before and it can be a real pain in the 'arris to get the camera platform level as I had to bend down to undo a leg section to adjust it and at the same time look at the spirit level to see how level the camera platform is and then faff about repeating the process for the other legs, and that's why I want to use a "tripod leveling base head" thing.

 

[joe bosak]

Manfrotto 161mk2b has a geared centre column and braced legs. It's huge and probably weighs a ton, hardly suitable for carrying. There are other models not quite as big and heavy with those features but those seem to be associated with heavy tripods.

Video tripods often seem to have bracing, they might be lighter.

I have a Manfrotto 755XB, it's got the same 3-section unbraced legs as the 055 series, but the centre column has a built-in levelling platform. I've put a 405 geared head on that. I hated a pan and tilt head I had, just as bad as a ball head to me. Geared head gives control. But there are different qualities of head, some swear by ball heads and hate geared heads. There's also fluid ball heads, which give a more controlled movement.

 

[Darthfeeble]

You know what you want, now go shop. Both the big online NYC stores have a huge selection, see if you can find what you need there or Ebay as well.

 

[x-ray]

Life is tough isn’t it? Perhaps when you get to be famous you can hire a camera assistant to carry your gear and set it up for you.

I don’t think you’re going to find what you’re looking for. What you describe is a hybrid between a cine/video and a still camera tripod. The only braced leg tripods I’m aware of are some of the old Linhof tripods. The twin leg Pro and Heavy Duty Pro are about it. The Heavy Duty is the only one I’m aware of that has a geared column, twin braced legs and a pan tilt head available. The catch, and I owned one for my 8x10 and 11x14 cameras, is it weighs around 45-50 pounds and is a monster and it’s expensive.

Seriously, you may have to put out a little effort and energy if you want to make photos. I find the process enjoyable and a part of creating an image.

I would suggest getting a really good tripod like a Gitzo carbon fiber. They make a variety of sizes with geared or friction columns and a variety of heads from geared to ball and 3 way leveling heads. Geared columns are usually found in the larger tripods though. If you check eBay you’ll find the legs, columns and heads sold separately so you can build the tripod you need.

A top quality tripod is solid and the legs won’t fold up accidentally. There’s a huge difference in a cheap look alike and a real Gitzo. I have a 1, 2, 3 and 5 series in carbon fiber and had 2 aluminum models which have all be fantastic.

They’re built for professional use and will last a lifetime. I used my professionally for decades. I’ve worn out the sleeves in the legs on my series 3 and replaced them twice. I knocked it over, without the camera, and broke the quick release and knocked it off a scaffold breaking the same part. Both times parts were readily available and I was able to repair it myself in ten minutes.

Cheap look alikes aren’t the same, they’re cheap for a reason. Be prepared though to pay a premium price, they are expensive.

 

[wlewisiii]

If you want cheap, I recently bought this. It's the best cheap one I've found and better than many more expensive ones:

ZOMEi Q111 Portable Aluminum Tripod Stand Kit for Live Broadcast Video Photography and Wildlife Photography

FEATURES: • NOTICE -- 1 to 3 Business Day Delivery with Free Shipping to USA • The lock system adopts the flip button-down design provides a more convenient leg handling • Only about 2.6 pounds (1.18kg), portable but sturdy enough for travelling • A center-column hook allowing you to hang...

www.zomei.com

Someday I'll break down and just get a Gitzo but for now, that suffices.

 

[shawn]

A geared center column with a head leveler on top of it sounds like a nightmare. You are using the head leveler to avoid getting the base level. Cranking the head up is going to move the camera off center from the legs and make it less stable. And probably will be throwing off your camera aim anyway since it isn't going to be going straight up and down.

As a couple of ideas for alternatives... get a pair of legs that adjust quickly. That gets your base relatively level easily and lets you adjust height too.

Two other options for getting level quicker. Either use a ball head to do it and then put a panning plate on top of that. That lets you use the ball head to get level and then pan easily from there. Something like this for example though I have an ARCA clamp on top, not the screw:




The other option is a bowl head leveling base under you main head. That will give you some freedom to level quickly.


But adds more weight and can interfer with folding if you legs reverse fold to get smaller.

Of the two I strongly prefer the first setup. With a good ball head it is very easy to re-aim a camera quickly and not mess up your framing. On my Gitzo GT3541XLS I have an ArcaSwiss B1 which works great. The head can be loosened so the camera holds position but will allow for it to still be repositioned easily.

I also have a smaller Dolica CX600 with a ball head and panning head on top. That is a good compact tripod that I use when hiking and need the lighter weight. It works well but the Gitzo is on a different level, not the least of which is I'm 6'5" and at full extension I can walk under the Gitzo.

ArcaSwiss also made a ballhead that allowed for independent vertical and horizontal adjustment, the B2. I have one of them but it is a monster and very heavy. After using it for awhile i went back to the B1 as it is lighter and I found it quicker to setup and aim.

 

[raydm6]

traditional style tripod

When I read this I was thinking of wooden tripods: Ries, Berlebach, Oberwerk, etc.

This Italian photographer (Massimo Vitali) takes "tripoding" to a new level 🙂

Massimo Vitali: Short Stories - 1854 Photography

"For me the beach is the perfect place to observe people," wrote Massimo Vitali on his blog back in July 2018. "In other words, we go to the beach to take pictures of people, not to take pictures of the beach. The beach is the most suitable place to observe human beings’ behavior, the existence...

www.1854.photography

 

[Yokosuka Mike]

A while ago (over a year ago) I bought a used Manfrotto 410 junior geared head for my tripod, it cost about $35.00; that’s pretty cheap. Visually it was in mint condition but mechanically it had problems - backlash and slop in the adjusting knobs. I was not at all familiar with this tripod head so I did what everybody does, I checked youtube videos for how to fix it. Some vids said that it can’t be fixed, some vids went into intricate detail on how to completely tear the head down and rebuild it with new parts (very time consuming and expensive). I had just about given up when after rewording my youtube query a few times I found a short and sweet video on how to simply loosen and retighten an allen head set screw in the adjusting knob to fix the problem. After doing that the Manfrotto 410 worked perfectly.

I love using a gear head for sea and landscape photography. I like being able to minutely dial in the adjustments to get the horizon level and the composition where I want it.

I also use a couple of tripods with three way pan heads. They’re just as effective as the gear head.

Frankly, I find ball heads to be very frustrating. But, that’s probably just me.

Anyway, the topic of tripods brought back these memories and I wanted to share my thoughts and experience on the subject. If this is not helpful please feel free to ignore this post.

All the best,
Mike

 

[Benjamin Marks]

If you really want center-column leg braces, look for an old Majestic tripod from the 1960's. They are out there. Thing is, they don't tend to be compact, because the two design features you mentioned (compact & w/center braces) are tugging in opposite directions. My suggestion if you want stability is to get a Manfrotto/Bogen with a hook on the center column, and then attach a sandbag or other weighted object to the hook (like, maybe your bag with all your other gear in it). As to the head, you really want to start with your camera's maximum weight (e.g. largest lens attached) and then work backwards. Manfrotto makes a dizzying array of tripod heads for every conceivable need.

I like this one, which used to be reasonably priced, but now apparently is not:

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/553888-REG/Manfrotto_229_229_Super_Pro_Head.html

 

[Dogman]

Betcha could find something here: sachtler.com

 

[drew.saunders]

...

At present I have a Neewer 64" tripod, and while the legs fold up towards the head for storage making it a bit smaller than what I'd call a "standard" tripod, there's nothing really stopping the legs being pushed towards the centre column, especially by a clumsy clot like me, so that's why I want centre-braced legs.
...

I looked up that tripod (NEEWER 64'' Aluminum Alloy Monopod Tripod - NEEWER) and it's a $66 travel tripod with included head. For $66, it looks like a pretty decent travel tripod, but it's very far from a professional, or even "prosumer" tripod.

Back in 2016, I bought a similar travel tripod, the MeFoto Backpacker, from B&H on one of their daily "Deal Zone" deals. It'a currently $120 full price, so almost twice the price of your Neewer, and it doesn't exhibit any problems with the legs moving unexpectedly. I wouldn't say it was twice as good as the Neewer, but it serves me well for light duty work while traveling.

Centre/er braced legs are either on very high end very stable tripods, or on cheap square section ones. Better tripods (that aren't expected to handle professional movie cameras) don't need that feature, as they have solid legs that often have a few notches for spread. My older Manfrotto CF tripod (no longer made, roughly equivalent to the 055 series, I guess?) has 3 positions for the leg angle and there's no chance that the legs can be accidentally pushed anywhere. If you know someone with a higher end tripod that you can spend some time with, I think you'll see that some of your concerns are alleviated by just spending more money! Sorry...

You can spend a LOT of time researching tripods here: The Center Column (note, it seems that page stopped in February 2021, so the prices are way off base, but the information is still good!)

Not knowing your budget, needs, or weight limit, I won't recommend one, but if you're looking at the $200 and up range for the legs, plus a head, plus a leveling head, you'll probably get a tripod that does what you need, and a lot more, without centre-braced legs.

 

[seany65]

Thanks to everyone for the new replies, info and links.

Shawn, I'm not really trying to avoid getting the legs level as such, but I would want to use the leveling base/head to make the final tiny adjustments which can be awkward to do by adjusting the legs. Once the leveling base/head is level, I would not be then be adjusting the aim of the camera with the leveling base/head, I would be using the tripod's pan and tilt head. I my have to crank the camera platform up a bit or pan the head left/right a bit, tilt it up or down a bit or flip the camera vertical from horizontal. IF the leveling base/head is level then movement of the tripod head would be starting from level as well.
Here's a link to a video:



Whizz on to about 9 minutes.

 

[x-ray]

If you really want center-column leg braces, look for an old Majestic tripod from the 1960's. They are out there. Thing is, they don't tend to be compact, because the two design features you mentioned (compact & w/center braces) are tugging in opposite directions. My suggestion if you want stability is to get a Manfrotto/Bogen with a hook on the center column, and then attach a sandbag or other weighted object to the hook (like, maybe your bag with all your other gear in it). As to the head, you really want to start with your camera's maximum weight (e.g. largest lens attached) and then work backwards. Manfrotto makes a dizzying array of tripod heads for every conceivable need.

I like this one, which used to be reasonably priced, but now apparently is not:

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/553888-REG/Manfrotto_229_229_Super_Pro_Head.html

I gave my Majestic double leg that I bought new in the late 70’s away two years ago. They look like a lunar lander and are a beast. I used an 11x14 and 8x10 camera on it and suspect it would hold 75-100 pounds with no problem. I still have the gear head and use it on my studio stand.

Majestic tripods, even the smallest, are way over kill fora DSLR or even a medium format camera.

Like the Linhof Heavy Duty Pro they weigh 40-45 pounds. They are no fun to carry.

It seems to me you’re making a simple task more difficult than it is. Simple is best.

 

[Benjamin Marks]

I gave my Majestic double leg that I bought new in the late 70’s away two years ago. They look like a lunar lander and are a beast. I used an 11x14 and 8x10 camera on it and suspect it would hold 75-100 pounds with no problem. I still have the gear head and use it on my studio stand.

Majestic tripods, even the smallest, are way over kill fora DSLR or even a medium format camera.

Like the Linhof Heavy Duty Pro they weigh 40-45 pounds. They are no fun to carry.

It seems to me you’re making a simple task more difficult than it is. Simple is best.

We are in violent agreement. My point was that the features the OP was asking for are in oxymoronic conflict.

 

[seany65]

Hmm, Benjamin, How are they in oxymoronic conflict?

Most of the tripods I've seen since the 70's have had centre-braced legs and geared centre columns. Remember the Slik 88? In fact the only ones that weren't like that (as far as I recall) were the Manfrotto's and other expensive stuff designed for the photographer who needed to get to almost ground level or put the tripod on extremely uneven ground so they couldn't be centre braced.

Many tripods have removable heads (including 3-way pan and tilt heads) so what's so mad about putting a leveling base/head on the sort of tripod I mention and putting a 3-way head on top of that? Why would such a tripod need to be so expensive and heavy as mentioned by several members?

Shawn, The Neewer GM29 set that you show doesn't really allow for easily tilting the camera up or down if necessary. I tried one of those "bowl-lead" things (not that brand though) but I couldn't get on with it.

I do accept that if I did manage to get the arrangement that I want, the whole thing would weigh a bit more and be longer than I may like, but I'm prepared for that.

The gear I'd be using it with, range from nikon 35mm with a range of lenses to Mamiya m645 with PDS prism finder and 45mm, 80mm and 150mm lenses. At present I don't think I'd able to spend over £200 on the lot.

 

[joe bosak]

There are and have been plenty of cheap tripods with braced legs and geared centre columns with three-way pan-tilt heads. They break easily, aren't very stable in various ways, and the few I had didn't have removeable heads. Stitz, Hama and other makes - there's plenty on Amazon.

 

[shawn]

Once the leveling base/head is level, I would not be then be adjusting the aim of the camera with the leveling base/head, I would be using the tripod's pan and tilt head. I my have to crank the camera platform up a bit or pan the head left/right a bit, tilt it up or down a bit or flip the camera vertical from horizontal. IF the leveling base/head is level then movement of the tripod head would be starting from level as well.

You are missing that the crank would not be starting from level. Your leveling base is on top of the crank.